Posted: Jul 21, 2010 7:48 PM
Updated: Jul 30, 2010 10:17 AM
TUCSON--Another group is boycotting Arizona over the state's new illegal immigration law S.B. 1070. This time it's a large denomination of the Presbyterian Church, the USA denomination.
Rev. Sue Westfall speaks for Presbytery de Cristo, the group of Southern Arizona churches affiliated with Presbyterian Church USA.
About 1070, Westfall says, "It doesn't secure the borders. It doesn't create safe communities. And it doesn't solve the immigration issue."
Westfall believes 1070 creates racial profiling. She says, "We're also getting anecdotal reports of people of color in our Presbyterian churches who are already being asked to show papers. And these are people who are here legally."
Westfall says some churches are considering becoming sanctuaries for immigrants. She says, "It's a symbolic way of saying here you are safe and we will do all that we can in our power to keep you safe if you come to this place."
On the flipside, there are other kinds of Presbyterian churches. And they're not boycotting Arizona.
Desert Springs Presbyterian Church isn't boycotting. It's part of the Presbyterian America branch.
Rev. Steve Cavallaro, pastor of Desert Springs, calls the USA group liberal, while his denomination is more conservative.
He says "There's nothing I can see in 1070 that would say it is necessarily an unjust law. The state is just mirroring the federal laws."
Cavallaro believes a boycott hurts the wrong people. He says, "The people you're hurting are the people who work in the street, the ordinary hard working citizens trying to pay their bills and feed their kids."
Clarification - Rev. Sue Westfall's official title is Presbytery Pastor and Stated Clerk of the Presbytery de Cristo, a group of Presbyterian USA churches in Southern Arizona and part of New Mexico. Westfall is regional coordinator of the group, however she does not speak for the group. Her comments interpret the boycott action taken by the National Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA.
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