An April 29 letter echoes opposition and warns that church workers could be at risk if they help illegal immigrants

The issue of immigration enforcement in Arizona has been a hot topic in recent days.

So hot, in fact, that it has inspired boycotts on travel to the state and public demonstrations, such as the one in Wrigley Field in Chicago on April 29 where news of the Cubs and Diamondbacks baseball game focused on “protest” rather than “pastime.”

While national and state officials are weighing the controversial issue, the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has joined the fray by stating its opposition to the border state’s new law aimed at curbing illegal immigration.

Arizona passed a law last week that allows police to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. Its authors have claimed it necessary in lieu of the federal government’s failure to address the issue. Its opponents, who are quickly lining up to challenge the law in court, claim it’s unconstitutional and encourages racial profiling.

An April 29 letter to Congress signed by PCUSA Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow, Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons and General Assembly Mission Council Executive Director Linda Valentine, echoes opposition and warns that church workers could be at risk if they help illegal immigrants. The letter also calls for comprehensive immigration reform in 2010, a theme that will come up at this summer’s General Assembly in “social witness” efforts.

“The bigotry, trauma, and fear that will result from the recent new law enacted in Arizona, SB 1070, which criminalizes those who are found ‘with’ undocumented persons and requires law enforcement officers to identify and detain such persons, serves to underscore the necessity of action at the federal level,” the letter states.