On Wednesday the Church World Service, which is based in New York, commended the US Senate for passing the immigration reform package crafted by the bipartisan Gang of Eight, seeing it as being a very important move towards the much needed reform of the country’s immigration service.
“Our staff and peers see the need for change every day,” says the director of the Church World Service, Erol Kekic. “While we wish the bill did more to protect families, it is still a positive change.” The Church World Service began 67 years ago, back in 1946, in order to address the wave of refugees and immigrants that were heading to the United States in the wake of World War II.
There are 17 church denominations that make up the ecumenical group and it has become a strong voice in the current debate over immigration reform in the United States, offering legal support to immigrants in addition to meeting with Congress members and staging prayer vigils in order to help to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation, though Kekic believes that they still have work to do for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, with a bill likely to head to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.
“We will continue these phone calls, actions and advocacy with all members of Congress to improve the bill and see it agreed to by the full Senate and the House,” Kekic claimed in a press release.
