By Jen Smyers

Migration is not only the story of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and the 24 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide. It is also the story of Adam and Eve; Lehi’s family; the Israelites; Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; and many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This history, accompanied by frequent commandments to “welcome the stranger” in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine & Covenants,¹ signals a standing, divine mandate for Latter-day Saints to welcome modern-day immigrants.

With the signing of the Utah Compact² in November 2010; the passage of the Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act³ in March 2011 and subsequent legal battle; and a summit on immigration held in Salt Lake in October 2011,⁴ the Church’s stance on immigration has been in the public eye. The attitudes of LDS Church members have also been nationally noted due to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and to the recent recall of Arizona state senator and Mormon Russell Pearce,⁵ architect of Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB1070, who publicly opposed⁶ the Church’s positions on immigration.

This article is not the first public discussion about immigration and the LDS Church. At the 2007 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium, Mary Ellen Robertson, Michael Clara, Bill Hansen, Toby Pingree, and Michael Stevens led a panel discussion titled “Jesus Wasn’t a Minuteman: A Dialogue on Immigration and Christian Responsibility.” They considered the disconnect between LDS teaching on the subject of immigration and the behavior of LDS lawmakers and other members who treat immigrants as less than human. Panelists also told of Church members who could not attend the temple due to border checkpoints, and who struggled with the quandary LDS members and leaders find themselves in as they try to obey both the laws of the land and the laws of God.⁷

Just two months later, Rebecca van Uitert published “Undocumented Immigrants in the United States: A Discussion of Catholic Social Thought and ‘Mormon Social Thought’ Principles” in the Journal of Catholic Legal Studies. Van Uitert quoted President Gordon B. Hinckley’s counseling the Saints to be “full participants in political, governmental, and community affairs” and documented official Church policies that give members, regardless of immigration status, the right to enjoy the full benefits of the Gospel, including baptism, temple attendance, and mission service.⁸

Another Sunstone Symposium panel, “Mormonism and Immigration,” led by Kaimipono Wenger and Mary Ellen Robertson, highlighted how U.S. immigration policies fail to reflect the LDS principle that “the worth of souls is great in the sight of God”⁹ and how they run contrary to the principles in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”¹⁰ Wenger and Robertson also noted that high levels of immigration fulfill the second chapter of Isaiah¹¹ and that Latter-day Saints should use the welcome the Nephites gave the people of Ammon as a model for welcoming immigrants today. Wenger and Robertson urged LDS members to provide services to immigrants and to advocate on their behalf.

This article builds on these discussions in hopes that immigration reform will be elevated in the LDS community’s  list of priorities.

Migration: An Overview

Beginning with Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, migration has been a worldwide event, and modern-day revelation asserts that it will continue even after the second coming of Christ.¹² Due largely to increased income disparity, improved mobility, globalization, and frequent environmental and human-caused disasters, global migration is at an all-time high, with an estimated 200 million immigrants worldwide today.¹³ Migration is most often a benefit to the receiving country,¹⁴ but as an increasing number of people immigrate to seek opportunities, anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia become increasingly accepted types of discrimination and prejudice.

The U.S. Immigration System

As is evident from the ongoing political controversy, the U.S. immigration system is broken. Visa backlogs can be as long as 22 years for family-based visas and seven years for employment-based visas. Partly as a result of this situation, there are approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, many of whom are children and all of whom are vulnerable to employer exploitation, raids, deportation, and ostracism. Unnecessary detention of immigrants and deaths in immigration detention facilities have skyrocketed.¹⁵ A misguided focus on border militarization and interior enforcement through programs such as Secure Communities has increased desert deaths, decreased community safety, and wasted billions of dollars. For immigrants who manage to stay in the United States, the waiting list for English classes can sometimes be as long as six years. As global displacement increases, the United States’ rate of refugee acceptance has plummeted, and many states are following Arizona into anti-immigrant policy-making that tears families and communities apart. These are life-shattering problems that must be solved.

