In the midst of an unprecedented number of unaccompanied Central American children migrating across the Mexican-American border, Conservative and progressive Evangelicals have called upon Congress to authorize additional funds to address the crisis. The letter, signed by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference's Samuel Rodriguez, Sojourners' Jim Wallis, and World Vision's Richard Stearns, also asks the legislative branch to resist calls to weaken a human trafficking bill.
"Children are vulnerable even in the best of circumstances and warrant special protection beyond that offered to adults," stated the Evangelical Immigration Table letter. "This vulnerability is compounded among children who flee situations of criminal gangs, sexual violence, trauma and extreme poverty, without their parents to accompany them. Evangelicals are guided by Jesus' admonitions to welcome and protect children."