Media Hit of the Week
Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation sparked a host of copy-cat bills popping up in state legislatures around the country. One of those states is Florida, which quickly passed a bill similar to Arizona’s SB-1070 out of the House Judiciary Committee on the third day of the current legislative session. In response, bishops from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, African Methodist Episcopal Church, and United Methodist Church joined leaders from the Florida Council of Churches and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida to denounce this ineffective, unjust bill.
We worked with Church World Service, FOCUS (Federation of Congregations United to Serve, a federation of the PICO National Network), and the Florida Council of Churches to organize a telephone press conference for reporters to hear from faith leaders speaking out on the legislation.
The Orlando Sentinel covered it here:
Religious leaders leaders and bishops from across Florida oppose anti-immigrant legislation that will divide communities, separate families, and prevent churches from ministering to those in need. They urged political leaders to instead focus on real solutions that protect our values.
“Creating and passing laws that make it more difficult and even unlawful to provide care and assistance to the immigrant in our midst runs counter to the very fabric of the Christian faith and our moral fiber,” said Bishop Edward R. Benoway of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), based in Tampa.
The state legislature, which began its legislative session last Tuesday, passed a stringent anti-immigrant measure out of the Judiciary Committee of the House last week. The legislation is similar to the controversial SB-1070 in Arizona, mandating the use of an employee verification program and requiring checking immigration status of anyone who has been arrested, regardless of the charge. The legislation could have similar repercussions to Arizona’s law, including legal challenges, steep costs of implementation, and national outcry with ramifications for the tourism industry. Numerous other anti-immigrant bills are also under consideration in both houses of the legislature.