Consequences of Ostracism

When we read of racial epithets spoken by allegedly religious people during the Civil Rights era, we’re shocked at the hatred expressed toward African Americans. If we don’t want the next generation to be similarly appalled by our epithets, we need to examine the language we use to refer to immigrant communities. I especially worry about the term, “illegals.” When people commit a traffic violation or even steal from a store, they aren’t forever labeled an “illegal driver” or an “illegal customer,” but when people cross a border illegally (a misdemeanor) or overstay a visa (a civil infraction), they are called an “illegal immigrant” or simply an “illegal.” Those seeking to uphold the LDS doctrinal emphasis on love, family, and civic engagement should studiously avoid using this label.

That may be difficult, however, since television personalities constantly discuss immigrants in a derogatory way. When his television show was still on air, Lou Dobbs frequently characterized immigrants as a collective enemy, accusing them of “invading” the United States. Fox News’s Glenn Beck (an LDS Church member) and Sean Hannity frequently disparaged immigrants on their programs, using terms such as “swarms,” “hoard,” “bringers of disease,” “indecent,” “invaders,” and “lepers.”¹⁶

As it has become more socially acceptable to voice such comments about immigrants, hate groups and hate crimes against Hispanics have increased by more than 25 percent in one decade.¹⁷ Meanwhile, on a government level, laws such as Arizona’s SB 1070 that targets immigrants—documented and undocumented—are increasing. The passage of these laws does not correlate meaningfully to the number of immigrants in the places where these laws are passed nor with unemployment rates in these places.¹⁸ These laws are passed, rather, on the strength of anti-immigrant sentiments driven by fear, pride, xenophobia, a sense of entitlement, and an instinct to exclude.

LDS Opinions on Immigration

It is difficult to quantify viewpoints on immigration among Latter-day Saints, but some useful data does exist. For example, the majority of the seventeen LDS members of the U.S. House and Senate have taken hard-line stances against undocumented immigrants. Senators Crapo (R-ID) and  Hatch (R-UT) have even voted against bills that would have allowed children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants to access medical care. Conversely, senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), as well as representative Jeff Flake (AZ-6), have sponsored and supported many positive immigration bills, such as the STRIVE Act, which would improve the visa system and allow undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, and the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented children to qualify for in-state tuition. Senator Hatch has sponsored the DREAM Act in the past, but due to recent electoral pressure in Utah, he has voted against the bill numerous times.

Utah’s treatment of immigrants has been fairly moderate; allowing undocumented immigrants access to in-state tuition and driving privilege cards so they can obtain education and auto insurance. However, other LDS politicians, Mitt Romney among them, can be vitriolic in their anti-immigrant policy stances and campaign rhetoric.¹⁹ Arizona state senator Russell Pearce, perhaps the most publicly active anti-immigrant member of the Church, wrote and championed Arizona’s SB 1070, which launched a domino effect of other anti-immigrant laws being passed by states around the country. Pearce was recently recalled from office  with help from LDS voters.²⁰ These politicians’ stance is similar to that of some largely LDS organizations such as Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (UFIRE), which lobbies state legislators to discriminate against immigrants and seeks to require local police to act as federal immigration officials. However, many Latter-day Saints have come out publicly on behalf of undocumented immigrants.²¹

The best study to date of LDS attitudes toward immigration is Benjamin R. Kroll’s “‘And Who is My Neighbor?’ Religion and Attitudes toward Immigration Policy.” Kroll predicts that, because of the Church’s early history of immigration, a shared sense of marginalization with undocumented immigrants as members of a misunderstood religion, and the large number of members who have served missions in Spanish-speaking areas, Latter-day Saints would be more supportive of progressive immigration policies. He found that while control variables signaled that LDS individuals were less likely to take progressive policy stances in general, they were more likely than were Catholics or Protestants to support progressive immigration policies such as earned legal status for undocumented immigrants, and more likely to oppose strident anti-immigrant policies such as mass deportation.²²

Immigrant members of the Church encounter discrimination, anti-immigrant sentiments, and apathy toward their plight—even from people of their own faith. For this reason, I focus next on doctrinal and historical dimensions of immigration and LDS faith.

