This week, Pastor Joel C. Hunter was a signatory on a letter urging Florida officials to tone down “hateful immigration rhetoric.” Dr. Hunter explains: “As Christians in our respective churches we have seen firsthand the human toll borne by the men, women, and children caught in the trap of our broken immigration system. It does not reflect the spirit of Christ to demonize people, all of whom are made in God’s image, especially those who He would recognize as the most vulnerable among us.” Click here to read the letter.

Christian leaders in Florida call for kinder immigration debate

Victor Manuel Ramos and Jeannette Rivera-Lyles

Sentinel Staff Writers

June 11, 2008
A broad coalition of Christian leaders from Central Florida called on state elected officials Tuesday to tone down “hateful immigration rhetoric” and strive for compassionate immigration reform.

The letter, signed by 31 clergy members and church leaders, was addressed to elected officials at the state and congressional levels.

The leaders

The Rev. Nino Gonzlez, head of Central Florida’s largest Latino mega-church, Iglesia el Calvario just south of Orlando, is the newest high-profile member of the coalition to advocate for immigration reform. He joins Catholic Bishop Thomas Wenski and the Rev. Joel Hunter of Northland, A Church Distributed, who helped launch the advocacy effort last year as part of Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based group.

“Florida can take this up and do something comprehensive that takes into consideration the rule of law but that is also compassionate,” Gonzlez said. He called the support of pastors from churches that don’t necessarily serve Hispanic congregations “very healing.”

What’s at stake

The debate affects the well-being of families who are adversely affected by the charged rhetoric, especially what’s heard on talk radio, said the Rev. Tommy Moya, pastor of Centro Cristiano Restauracin in east Orlando.

“We want to appeal for a different level of debate,” Moya said.

Letter

“We have seen this debate spill over into our state in ways that divide our communities, confuse enforcement procedures and contribute to the hateful rhetoric which too often dominates the national dialogue. We are particularly alarmed by the increase in hate speech and racial profiling targeting Hispanics.

“It is time to re-engage the immigration reform debate in a civil and respectful manner. The problems facing our state and our nation cannot be trivialized and there is a wide spectrum of legitimate positions in the debate about fixing this broken system. However, reasonable solutions can only be reached when we refrain from the toxic rhetoric that dehumanizes immigrant families.”

Politicians

*Immigration policy is primarily a federal issue, said Jill Chamberlin, a spokeswoman for Rep. Marco Rubio, R- West Miami.

Rubio “is not willing to encourage or participate in the use of this issue, combined with heated rhetoric, to advance individual or political careers.”

*U.S. Rep Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, an outspoken proponent of enforcement, said he agreed “with just about everything the letter said” as long as a compassionate approach doesn’t compromise the enforcement of immigration laws.

Government needs to be practical, Feeney said. “We need to say there is a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. We have to recognize that there is a burden [on] hospitals and schools.”

Activists

*”I am immensely disturbed that the open-border, pro-illegal-immigration faction cannot have this debate without name-calling and using the race card,” said David Caulkett, vice president of the Pompano Beach-based Floridians for Immigration Enforcement.

“There should be no debate over illegal immigration. It should be zero. We need a discussion on legal immigration and how to reduce it.”

*”It was about time for churches to become involved,” said Tirso Moreno, coordinator in Apopka of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, which advocates on behalf of immigrant workers.

“A lot of people have this idea that immigrants are less than human or that we have fewer rights, and that’s an injustice.”

Victor Manuel Ramos can be reached at vramos@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6186. Jeannette Rivera-Lyles can be reached at 407-420-5471 or jrivera@orlandosentinel.com.