Another Reason Why Church Members Should Support Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Marc Bohn, April 26, 2009
Last year, several General Authorities, including Elders M. Russell Ballard and Marlin K. Jensen, waded into the immigration debate in an attempt to influence and moderate the policies being discussed. Given the large number of undocumented immigrants in the Church, especially out West, and the dramatic effect that immigration crackdowns have on our membership, the reason for such action is understandable. In recent weeks, additional developments underscore why, in my mind, Church members ought to support comprehensive immigration reform that, while seeking to better secure our borders and enforce immigration law, also allows otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants who are currently here a chance to normalize their status.
Last week, an undocumented immigrant missionary returning from his mission was detained at a Cincinnati airport "lacking necessary documentation to board his flight home." In the wake of this, Church leaders decided to have another undocumented immigrant finishing his mission in Oklahoma drive home to Salt Lake with his uncle rather than fly.
Undocumented immigrants are able to serve missions because of a narrow exception the Church lobbied Senator Bob Bennett to add to an agricultural spending bill in 2005. The exception exempts religious organizations like the Church from liability for, among other things, having undocumented immigrants provide charitable and religious volunteer service.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, in the Salt Lake Tribune article linked to above, acknowledged the risks that undocumented immigrants still face in choosing to serve missions. "They go knowing themselves that they're at risk, and nothing in our mission call changes that. They know that, and we know that, and we work within those parameters to have them be constructive, honorable, faithful, spiritual, religious emissaries for that period of service." In sending undocumented immigrants on missions, Elder Holland stressed that the Church is trying to "be more precise, if we can, about how to help, how to make [a mission] the calmest, most spiritually rewarding experience for everybody." Holland noted that the Church's interest was to ensure that young Latter-day Saints of all backgrounds have the opportunity to enjoy the spiritual benefits of serving a mission because "a mission is so fundamental to our blessings."
One of the many problems that a comprehensive approach to federal immigration reform would address is the uncertainty and risk posed to the undocumented youth of the Church who want to serve missions. These young immigrants typically bear little to no culpability for the situations they find themselves in and often have a stronger connection to the United States than anywhere else. Allowing them a chance to normalize their statuses as part of the push to reform our federal immigration laws would ease significant burdens for both the Church and its membership and enable youth to enjoy the blessings of a mission without risk of arrest and detainment.
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| Missionary's arrest sparks discussion, fear |
| Immigration » Undocumented immigrants serving the church face legal peril when traveling. |
| By Sheena Mcfarland The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune |
| Updated:04/24/ |
| The arrest of an undocumented immigrant returning last week from his LDS mission has sparked discussion at the highest levels of the church about how to limit such exposure in the future. "With the known realization that those risks exist, then we want to do better, or at least learn more," LDS apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, said Friday during an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune . "We want to be more precise, if we can, about how to help, how to make [a mission] the calmest, most spiritually rewarding experience for everybody." Early last week, a missionary was detained at the Cincinnati airport for "lacking necessary documentation to board his flight home," according to Michael Purdy, LDS Church spokesman. That triggered fears in the undocumented LDS community in Utah, and already prompted a change in how one Utah missionary returned home. The young man, a Salt Lake Valley resident, completed a mission in Oklahoma and was scheduled to return home two days after church leaders heard of the unrelated arrest in Ohio. The mission president contacted local Utah church leaders, and it was decided the missionary's uncle would drive out to Oklahoma to bring the missionary home, which he did. "The travel department of the church has to rethink everything. Things have changed, and they need a whole new policy," said a local church official who was aware of the situation. "With ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] hitting them at the bus terminals and airports, this opens a whole new discussion. I don't know how many undocumented immigrants we have serving missions, but I'm sure this is going to repeat itself." LDS Church leaders have had evolving policies on how to keep undocumented missionaries safe. But this is the first time Holland has heard of a missionary being arrested by immigration officials while serving. "There's been an ongoing discussion of this for 15 years. These kind of incidents, or anything like it, would continue that discussion," said Holland, who is a member of the Missionary Executive Council. "We're always trying to do, always and forever, exactly what's legal, and in the spirit of that, be fair to everyone on the religious side, on the spiritual side, to have the spiritual benefits of [serving a mission]." The reason, according to Holland, is simple. "A mission is so fundamental to our blessings." The LDS Church has changed its policies about mission calls for undocumented immigrants over time. Previously, they had to return to their country of origin for extended periods of time and then could serve. However, U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, inserted language into a 2005 agricultural bill that absolves religious organizations of criminal liability for allowing their undocumented members to perform volunteer service, including mission work. Church leaders do make certain accommodations for undocumented missionaries, including calling them only to missions within the United States. But leaders acknowledge the missionaries' potential legal jeopardy. "They go knowing themselves that they're at risk, and nothing in our mission call changes that," Holland said. "They know that, and we know that, and we work within those parameters to have them be constructive, honorable, faithful, spiritual, religious emissaries for that period of service." Sending undocumented immigrants on a mission, though, sends a mixed message, with the potential for "tragic" results for missionaries and their families, said Ron Mortensen of the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration. "What the church has done is taken care of themselves and left the individual in a terrible position," Mortensen said. "They say 'We'll give you these benefits, but, oh by the way, if something happens to you, sorry.' " Charles Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, says this is one more example of why federal immigration reform is needed. "You have kids who just have spent the two most important years in their lives now having to worry about being thrown in jail for not having proper documentation to get on a plane," said Kuck, a Brigham Young University graduate. Holland says LDS leaders will continue to have discussions about making sure undocumented missionaries get home safely. "Clearly we do take and always will take a great sense of responsibility for the safety of our missionaries in any part of the world."
Clearly we do take and always will take a great sense of responsibility for the safety of our missionaries in any part of the world. ... We're not agents of the immigration service and we don't pretend to be, and we also won't break the law. We didn't bring them here. We quite overtly discourage that."
Jeffrey R. Holland member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a governing body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
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