Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

guest column:

Immigration stance holds sway for evangelicals

As we enter the presidential campaign season, we can expect more and more presidential candidates to visit our state. Nevada could be crucial in determining both each party’s presidential nominee and, as one of just a few genuine swing states, the results of the general election. As an evangelical pastor, I’ll have one consistent question for candidates seeking my vote: Where do they stand on immigration reform?

My views are informed by the teachings of the Bible, which actually has a lot to say on the topic of immigration. Many of the heroes of the Christian faith — from Abraham to Joseph to Ruth to Jesus — were immigrants, and God tells his people on many occasions to treat immigrants with compassion. Jesus reached out in kindness to the Samaritans, the marginalized foreigners of the society in which he lived. The Apostle Paul described the immigrant experience as a metaphor for the Christian life, reminding Jesus’ followers that their ultimate citizenship is in heaven.

The biblical calls to welcome the stranger and be a voice for the voiceless remain the same today as in millennia past. We simply cannot turn away when we witness suffering in our communities, as our broken immigration system places millions in the shadows of society and separates families through deportations. These stories are a tragic reality for our nation, our state and our church family here in Las Vegas. As pastor of Centro de Victoria, a Spanish-speaking evangelical congregation, I have personally witnessed these realities.

Scripture teaches that when one part of the Church suffers, all parts suffer with it. None of us can stand idly by when our brothers and sisters are suffering under a broken system. Our immigration laws have failed to meet our labor needs, uphold the rule of law, and respect human dignity and family unity — values we as Christians hold steadfastly.

That’s why I have joined hundreds of other evangelical leaders around the country in endorsing the Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform, urging Congress to act on immigration in a bipartisan fashion that respects the rule of law, secures our borders, ensures fairness to taxpayers, upholds the dignity of each person, protects the unity of the family, and establishes an earned pathway toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify.

This year, a LifeWay Research poll found that the majority of evangelical Christians (of all ethnicities) support each of these elements of reform,. In fact, about 7 in 10 evangelicals say they want reforms that both increase border security and establish a pathway to citizenship for those who are undocumented. Evangelicals said they were three times as likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports such a policy than one who doesn’t. Any presidential candidate seeking evangelical votes in Nevada would do well to know where Christians stand on immigration reform and to use language when talking about immigrants that reflects their status as people made in the image of God.

While evangelicals as a whole are largely supportive of immigration reform, this issue is particularly personal for Hispanic evangelicals like me. Hispanic evangelicals are a swing voting group — a slight majority supported George W. Bush, then a slight majority supported Barack Obama — and we form a larger share of voters in Nevada than in most other states. I, along with other Hispanic evangelicals, will be looking for the presidential candidate who will commit to working with Congress to pass comprehensive legislation on immigration that incorporates biblical values. I will join millions of evangelical Christians in praying for courageous leadership on immigration that reflects both the best of our national heritage and the values of our faith.

Diego Trujillo is pastor of the Centro de Victoria church in Las Vegas.

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