LDS Doctrine

Both biblical and latter-day scripture teach that migration has been a part of Heavenly Father’s eternal plan.²³ Adam and Eve’s emigration from the Garden of Eden was necessary for humanity’s beginning and for the plan of salvation to take effect. Moses was an emigrant, leading the Israelites from Egypt. Ruth was an immigrant during a time of extreme antagonism toward foreigners, and when Boaz welcomed her, he was blessed with offspring who eventually included King David and Jesus Christ. Joseph of the Old Testament was a forced immigrant to Egypt. Later, he brought his family to Egypt as economic migrants escaping famine. Lehi, Sariah, Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel were immigrants to the American continent. Mary, Joseph, and young Jesus himself fled to another country to escape Herod’s campaign to kill all male children. Jesus’s twelve disciples crossed international borders and made their home in other countries as they carried the gospel from Jerusalem to the known world. For preaching the gospel, Paul was deported from many cities and had to flee for his life. During his ministry, Christ preached radical inclusion in his parables of the day laborers and the good Samaritan. Ammon and the sons of Mosiah immigrated to the Lamanite lands where they lived and taught for years. A Jaredite refugee, Coriantumr, was taken in by the people of Zarahemla. And the history of the modern Church is replete with periods of immigration.

With such an array of examples, along with scriptural injunctions to “love thy neighbor as thyself” and “do not oppress the worker,” Latter-day Saints should naturally develop humane views of immigrants and immigration policy. We should strive to imitate the righteous concern of God, who “doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger”(Deuteronomy 10:18).

Twice the Lord commands that we are not to “pervert the judgment of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.”²⁴ Matthew 25:35 says that when we welcome the stranger, we welcome Christ, but if we do not welcome “the least of these,” we will reject Christ, calling down upon us the judgment: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”²⁵ In sum, welcome the stranger, or go to hell. This stern message is echoed in Malachi, “I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.”²⁶ Interestingly while many politicians, pundits, and anti-immigrant individuals would place immigrants alongside adulterers, false swearers, and other criminals, God does not. Instead, he places those who turn the stranger away alongside others who will be harshly judged.

Some may argue that our sympathies should be reserved for those fleeing persecution, not those immigrating simply in search of better economic opportunities. But then what of Abraham, the Israelites, or Ruth and Naomi?²⁷ The Old Testament commands us not only to welcome strangers in economic need but also to allow them to possess land and make a living among us.²⁸ In addition, the Book of Mormon states that everyone who immigrates to the promised land from other countries is brought by the hand of God and that the land is consecrated to them.

But, said he [Lehi], notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord. Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord. Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. (2 Nephi 1:5–7)

The Church believes that some people living in Central and South America are descendents of Lehi and therefore the very ones today’s LDS members are commanded to love and welcome into the gospel.²⁹ In a 1976 speech, Elder J. Thomas Fyans discussed multiple prophesies and modern-day revelations that cite the importance of bringing the Lamanites into the fold.³⁰

LDS History

The Church teaches that God directed events in the United States to prepare for the Restoration. The First and Second Great Awakenings in the early British colonies and the early U.S. paved the way for the restoration of the gospel. These movements would not have been possible without the wave of European immigrants who brought different traditions and interpretations of Christianity. This religious diversity would not have been possible in a nation with restrictive immigration policies.

Joseph Smith, Sr. was one of many migrants to Palmyra where the Smiths were forced to pay inflated prices for their land and work odd jobs to secure a livelihood. Some of the trials the Smith family faced would sound familiar to those acquainted with the lives of immigrants today.

