Over 300 leaders gathered together for Evangelical Immigration Table Day of Prayer and Action for Immigration Reform in order to show their declaration of faith and denounce people who are standing in the way of immigration reform. Religious leaders from Baptist and Pentecostal churches as well as Democrats and Republicans and US citizens from states such as North Carolina, Ohio and Arizona met in order to demonstrate their support for immigrants, according to Michael Wilker in the Washington Post.
Immigrants shared their stories of how they have begun to develop relationships with people from various other ethnic, political and religious lines as well as discussing how those that are being deported by the United States are tearing families apart.
The religious leaders who attended the event that took place on the capital’s West Lawn were there in a bid to try to encourage the leaders of the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform that includes offering a pathway to US citizenship. Wilker admitted that he is uncertain as to whether or not those representatives are actually listening due to the fact that the House of Representatives seems intent on taking a piecemeal approach to the issue of immigration reform rather than accepting or crafting a more comprehensive approach.
“Evangelical leaders deeply understand the life of undocumented immigrants, the suffering of immigrant families, and the harm that a broken and cruel immigration system perpetrates on our nation,” Wilker wrote. “We are announcing the Gospel that welcomes the stranger and we will denounce those that block immigration reform.”