Christian Reflection and Prayer

With Congress failing to enact immigration reform,
attention and pressure is now focused on what
President Obama can do to address our broken
immigration system. In June, the president
announced, “I’m beginning a new effort to fix as
much of our immigration system as I can on my
own, without Congress.”

Like everything else in Washington, the president’s
plans have been caught up in politics. With the
surge of migrant children at the U.S. border
fostering misperceptions about border security,
immigration has again become a hot-button issue
in congressional races across the country. Given
pressure from Democrats in tough races and the
desire to depoliticize any administrative action, the
White House announced the president would not
be taking any steps until after the November
elections.

The political calculus is always changing, but the
day-to-day worries and fears of family separation
remain the same. Both Republicans and Democrats
need to stop using immigrant families as political
footballs and remember the lives at stake in this
debate. It is the faith community’s job to offer them
this reminder.

With hope,
The Sojourners Immigration Team