Christian Conflict and Consensus in the Immigration Debate
Ruth Melkonian-Hoover Wednesday, 16 February 2011
In recent years the United States has experienced an upsurge in immigration, especially undocumented immigration. As Jenny Yang notes in her contribution to this volume, approximately 37 million immigrants live in the US, nearly 1/3 of them undocumented. Even in good economic times, the scale of the phenomenon of illegal immigration would have lent the issue urgency. But in the current context of a severely battered economy and high unemployment, the debate over immigration policy has become acutely polarized and impassioned.
The responses of American Christians to the question of immigration policy have been varied. Christian leaders and organizations are becoming more vocal and active on the issue, and this has drawn attention to the disagreements that exist. While in some cases these disagreements are deep, the immigration debate does not completely align with a stereotypical "culture war" pitting liberals against conservatives. Indeed, there are increasing calls for comprehensive immigration reform from across the theological spectrum of American Christianity.
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