During the early years of the Restoration, the Saints were frequently refugees, fleeing mobs and having to reestablish themselves on uncultivated land. Open U.S. immigration policies allowed tens of thousands of converts to immigrate from Europe to join the Saints. Between 1840 and 1910, with the Church’s financial and logistical help, more than 103,000 Latter-day Saints immigrated to the United States. Church leaders raised funds, supplied wagons and provisions, and provided leadership through the long haul west. Of the members of the original pioneer companies, at least 50 percent were immigrants who had already survived trans-Atlantic voyages to the United States before embarking on the long journey across the plains.

LDS immigrants, particularly from northern Europe, were usually assimilated into communities and congregations quickly. New arrivals who did not speak English availed themselves of Church-sponsored publications and activities in their native languages while attending worship services in English. Brigham Young even called a commission to develop the “Deseret Alphabet,” a phonetic version of English that would make the learning and reading of English easier for new immigrants.

This influx of converts allowed the LDS Church to gain economic, political, and religious dominance in the West and promoted the sense of group identity necessary to sustain the new church. The idea that immigrants needed assistance, not only to travel but also to establish themselves in their new home, was widely accepted among the Saints. Despite being hard-pressed for resources, resident Saints supported newcomers and did not object (publicly anyway) to their tithing funds going to help them. In today’s terms, these immigrants were “low-skilled” migrant workers, but they were still sought after.

Many stories from those who traveled to the United States during this period mention that immigration was difficult and confusing unless you were a member of the Mormon Church. “The ordinary emigrant is exposed to all the chances and misadventures of a heterogeneous, childish, mannerless crowd during the voyage, and to the merciless cupidity of land-sharks the moment he has touched the opposite shore. But the Mormon ship is a Family under strong and accepted discipline, with every provision for comfort, decorum, and internal peace. On his arrival in the New World the wanderer is received into a confraternity which speeds him onwards with as little hardship and anxiety as the circumstances permit and he is passed on from friend to friend, till he reaches the promised home.”³¹

Many LDS immigrants came to this country “undocumented” because the only immigration restrictions in place at the time were directed at the Chinese and carriers of disease. Not until the late 1890s did the United States implement immigration processing. A law passed in the 1790s stated that, “any alien, being a free white person, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States.” Later, some additional restrictions were put in place to keep out

all idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, epileptics, insane persons . . . persons with chronic alcoholism; paupers; professional beggars; vagrants; persons afflicted with tuberculosis in any form . . . persons who have been convicted of or admit having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; polygamists, or persons who practice polygamy or believe in or advocate the practice of polygamy; anarchists, or persons who believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States.³²

Between 1848 and 1890, 40 percent of Church bishops and presiding elders were born outside the United States; including 29 percent of stake presidents and many general authorities (at least 18 out of 118 from 1909–1970).³³ These numbers are even higher among area seventies and general authorities today, with foreign-born leaders accounting for a greater number of Church leaders than the ratio of foreign-born to native-born persons in the United States.

After the passage of the anti-polygamy Edmunds Act of 1882, many faithful members of the Church practicing polygamy escaped arrest by fleeing to Canada. Not only did Canada’s humane and relaxed immigration policies allow the Church to expand, it allowed many Church members to find sanctuary and paved the way for the building of the first LDS temple outside the United States.³⁴

The Mormon Immigration Index highlights the lives and records of 1,000 of these immigrant pioneers of our faith. One can find many stories of these immigrants being welcomed—and not so welcomed. Our sympathy for the struggles of immigrants should extend beyond our history books and to all of those around us today who bear similar burdens. The worth of a soul is no greater for a person living in Argentina, South Korea, Brazil, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, or Paraguay³⁵ than it is for a person who has immigrated to the United States.

Current LDS Action

I have heard many returned missionaries tell heartfelt stories about the people they met on their missions—often served in very poor countries. They love and care for these people and will often return to help them both spiritually and temporally. Unfortunately, many of those same returned missionaries and their friends can demonstrate intolerance, judgment, and exclusion towards those same impoverished people when they try to enter the United States. In their home countries, these Saints are loved and pitied, but once they enter “our” territory, they are met with disdain.

