December 19, 2007

In an open letter to United Methodists, a church-related organization is declaring that a hostile U.S. climate toward immigrants has resulted in "millions of Latinos and Latinas living in fear, threat and intimidation."

The letter from Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans – known as MARCHA – calls upon United Methodists to remember the plight of immigrants this Christmas and beyond.

"During this Christmas season, when we remember the Christ child born to parents journeying in a foreign land for the sake of their survival, we invite The United Methodist Church to join MARCHA in standing against the negative and anti-Latino forces and voices around us," the letter says. "Let us be truly The United Methodist Church."

The letter is signed by retired Bishop Elias Galvan, MARCHA's interim chief executive, and the Rev. David Maldonado Jr., president. They cite several challenges that Latinos are facing in U.S. society-challenges that are exacerbated by the national debate over immigration.

"Latinos face daily suspicion of their citizenship and rights as residents of our communities," the letter says. "They are subjected to racial profiling and suspicion as they seek employment, housing, or simply driving down the street."

Requiring Latino families "to prove their citizenship in order to rent a house, to be employed or enroll their children in school" is nothing less than "legalized racism," in MARCHA's opinion.

"Latino immigrants are receiving the harshest treatment in recent history in the long procession of ethnic immigration," the letter charges. "The issue of undocumentation has released a flood of racial negativity, harsh treatment, and, more alarming, a marked increase of hate crimes against Hispanic/ Latino people."

MARCHA is urging United Methodists to oppose this treatment, as well as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino laws enacted by cities and states, and to support those subjected to such treatment.

The United Methodist Church, in its Book of Resolutions, advocates for fair and sensitive treatment of immigrants. A resolution titled "Immigrants and Refugees: To Love the Sojourner" notes that since 1996, U.S. immigration law and policies "have been moving toward greater restriction on immigration and less protection of immigrants' and refugees' rights. Immigrants are singled out for harsh punishment under immigration law for minor and even very old criminal violations. ... Immigrants' rights to due process of the law are increasingly being circumscribed by nearly all the branches of government, using tactics ranging from judicial review to detention without bond."

The resolution, readopted in 2004 by the denomination's legislative assembly, notes also that "people of faith and good will are needed to encourage leadership at home and abroad and, especially, in our churches; and to have the courage to speak up for the newly vulnerable people put at risk in the rush to provide for our own safety. We must remember that God's household is bigger than our own."

Another resolution calls upon United Methodists to practice hospitality and express commitment to an inclusive church and society through all the church's ministries.

United Methodist News Service