Matthew Soerens, co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate, writes about why the government and church should take different approaches to amnesty. What do you think?
Even as popular opinion—and the opinions of a growing number of Members of Congress—seems to be shifting in favor of immigration reform legislation, the American public is still very much wary of the idea of amnesty. The concept is so unpopular that population control groups seeking to dramatically reduce immigration levels apply the term as an epithet to any sort of legislation that would include the possibility of undocumented immigrants ever becoming lawful residents, even proposals which would require undocumented immigrants to pay a significant fine (by definition, not the free grace of amnesty) and earn permanent legal status through a probationary process lasting a decade or more.