Social Conservatives Jump Into Immigration Fray

WASHINGTON — A group of socially conservative religious groups jumped into the immigration fray this week, offering a proposal that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens while also urging lawmakers to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States.

The organizations — which include the Traditional Values Coalition, the Conservative Union and the American Family Association — say their plan is a compromise that would help reunite families while taking away what they believe is a major motivation for crossing the border illegally: the promise of having children born in the United States with full citizenship rights.

"A number of opinion leaders were uncomfortable with the confines of the debate," said Manuel Miranda, chairman of the new coalition, Families First on Immigration. "They are not comfortable with the open borders idea or with enforcement only and border fences only."

Miranda said a more humane and practical approach would be to allow a one-time legalization for illegal immigrants who have U.S.-born children. About 3 million children born in the United States have illegal immigrant parents, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a non-partisan research group in Washington.

He also said that a repeal of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants is "a vital thing that conservatives want" and "has to be part of a reasonable reform."

The coalition includes well-known conservatives such as Gary Bauer, who heads American Values, the Rev. Louis Sheldon who leads the Traditional Values Coalition, and Paul Weyrich, national chairman of Coalitions for America.

Families First on Immigration sent a letter to the White House this week asking for a "new and realistic approach" that "considers the welfare of real people, families and disparate communities, but does not fail to respect the laws of the land." It warns that a large guest worker program could create "a peasant class."

The group also sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging more oversight of the Bush administration's immigration policy.

The immigration debate has long featured Catholic and Jewish groups sympathetic to the plight of foreign workers and their families, as well as some Protestant organizations.

But the new coalition of Christian conservatives with strong ties to the Republican Party and the evangelical movement is a surprising development, people on both sides of the debate said. In recent years, evangelical Christians have become a political force in the GOP.

Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a group that has been involved in the immigration debate for decades, said that the new coalition represents more of a "secular conservative viewpoint as opposed to a faith-based one."

"They're a little Johnny-come-lately in the debate," he said.

Appleby said that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rejects the new coalition's proposal, in part because it leaves out millions of current illegal immigrants from any chance at legalization.

Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic Civil Rights organization, also opposed the proposal.

"It is hard to imagine how a faith-based group comes up with a political strategy that allows for generosity to some immigrants while throwing both infants and the 14th Amendment overboard," she said. "There are a host of faith-based groups with a more complete vision and moral compass on these issues."

The 14th Amendment states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

Opponents of granting birthright citizenship contend that the 14th Amendment does not apply to children of illegal immigrants because they are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. Miranda said that Congress could pass legislation to change the law and acknowledged that it would be challenged in court.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who chairs a caucus pushing for stronger immigration controls, said he supports repealing birthright citizenship but is not on board with the coalition's plan.

The only way to stop illegal immigration is to tighten border security and work site enforcement because work is the biggest magnet for illegal immigrants, he said.

Tancredo also said that the conservative coalition's foray into the immigration debate is "odd" and that the group will have some influence with Republicans, who no longer control Congress.

"I don't know how much attention will be paid to them by the Democrats," he added. "It all may be for naught."

On the Web:

American Values: www.ouramericanvalues.org

Traditional Values Coalition: www.traditionalvalues.org

National Council of La Raza: www.nclr.org