SACRAMENTO, CA – Rev. Samuel Rodriguez issues the following statement on behalf of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference: 

“As week three of the current government shutdown drags on, we at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) believe now is the time to come together as a nation, and we must do so quickly. We can and we must seize upon one of the great debates of our time, and chisel from the hard stone of division just the sort of compromise which has built the foundations of our national unity so many times before.

“First, we must stop oversimplifying the immigration debate into right and wrong and ‘us’ versus ‘them’. We are unified as a nation not when we agree on specific policies, but rather when we hold fast to the same civic rules on how to reach conclusions to our most difficult questions. Both sides of this debate believe they know what’s best for America, and both believe they know how best to get us there. In that spirit, and in joining with millions of Hispanic Americans all across the country, the NHCLC urgently calls upon both Democrats and Republicans to end our current impasse. We urge Democrats to fund the president’s calls for increased border security, and we likewise call on Republicans to provide a permanent solution for Dreamers.

“The time is now, fund the wall and give us DACA!”

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Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, executive producer of “The Impossible” with 20th Century Fox, and bestselling author of “Shake Free.” He has been named by CNN and Fox News as “the leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement” and TIME Magazine nominated him among the 100 most influential leaders in America.

Twitter | @nhclc            Website | PastorSam.com

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is recognized by Time Magazine, New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Christianity Today, Charisma Magazine, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, Fox News and CNN as America’s largest and most influential Hispanic/Latino Christian organization with 40,118 certified member churches in the United States and chapters throughout Latin America.

Website | NHCLC.org