Guest Lecture: Rev. Samuel Rodriguez on Faith and Immigration Reform

September 28, 2010
4:00 a.m. EDT

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, examines the link between faith and immigration reform. The activism in the Latino community on the immigration issue in general, and the faith community in particular, is a dramatic change from its historically weak tradition of political engagement. We are seeing a reclaiming of the tradition of public witness not seen since Cesar Chavez’s movement for farmers’ rights in the 1970s. The current coalition includes Hispanics of various political stripes; the traditional labels of “right” and “left” are a poor fit for the economically progressive and socially conservative Latino community. For reform to succeed in political and policy terms, diverse moral imperatives must be balanced in comprehensive reform, including a respect for the rule of law and just, transparent processes for those who are put on a path to citizenship. The promotion of a just immigration policy remains a difficult challenge in a hyper-partisan political environment that makes principled compromise very difficult to achieve.

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