SB1070 Update: Are Conservative Evangelicals joining the fight for immigration reform?

by David Safier

[Before I begin the post, let me give Marlene Phillips, who writes in The Examiner, credit for this catch and for her diligence on this issue. And while I'm at it, let me also give credit to tucsonsentinel.com for its updates on SB1070-related information. (The latest: Latino hip-hop group Cypress Hill has canceled their May 21 concert at Tucson's Rialto Theatre. Link to the article to read the group's statement.)

The MSM needs some help keeping the story alive, and the more non-traditional outlets cover it, the more likely the coverage will leak over to TV, newspapers and magazines.]

Marlene Phillips linked to a CNN article about conservative evangelical leaders seeing immigration reform as a vital issue.

Tea Party activists and other conservatives are planning rallies next month in support of Arizona's tough new immigration law, which has come under attack from Democrats, Latino groups and some maverick Republicans.

But a growing chorus of conservative evangelical leaders has broken with their traditional political allies on the right. They're calling the Arizona law misguided and are attempting to use its passage to push for federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The leaders are reticent to challenge SB1070 head on, but they plan to work on Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform, which includes a path to citizenship.

"After securing our borders, we must allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows," reads a recent draft of the document, which is still being finalized. "The pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency should involve a program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States. …"

This kind of thing makes me feel downright hopeful. If religious leaders join together across denominations and speak with one voice about the need to reform our immigration laws, that could be a very powerful force. Will Republicans risk splitting with their religious base when they hear statements like this?

"Discussion of immigration and government immigration policy must begin with the truth that every human being is made in the image of God," the National Association of Evangelicals said in a recent resolution backing comprehensive immigration reform. "… Jesus exemplifies respect toward others who are different in his treatment of the Samaritans."

That doesn't mean much to a Republican legislator if it comes from some liberal minister, but from the National Association of Evangelicals? Wow.

NOTE: I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jim Nintzel among those who are on the story about the SB1070 fallout. In many ways, as the Star becomes weaker as a genuine journalistic force in Tucson, Nintzel and the Weekly writers in general are doing their best to fill the void. And their best is pretty damn good.

I just read a Nintzel post on the Range saying the Glass Art Society and the Alliance for Community Media are canceling 2011 conventions in Tucson.

Tom Philabaum of Philabaum Glass, who estimates that he's put more than 800 hours into organizing the Glass Art Society convention, says the news that they had canceled felt like "a kick in the stomach."

The Alliance for Community Media wrote a long letter to the Accidental Guv about its decision. You can read the letter on Nintzel's post.