Brought to you by: Mercy Hospital

Toolsview all


Clergy seeking voice in immigration talks

 
By Michael McNutt | Published: February 12, 2008    Comment on this article Leave a comment

Religious leaders should be included in the mix with politicians and business officials in discussions involving the state's immigration law, a Lutheran bishop said Monday to members of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches.

More Info

Oklahoma's immigration law
House Bill 1804, among other things, requires employers doing business within the state to verify the eligibility status of all new workers.

By the summer, it will require businesses to verify the work authorization status of any individual independent contractors. It also contains a provision allowing terminated employees to bring discrimination suits against their employers if they can show that an undocumented worker replaced them.

Advertisement

"The jury's still out” on the state's immigration law, House Bill 1804, that took effect Nov. 1, said the Rev. Floyd Schoenhals, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod.

"The voices of fear are dominant,” said Schoenhals, who lives in Tulsa. "It has caused a lot of fear among those immigrants who are among us and many of them have left because it's raised the issue of fear.”

Several business groups have filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma's immigration enforcement law. The suit claims the Oklahoma law undermines federal immigration law and imposes unreasonable burdens on state businesses.

Legislation has been filed to repeal HB 1804, but legislative leaders have said chances of those succeeding are slim.

"More people need to be brought to the table in terms of discussing the issue and trying to take a look back at what was done in November and what ought to be changed about that and what ought to be done in the future,” Schoenhals said.

Page 1 of 2

Toolsview all



Related Topics: Culture and Lifestyle, Domestic Policy, Social Policy, Political Policy, Politics, Social Issues, U.S. Politics, Criminal Sentencing and Punishment, Religion, Christianity, Business, World Politics, Immigration Policy, Civil Trials, Trials, Protestantism, Lutheran Church, Capital Punishment, Immigration, Crime and Law, Government and Politics, U.S. State Politics, Oklahoma Politics



Leave a Comment

Thank you for joining our conversation on NewsOK.com. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy. Please help by flagging comments that violate these guidelines. Posts that contain obscene or vulgar language will be immediately flagged and not posted.

If you prefer your thoughts to appear in The Oklahoman, we encourage you to submit a letter to the editor.

Would you like to leave a comment?

Log in or sign up (it's free).

comments powered by Disqus

Ads by Yahoo!

53yr Old Woman, Looks 25
Mom reveals simple wrinkle trick that has angered doctors...
www.ConsumerLifestyleMag.com
53-Year-Old Mom Looks 27
Follow this 1 weird tip and remove 20 years of wrinkles in 21 days.
SmartConsumerMagazine.com

News Photo Galleriesview all