All ELCA rostered faith leaders are invited to join a letter, drafted by the ELCA and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), which will be sent to members of Congress in support of the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.

View the letter and more info in this post, or visit this page to sign on to the letter. Deadline to sign on is Friday, February 26, 2021.

Legislators in the House and Senate have introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 which aims to humanely transform the nation’s immigration system and provide protection and a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented people.

The bill addresses the root causes of migration in Central America and prioritizes family reunification, among many other things. It is a promising first step to uphold the basic human rights of migrant children and their families and affirm the dignity of all. 

The letter expresses support for the bill and urges Congress to work collaboratively and advance a comprehensive legislative solution. All ELCA rostered faith leaders are invited to join the letter. Please take some time to sign on today and share with your fellow ELCA faith leaders.

To read the letter and add your name, please fill out this form here.

Questions or comments can be directed to LIRS Refugee Advocacy Officer, Diana Guelespe DGuelespe@lirs.org and ELCA Program Director for Migration Policy, Giovana Oaxaca Giovana.Oaxaca@elca.org.

Dear Members of Congress,

As CEOs of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) and Lutheran Services in America, the Presiding Bishop Eaton, synod bishops, and ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States with nearly 3.3 million members in more than 8,900 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region, we write to express our support for the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. In view of a new opportunity to make fair and compassionate transformations to our nation’s broken immigration system, we call on Congress to come together around a long overdue solution that reflects our shared values as a nation.

The ELCA has a long legacy of welcoming and caring for newcomers. Our churches began helping immigrants and uprooted people as early as the 1860s. Today, as always, we are called by God to love our neighbor, accompany the vulnerable, and welcome the stranger. Our congregants share our concern for displaced children and families and support our sister organizations, like LIRS and Lutheran Services in America, in their work. Lutheran Services in America leads one of the largest health and human services networks in the country, made up of over 300 Lutheran social ministry organizations that operate with over $22 billion in annual revenue and help improve the lives of 1 in 50 Americans each year. LIRS, one of the most prominent refugee resettlement agencies, has worked to assist over half a million people seeking safety, hope, and a life in the U.S. over the course of its 80-year history. Our deep levels of expertise and experience serving the most vulnerable compels us to lift our voices and ask legislators from both parties to preserve human dignity through our federal immigration policies.

Currently, our immigration system is saddled with ineffective approaches that stir fear and turmoil among migrants fleeing persecution and those seeking better futures for their families. Administrative barriers, backlogs, and punitive policies have led to the separation of immigrant families and their marginalization as human beings. The root causes of displacement in Central America, including inequality, violence, corruption, and environmental degradation, all of which advance insecurity, continue to be ignored and demand we simultaneously offer protection to those who need it while recognizing the driving factors that motivate last-resort migration.

Guided by our faith values and biblical teachings, we believe that immigration policies must prioritize and honor the God-given dignity of each person, especially those who live on the margins of society. We regard the family as an indispensable social institution and stand firmly against policies that cause the separation of families. We are therefore pleased to see that the proposed legislation works to recognize these values. The act promotes family unity by establishing a roadmap to earned citizenship for undocumented individuals, including Dreamers, who as children and adults have invested in local communities far and wide. It reduces visa backlogs, processing delays, and barriers to reunification. The act supports the flourishing of our communities by increasing immigrant integration services and strengthens protections for immigrant workers. Its approach to regional migration develops opportunities for children and families to safely seek protection and reunify, while pushing for long-term sustainable growth and stability to address the root causes of migration.

Making progress on these long overdue immigration reforms is important to us as leaders who serve in church and society. We ask God to guide our nation and grant the grace of a welcoming heart. To that end, we ask you to work collaboratively, with haste, to promote this comprehensive legislative solution through Congress and provide lasting solutions that will strengthen our nation for generations to come. Thank you for your service.