I’ve written before about the partisan disagreement regarding immigration reform and the increasingly militant and hostile actions many Americans are taking to address illegal immigration into the U.S. I’ve also agreed with many liberals who say that enforcement strategies alone do not address the root causes of illegal immigration and will therefore do little more than lead to more division and tensions on both sides of the debate.

In that context, the Christian Science Monitor has an article that describes an encouraging development: many religious groups agree that true immigration reform needs to be a comprehensive balance of both enforcement and social services that recognize the humanity of the illegal immigrants:

While faith leaders support the need to enforce the law and protect national security, many say that a strict emphasis on enforcement not only fails to reflect American values and history, but has already backfired. Only reform that includes safe, legal avenues for workers needed in US society, they add, can deal realistically with the economic and social forces at work. . . .

More than 40 religious groups - Christian, Jewish, and Muslim - have joined in a statement to Congress and the president, and many are gearing up to press the Senate this month for more balanced legislation. The US House passed a stringent anti-immigration bill in December that, among other things, made it a crime to assist an illegal immigrant.

Faith-based organizations, which provide health and social services to low-income people, say the bill could jeopardize their staffs. While lawmakers insist that isn’t the case, others point to recent events in Arizona. Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz, volunteers in a church-related humanitarian program, No More Deaths, are being prosecuted for transporting three illegal migrants they found ill in the Arizona desert.

I’m very glad to see that many (although not all) faith-based social service organizations realize that the issue is a lot more complicated than Mexicans illegally crossing the border. As I’ve said all along, there are unmistakable structural forces that create an overwhelming demand for their labor here in the U.S. and international trade policies that drive them to leave their homes in Mexico to begin with.

I just hope that this is a positive trend that will make more Americans see that yes, we need immigration reform, but real reform must include a balanced and comprehensive set of measures that address the root causes of the problems, rather than just putting a band-aid on the wound.