One LDS chapel in San Marcos, California, has opened itself to dispense immigration services, such as issuing matricula cards. Of the Church’s decision, spokesperson Scott Trotter said that the Church “provided the location simply as an act of neighborliness, just as it has for evacuation centers during major fires and in housing the National Guard, or providing temporary relief for flood victims in New Orleans and Iowa.”³⁶

In his April 2006 general conference talk “The Need for Greater Kindness,” President Gordon B. Hinckley stated,

Racial strife still lifts its ugly head. I am advised that even right here among us there is some of this. I cannot understand how it can be . . . Now I am told that racial slurs and denigrating remarks are sometimes heard among us. I remind you that no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church of Christ.³⁷

The talk was given during heightened anti-immigrant sentiment surrounding the Utah legislature’s consideration of anti-immigrant ordinances and the introduction of various immigration proposals in the U.S. Congress. Salt Lake Tribune columnist Paul Rolly commented, “There has been a sense of racism . . . in recently passed legislation to replace driver licenses with restrictive I.D. cards for undocumented workers . . . That’s why Hinckley’s remarks, at this time, have political significance.”³⁸

President Harold B. Lee had expressed similar sentiments three decades earlier when he said,

There is no room for discrimination in the Church. We are having come into the Church now many people of various nationalities. We in the Church must remember that we have a history of persecution, discrimination against our civil rights, and our constitutional privileges being withheld from us. Those who are members of the Church, regardless of their color, their national origin, are members of the church and kingdom of God. Some of them have told us that they are being shunned. There are snide remarks. We are withdrawing ourselves from them in some cases. Now we must extend the hand of fellowship to men everywhere, and to all who are truly converted and who wish to join the Church and partake of the many rewarding opportunities to be found therein. . . . We ask the Church members to strive to emulate the example of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, who gave us the new commandment that we should love one another. I wish we could remember that.³⁹

Both of these prophets’ words provide insight into how they would respond to the immigration issues of today. Immigrants are certainly included in these pleas for complete inclusion and an end to discrimination.

During a month while Utah was considering legislation that would have barred undocumented children from accessing in-state tuition at colleges and taken away driving privilege cards from undocumented immigrants, the Salt Lake Tribune reported on two events where LDS church leaders officially encouraged lawmakers and the public to support more equitable immigration policies. On 11 January 2008, Elder M. Russell Ballard and other Church leaders met with Utah legislators, asking for cooler heads to prevail. Church spokesperson Scott Trotter followed with comments that immigration status does not preclude anyone from participating fully in the LDS Church, including being baptized, serving a mission, and serving in the temple.⁴⁰

Less than three weeks later, Marlin K. Jensen of the Quorum of the Seventy stated that legislators should “take a step back” to carefully study and assess the implications and human costs involved in their decisions. “Immigration questions are questions dealing with God’s children. I believe a more thoughtful and factual, not to mention humane approach is warranted, and urge those responsible for enactment of Utah’s immigration policy to measure twice before they cut.”⁴¹ Later he stated later that “The church’s view of someone in undocumented status is akin, in a way, to a civil trespass . . . There is nothing inherently wrong about that status.”⁴² He was absolutely correct legally, since being undocumented can mean either overstaying a visa, which is a civil offense, or crossing a border, which is a misdemeanor. Jensen also pointed out that immigration is a moral and ethical issue, as well as being a political one.⁴³

Most recently, the Church endorsed the Utah Compact⁴⁴ on immigration and made public statements regarding immigration legislation in Utah.⁴⁵ Since that time, it has faced criticism from anti-immigrant groups, a signal that the Church is fulfilling its scriptural mandate to be a prophetic voice for immigrants.⁴⁶ There is still a long way to go, though, especially in light of laws being introduced across the country that outlaw renting property, offering utilities, and providing public education to undocumented immigrants. The Church’s voice of compassion and justice needs to be heard more loudly and forcefully.

