Meeting with Rep. Vern Ehlers in Grand Rapids

We had a solid and diverse coalition representing the Christian Reformed, Catholic, Reformed, and Evangelical Covenant churches and that included Hispanic, African-American, and Caucasian people. We also had a woman pastor who is an immigrant herself from Trinidad and Tobago. Our agenda went smoothly. Jerry Dykstra, the executive director of the Christian Reformed Church opened with prayer and spoke about the biblical principles that move him to support comprehensive immigration reform. From there, Pastor Rik Stevenson gave the historical perspective of how the U.S. has been exploiting and excluding people because of their race from its inception. Then pastors Aaron Gonzalez and Tomas Ivens told stories from their congregation which highlighted the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Next, Albert Hamstra from the denominational office of the Christian Reformed Church presented Rep. Ehlers with over 130 signatures of pastors, Calvin College professors, people who work at the Christian Reformed denominational building, and others who agreed with the set of principles developed by Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (which fall in line well with our own principles).

Rep. Ehlers was not immediately receptive. He went on about the problems with trying to find a compromise and trying to decide who should be given a path to citizenship and who should not, what should be done with the backlog and what should be done with those who are already here. He also brought up the strong anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide and the districts that some of his colleagues feel, like those from Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and California. On the positive side, he said that he believes that the district he represents is a welcoming one and that he does not hear much about immigration from either side. When he was asked if he would support comprehensive immigration reform in line with the McCain-Kennedy bill he said, “Probably. But I would have to see the bill first.” Ehlers went on to say that the McCain-Kennedy bill was the best piece of immigration reform legislation he had ever seen. In closing, Ehlers apologized for “being so argumentative,” but that he wanted us to know what dealing with the issue of immigration is like for him.

I do think that Ehlers will vote the right way when the time comes. However, in the meantime we need to continue to ramp up the pressure on Obama and local representatives like Ehlers so that a bill gets introduced. Getting people signed up for the mobile network and hosting events like rallies and prayer vigils will be key to our success.