Oklahoma Independent Media Center

Clergy seeking voice in immigration talks
http://newsok.com/article/3203543/1202789181

By Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau

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.

"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. "Faith leaders, business leaders, more people need to be invited into the conversation to find a way to hear all the voices on the matter.”

Schoenhals said an increasing number of immigrants are going to Arkansas because of that state's poultry industry.

Speaking to more than 100 during the Oklahoma Conference of Churches annual legislative day at the state Capitol, Schoehnals said the same approach should be used with immigration that was used with prohibition.

Prohibition laws, he said, were aimed to regulate alcohol in a workable way and the state should use the "same sensible approach” to deal with immigration instead of passing laws that can cause harm.

Death penalty discussed
Also during the session, Lydia Polley urged members to support Senate Bill 2193.

The bill, by Sen. Connie Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, would create a task force to study the state's death penalty procedures to see if it complies with U.S. constitutional standards and if it disproportionately affects minorities. The measure calls for a moratorium on the death penalty during the study.

Similar studies have died in committees. Polley urged lawmakers to let the bill advance out of committee "so it can be on the floor to be debated.”

Church Women United in Oklahoma presented its human rights award to Johnson and to Nathaniel Batchelder, director of the Oklahoma City Peace House.