Policy Motivated by Doctrine, History

At least five reforms to U.S. immigration law are needed. First, the visa system must be reworked to not only efficiently process the backlog of family-based and employment-based applications, but to ensure that such backlogs do not accrue again. Second, due process must be restored, and the detention of immigrants who pose no threat to society must stop—especially the detention of children, families, and asylum seekers. Third, all workers must be provided the same rights, and our border policy should allow for cyclical migration, implementing humane approaches to surveillance and safety. Fourth, migrant integration needs to be central to immigration policy. Fifth, we must provide a path to legal status for those who are undocumented.

The Twelfth Article of Faith states that Latter-day Saints are to follow the laws of the land. However, when a system is as broken as our immigration system is, we must recognize that our laws must improve, and we must advocate for the most humane changes to those laws. For example, the Church was involved in implementing the 1986 “amnesty” program to help undocumented immigrants process their paperwork to obtain legal status.⁴⁷

Concerning undocumented immigrants, the question is not “should the law be enforced” but “how should we enforce our laws?” We should enforce them in a proportional and humane way: not separating families, terrorizing communities, or operating inhumane detention facilities. We must recognize that our immigration system needs to be fixed. In this way, we can demonstrate both justice and mercy, allowing people to pay their fines but also helping them gain citizenship.

A story is told of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who served as both a judge and the mayor of Nauvoo. He was confronted with the case of Anthony, a man of African descent and a former slave. Anthony was accused of a rather serious violation of the law. When Joseph confronted Anthony, he pleaded for mercy, indicating that he needed the money from his illicit activities to purchase the freedom of his child, who was still living in slavery. Joseph expressed his sympathy for Anthony’s plight but insisted that the law must be observed and that a fine would have to be imposed. The next day, in a sincere effort to do good to his fellowman, Joseph gave Anthony a fine horse that he could use to buy the child’s freedom.⁴⁸

Humane and practical actions need not be mutually exclusive. The LDS Church and its individual members should more fully embrace the doctrinal mandate to welcome the stranger. In the public and political sphere, the Church should continue to sound its voice and increase its boldness. It can educate its members on the doctrinal and historical reasons for doing the same.

In a June 1974 Brigham Young University fireside address, “The Land Choice Above All,” Elder Hartman Rector, Jr., said,

Another reason why I love the U.S.A. is that she provides a haven for those who have no hope. It doesn’t make any difference what nation they come from. The inscription on the Statue of Liberty says it very well. . . . The people have come from all nations.⁴⁹

He tells the stories of immigrants and refugees—members of the Church who affirm that because of its welcoming and charitable attitude, the United States saved their lives.

“This nation has been established primarily to preach the gospel,” Rector said further. “Nations such as this are not established just to enjoy prosperity and ease in living, though we have that; but if we let this be our object and design, the nation will not remain free.” Instead of fretting about preserving our privileged lifestyles, we should be helping newcomers establish themselves, doing missionary work through inclusivity and welcome. Rector continues, “It’s not enough just to be good; you’ve got to be good for something. . . . We need to be good for everybody that we touch. . . . All those who come to this land are led by the Spirit of the Lord.”⁵⁰

NOTES

1.  See Exodus 12:49; 22:21; 23:9, 12; Leviticus 19:32–37; Deuteronomy 10:18–19; 27:19; Isaiah 52:4; Jeremiah 22:3; Malachi 3:5; Matthew 25: 35–46; Ephesians 2:19; 1 Timothy 5:10; Hebrews 13:2; Mosiah 13:18; 3 Nephi 24:5; D&C 124:23, 56.

2.  “The Utah Compact: A Declaration of Five Principles to Guide Utah’s Immigration Discussion,” http://utahcompact.com (accessed 30 November 2011).

3.  S. Sandstrom, H.B. 497: Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act, 30 September 2011, http://le.utah.gov/~2011/htmdoc/hbillhtm/hb0497.htm (accessed 30 November 2011).

