EIT

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Evangelical advocates for immigration reform are concerned that proposed South Carolina legislation will make it more difficult for faith groups to help refugees in the Palmetto State. The bill, which passed a state Senate committee in late January, could make organizations that sponsor refugees liable if the new residents should later commit a terroristic act or other crime.

Jason Schoff 6-05-2014
Immigration rally in Washington, D.C., in April 2013. Chad Zuber / Shutterstock.

Immigration rally in Washington, D.C., in April 2013. Chad Zuber / Shutterstock.com

As immigration reform gains more and more bipartisan support in Congress, I am encouraged by our lawmakers’ positive steps forward, and I can’t help but think of my own story on immigration.

When I first started working on immigration, I was naïve. My wife and I started ministering to immigrants in 2005, and I thought our work would be all about sharing the Gospel of Christ.

I thought we would share in word and deed and our acts of service would show compassion. I was sure moving to the neighborhood would help make us equal participants in our community together, but certain things would make this nearly impossible.

3-13-2014
Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, said the time for a vote is before Congress breaks in August. Anderson said a delay is a vote for the status quo of a dysfunctional immigration system.
3-05-2014
On Thursday, the EIT announced its support for the House Republican reform proposals. EIT leaders hail from the left and right of the political spectrum, including leaders of Focus on the Family, National Association of Evangelicals, Sojourners and the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
3-05-2014
On Thursday, the EIT announced its support for the House Republican reform proposals. EIT leaders hail from the left and right of the political spectrum, including leaders of Focus on the Family, National Association of Evangelicals, Sojourners and the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
3-05-2014
Responding to Bishop DiMarzio, Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, said, “we also say it’s a Gospel issue. I know for Evangelicals, we’ve been converted by [the Gospel of] Matthew [Chapter] 25, and realize now that how we treat 11 million undocumented people is how we treat Christ himself. This for us is a Gospel issue.”
2-28-2014
"Even if we have different political sensibilities, we are united around this cause," said Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners and a leader of the Evangelical Immigration Table.
2-28-2014
The Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese, signed on to the ecumenical appeal with other notable faith leaders, including Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Jim Wallis, president and founder of the Sojourners social-justice group; and leading Catholic churchmen from Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
2-28-2014
“Even if we have different political sensibilities, we are united around this cause,” said Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners and a leader of the Evangelical Immigration Table.
Janelle Tupper 7-09-2013

Logo for the Evangelical Immigration Table. Courtesy EIT.

On the eve of the GOP immigration summit, during which Republicans will determine their position and strategy on immigration reform, the Evangelical Immigration Table held a press conference with national leaders to strongly urge House members to find the political courage to move forward on commonsense immigration reform. 

“We have forgotten to engage in conversation and instead have focused on throwing stones at arguments,” David Cooper, President and Head of School at Front Range Christian School in Littleton, Colo., said.

Currently, hundreds of Evangelical Christians are expected to join in a day of prayer and action in Washington, DC on July 24, following the 92-day Pray4Reform challenge. During this challenge, people of faith across the country are taking a few minutes each day to lift up their political leaders in prayer as they consider the options moving forward. More than 25,000 prayer partners have signed up for the challenge since its start, and we welcome many more to join.