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Evangelicals’ Support for Dreamers Highlights Urgent Need for Action

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With a month remaining in 2017, a wide range of conservative voices is stepping up pressure on Congress for a solution for Dreamers.

As dozens of House Republicans prepare a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan urging a permanent solution by the end of the year, prominent faith, law enforcement and business leaders are participating in congressional meetings to express their support for Dreamers and for quick action.

On Thursday, evangelical Christians met with Republican congressional offices, as well as Vice President Mike Pence’s office. Additional Hill meetings next week will comprise advocates from the south central and western U.S.

A Hill briefing before Thursday’s visits featured Walter Strickland, 1st Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention; Travis Wussow, Vice President for Public Policy and General Counsel for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; and Jose Ocampo, an evangelical Christian and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. The same trio participated in a press call Wednesday.

Participants next week include Bernardo Castro, a Mormon Dreamer from Utah who is featured in a new video, as well as David McKellips, District Superintendent for Northeast Oklahoma, Church of the Nazarene; Lee Turner, a Christian business leader at the Barnabas Group; and Captain Ron Winegar of the Boise, Idaho, Police Department.

“As the dust settles from the tax reform debate, conservative pressure is building for a legislative solution for Dreamers,” said Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum. “With faith, law enforcement and business leaders directly engaging policy makers, and House Republicans organizing themselves behind a solution this year, leadership from both parties must work together to find a compromise that serves not only Dreamers but also the American workers, economies and communities they support.”

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