Rooted partially in Christian philosophy, Martin Luther King's vision
of the "beloved community" speaks to his deep belief that all human
beings are interconnected, and that for society to be whole and
healthy, every single member needs to be integrated -- accepted,
cherished, even loved. Desegregation -- the passing of laws that finished the
legal discrimination against blacks -- was not enough. In the "beloved
community," people of every color, religious background and national
origin live harmoniously with people not like themselves, but in the
recognition that everyone is interconnected and dependent on one another.

It's one of the beliefs that guides Rev. Alexia Salvatierra in the work
she does for the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice as executive director. Salvatierra
and other religious leaders from the Los Angeles area spoke Wednesday
at a panel discussion sponsored by USC's Center for the Study of
Immigrant Integration.
 
Religion plays an important role in shaping the immigrant experience in the United States, yet its significance in the realm of immigrant rights advocacy is ignored. From the moment immigrants arrive in
this country, they are welcomed by an institution they trust, an institution that has
crossed borders along with them. It takes the shape of a church, a
synagogue, or a mosque, and the rituals that connect the migrants to
their families back home, and to their ancestors, help them find
meaning in their adopted home.
 
Sociology professor Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, who has researched the
role of religion in immigration activism, regrets this secular bias and
the unwillingness of academics, researchers and even journalists to
explore this link.
 
Indeed, religious activism could be the missing piece in achieving
comprehensive immigration reform. And the most important part of that piece is white evangelicals.

Three years ago, the evangelical movement witnessed a watershed moment
when prominent leaders in white evangelical churches refused to support
comprehensive immigration reform and favored instead deportation. Calling immigration reform a "family value" issue, Latino evangelicals responded
by leaving the Republican Party -- and its strong religious right base
-- in droves.

Why would this religious wing, so concerned with the sacredness of life
-- judging by their opposition to abortion and stem cell research -- reject the most basic rights to millions of human beings? If
their response is "because they're illegal," then that's hypocritical.
Abortion is legal, but that doesn't stop them from trying to change the
law. "Legality" is just a technicality in this case.

I suspect many in the immigrant rights movement have strong opinions
why white evangelicals have been reluctant to support immigration
reform, but I'm not going to venture an opinion. What's important is
the fact that Salvatierra and many other evangelicals are
trying to reach out to their brothers and sisters in faith so that the next
time immigration reform comes around they won't oppose them. It may
happen during this administration, or on a second Obama term, but
legislation that attempts to deal with millions of people leaving in
the shadows is bound to resurface.

Hopefully by then, people of faith like Salvatierra and other activists
will have built enough bridges and convinced many others that immigrants, too,
belong in the "beloved community."