Question: How many people will be accepted under CIR?

Delgado: The 12 million number is conservative. This is talked about as just representing Hispanics. The number is much higher. Definitely higher when we’re talking about helping groups of people from Africa and Asia. Many countries.

Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Conference Call

June 23, 2010

Juan Hernandez: There are some who think that being against immigrants is the prevailing view among Republicans, but this is not true. We have met with many who support comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Today, we want to talk about our meeting this month with Speaker Pelosi and others in Congress. We also went to the White House. The President has been negligent for not bringing the parties together to pass CIR.

Today, we are on another stop on our road show. We’re in Dallas at the Gateway Church where Pastor Robert Morris leads his flock. Pastor Morris is not with us today. His church sent him to a tropical place like Hawaii to celebrate his 30th anniversary. His left us a statement that his assistant will read.

Morris’ Assistant: We are aware of the obstacles the undocumented face every day. We need a workable solution that goes beyond just enforcement measures. We have been accused of being too quiet in the past. We won’t be quiet now.

Hernandez: Next is Rev. Lynn Godsey, the Texas Director of Esperanza for America. Lynn is pushing Senators Cornyn and Hutchison to support reform.

Rev. Lynn Godsey: We see the fears of the undocumented every day. All you need to do is walk into a church and see their hearts. They are not dangerous. If people would do this, perhaps they would not see them as illegals. I’m just so glad God doesn’t require a green card to show up. They’re not asking for amnesty. They’re willing to pay fines and take English classes.

We’re trying to convince Senators Cornyn and Hutchison to sit down with Democrats and do CIR. You know, the clergy have been influential. When they speak, leaders listen.

Hernandez: Next is Richard Land, the President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He was present with us at the D.C. meeting on June 9th.

Richard Land: My conclusion from that meeting is that both sides are too concerned about politics right now. We’re still trying. After the meeting, I spoke at a Southern Baptist convention, where I was warmly received. I am happy to say that HDNet did a segment on me at the convention that was very fair. It aired on June 22nd. At the end, the reporter said that our position on CIR has made some people angry. He then asked if it would split the conservative coalition. I told him that it may split the old coalition but it won’t split the new coalition. We studied the percentage of undocumented people in Southern Baptist churches and found that 1/3 to 1/2 are undocumented.

Hernandez: Next is Rev. Richard Nathan of the Vineyard Church of Columbus, Ohio.

Richard Nathan: We have found that people from 92 countries attend our church. Many of these people have been ground up by our broken immigration laws. They take too long to work. It’s like a lawyer’s full employment act. I believe that immigration unites a broad Christian coalition like no other issue. Look at the differences on gay rights or abortion. It is not sufficient to just act on securing our borders. Congress is not acting but the people in the pews are ahead of the politicians. By a 2-1 margin, evangelicals support CIR. Now we need the President and bi-partisan leaders to come together and pass it.

Hernandez: Next is Rev. Mark Gonzalez, who heads a Texas church and is the President of the Hispanic Coalition for CIR.

Mark Gonzalez: I didn’t attend the D.C. meeting in June because I was trying to influence conservatives at the Texas GOP convention. We weren’t successful in changing the Party platform, but after the convention, I had an opportunity to meet with Gov. Perry and Sen. Cornyn. Sen. Cornyn shared his approach with us and said he wants to be a part of the solution. However, some things have to happen first. Gov. Perry said he wants to obtain 50% of the Texas Hispanic vote. He will have to change to obtain that. It’s clear that leadership is looking at the issue objectively. We’re continuing to conduct community forums to reach out to conservatives.

Hernandez: Next is Father Estevan Jasso, a priest of 40 years at the All Saints Church in Fort Worth.

Estevan Jasso: Immigrants are a blessing to our country and a gift to the church. Undocumented people are building our country. They’re also a blessing financially. They will add $1.5 trillion to GDP over the next 10 years and help add 750,000 to 900,000 new jobs in the next 3 years. Immigrants are the new pioneers in our country. We need their leadership and cannot lose them. The Constitution says that children born here are citizens. We must never forget that. Our economy would lose $2.6 trillion in GDP if there was a mass deportation.

Hernandez: Rev. Samuel Rodriguez can’t be with us today so he has sent Rev. Daniel Delgado.

Daniel Delgado: Both Parties think it will take a miracle to pass CIR this year. We believe in miracles. I am concerned that politicians are taking Hispanics for granted. They say the time if not right for CIR. I don’t support a piecemeal approach but I think we can adopt measures now to build a firewall against extremism. The first step, as laid out by the Administration, is to sue Arizona and invalidate their law. The second is imposing a moratorium on raids. And the third is passage of the DREAM Act so our children won’t have to suffer.

We have been actively working to sign up new voters. Our goal is to sign up 1 million Hispanics by November.

Hernandez: We’ll take questions now.

Question: When is the right time to pass CIR?

Land: We can’t afford to wait. We need to act now to give people hope. We’re at a critical mass. Recent actions are rending the social fabric of our nation.

Delgado: People say we need to secure the border first. By some polls, 57% of Americans favor the Arizona law. But let’s look at the facts. Crime has gone down. We have greatly increased the number of Border Patrol agents and other resources. It is disingenuous to say nothing has been done. The polls are asking questions that couch the options as supporting the Arizona law or doing nothing. When you throw CIR in the mix, people support CIR by a 2-1 margin.

Question: How many people will be accepted under CIR?

Delgado: The 12 million number is conservative. This is talked about as just representing Hispanics. The number is much higher. Definitely higher when we’re talking about helping groups of people from Africa and Asia. Many countries.

Question: Why aren’t more Republicans stepping forward?

Robert Gittelson: We’re in the middle of delicate conversations now. For months, we’ve been holding meetings in D.C., especially on the conservative side. A number of Republican Senators, in their heart of hearts, would help us pass CIR but they don’t want to step out of the shadows now. They said we need true leadership from the White House. If the President would really help, they would step forward. We met with Valerie Jarrett at the White House and told her this. All I can say is that they were receptive.

Question: Are you aware of the root source of the movement opposing CIR efforts?

Gonzalez: FAIR is the best known of the opposition groups. The Center for Immigration Studies and NumbersUSA are involved, too. These groups have been at the root of giving information that leadership takes hook, line and sinker. They say they are not anti-immigrant, just anti-illegal immigrant. But some of the people associated with some of the groups are racist.

Hernandez: Thank you for participating today. Our next conference call will be on July 7th when we are in Florida.