The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is wading very gingerly into the issue of immigration reform.
Immigration has long been an awkward issue for evangelicals. Most of the nation's large, politically influential evangelical organizations have either supported legislation that focuses on border enforcement and deporting illegal immigrants or have taken no position on the issue. But smaller white church groups and Hispanic evangelicals have supported what they consider more compassionate treatment of illegal immigrants, including a path to citizenship and streamlined procedures for reuniting separated families.
So far, the NAE, whose members encompass 52 denominations, hasn't taken a position on the issue because its members have been divided on how to deal with it. But they won't be much longer....