Immigration reform, like many other important issues, has often been turned into a partisan debate. The liberal camp always wants amnesty, and conservatives always want tougher border security and enforcement. Right?

Not exactly.

This past  year immigration reform advocates have seen a strong ally in the Evangelical community and amongst other faith groups, which are almost always assumed to be made up largely of convervatives (aka, Republicans).

What’s going on here?

According to the Washington Post’s "on faith" blogger Galen Carey, Evangelicals support CIR because:

"...we recognize that human beings are unique and precious individuals created in the image of God, with great dignity and potential to bless their neighbors. We see the hand of God in the movement of peoples throughout history.

As immigrants have joined our churches and communities, they have become our friends, our co-workers, and indeed, our brothers and sisters. We grieve when families remain separated for decades, when workers are treated unfairly, and when our neighbors lack the basic protection of the law. For these reasons and many others the National Association of Evangelicals, representing 40 denominations with more than 45,000 congregations, has joined other faith communities in asserting the moral imperative of enacting meaningful immigration reform now."

One does not have to be "religious" to appreciate the logic of Carey’s explanation. In fact, I personally know several non-practicing Christians as well as athiests who recognize the moral imperative for reform and are some of immigration reform’s most compassionate advocates.

No matter your religious background or political affiliation, now is the time to push partisanship aside and come together to fix a system that is so clearly broken. As Carey so eloquently concludes, it is time for Republicans and Democrats to work together:

"We can think of no greater opportunity for them to put aside partisanship and enact immigration reform this session that will strengthen our recovering economy, restore the rule of law and reinforce our nation’s best values. In the end, our nation’s greatness will be marked by how we treat the most vulnerable, including the stranger, among us."

Well said indeed.

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