La. evangelical leaders urge vote on immigration

By Lianna Patch
Contributing Writer

On April 29, five Louisiana payday loans in grand forks nd evangelical leaders traveled to Capitol Hill as part of the Evangelical Immigration Table’s immigration reform lobby. The group’s goal: to push Congress toward a vote on immigration reform.

A nonpartisan organization founded in 2002, the Evangelical Immigration Table’s stated mission is to “advocate for immigration reform consistent with Biblical values.” Over 250 evangelical pastors from churches throughout the U.S. traveled to Washington, D.C. for Tuesday’s events, which included a worship service and conference in addition to the Hill visits.

Louisiana was represented by Pastor Wade Moody of Iglesia VIDA, a bilingual evangelical church in New Orleans; pay day loan centers David Epstein, president and minister at Faith Works; Dr. Rick Hertless, an author, singer, and host of “His Gospel Power” radio program; Gary Maroney, vice president of the Louisiana Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists; and Dr. Eleazar Rodriguez.

The five Louisiana evangelists planned to meet with Rep. Vance McAllister (R); Rep. Bill Cassidy (R); and staffers from the offices of Rep. Charles Boustany, Jr. (R) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R). Meetings with Cassidy and McAllister went well, Moody said.

“McAllister said he was going to do every single thing he could to get personal loan bad credit ct the reform done during his term,” Hertless said in a phone interview on April 30. “His term is about another eight months, I think.”

During an April 24 teleconference with Hertless and Epstein, Moody—who is a local mobilizer for the national Evangelical Immigration Table organization—noted that the group’s stance has always been to “view immigration through the lens of our faith.” This nonpartisan directive is based on moral dictates set forth by the Bible: specifically, the instruction to welcome strangers. “The Bible is silent on certain issues,” Hertless said. “This is not one of them.”

Epstein guaranteed unsecured loan stated his support for business-minded immigrants who follow a legal pathway to Ameri­can citizenship. “We’re committed to business ownership for those who come to this country with the dream of a better life for their family,” he said during the teleconference. “Not only is this how America was built, it improves the economy, adds jobs, and makes things better for everyone else too.”

Speaking by phone on April 30, Moody pointed out that while immigration reform is a political issue, it also has very real effects on families who are forced to choose between fragmentation or potential deportation. “Eleven million undocumented people are a product of a broken immigration system,” he said.

The Louisiana pastors simply want Congress to stop delaying the progress of immigration reform. “What we are trying to do as evangelical Christian leaders is call for a bipartisan solution on immigration,” Hertless said. “In other words, we want them to do something!”

“We do understand this is a very complex and difficult situation,” Moody said. “But that’s why we have our elected officials.”

This article originally published in the May 5, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.