4.  Angela Santos, “Utah Leaders Hold Summit on Immigration,” Fox News Latino, http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/10/27/utah-leaders-speak-out-on-effects-enforcement-only-style-immigration-reform/ (accessed 30 Novem-ber 2011).

5.  Elise Foley, “Russell Pearce Recall Election: Arizona Immigration Law Architect Defeated By Jerry Lewis,” The Huffington Post, 8 November 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/russell-pearce-recall-election-jerry-lewis_n_1083129.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

6.  Becca Kuck, “The LDS Church, Russell Pearce, and Compassion,” Musings on Immigration: An Immigration Attorney’s Perspective on Life, Liberty, and Happiness, August 2010, http://musingsonimmigration.blogspot.com/
2010/08/lds-church-russell-pearce-and.html, (accessed 30 November 2011).

7.  “Jesus Wasn’t a Minuteman: A Dialogue on Immigration and Christian Responsibility,” Sunstone Symposium Salt Lake City, 11 August 2007, audio file SL07375.

8.  Rebecca van Uitert, “Undocumented Immigrants in the United States: A Discussion of Catholic Social Thought and ‘Mormon Social Thought,’” The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 277 (2007), 277–313.

9.  D&C 18:10.

10.      The 1995 Proclamation on the Family declares that “children are entitled to . . . be reared by a father and a mother.”

11.      “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2).

12.      D&C 84:2; 133:12; Moses 7:62–63; 3 Nephi 21:23–24.“Chapter 45: The Millennium,” Gospel Principles (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2009), http://lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-45-the-millennium?lang=eng (accessed 30 November 2011).

13.      World Migration 2008: Managing Labour Mobility in the Evolving Global Economy (Geneva, Switzerland: The International Organization for Migration, 2008), http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/WMR_1.pdf (accessed 30 November 2011). See also Philip Martin and Gottfried Zürcher, “Managing Migration: The Global Challenge,” Population Reference Bureau, http://www.prb.org/Publications/PopulationBulletins/2008/managingmigration.aspx (accessed 30 November 2011).

14.      “Franco Frattini’s Speech at High-level Conference on Legal Immigration,” Lisbon, Spain, 13 September 2007, Soderkoping Process, http://soderkoping.org.ua/page15679.html (accessed 30 November 2011);  George J. Borgas, “The Economic Benefits from Immigration,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9 (2), 3–22.

15.      “Time Topics: In-Custody Deaths,” New York Times, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration_detention_us/incustody_deaths/index.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

16.      NCLRweb, “Codewords of Hate,” http://www.youtube.com/user/NCLRweb#p/u/1/5kCpoXbCpqQ (accessed 30 November 2011).

17.      Brentin Mock, “Immigration Backlash: Hate Crimes against Latinos Flourish,” Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report 128, http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2007/winter/immigration-backlash (accessed 30 November 2011).

18.      “Enacted State Legislation Related to Immigrants and Immigration,”  National Conference of State Legislatures, 2006, 2007, 2010, http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13106 and http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?
tabid=21857 (accessed 20 December 2011).

19.      Mitt Romney campaign ad in the Tucson Citizen, http://tucsoncitizen.com/hispanic-politico/files/2011/11/romney-attacks-on-john-mccain.gif (accessed 30 November 2011);               Michael Gerson. “Accommodation of Anger,” Washington Post, 27 October 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/accommodation-of-anger/2011/10/26/gIQA9wFNNM_story.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

20.      Rachel Weiner, “Arizona Recall: Why Russell Pearce Lost,” Washington Post, 9 November 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/arizona-recall-why-russell-pearce-lost/2011/11/09/gIQALj6a5M_blog.html (accessed 30 November 2011);  David Montero, “Arizonans Oust Immigration Firebrand Russell Pearce,” Salt Lake Tribune, 8 November 2011, http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52873568-90/ballots-church-election-immigration.html.csp (accessed 30 November 2011).

21.      Michael Riley, “Border Issues Moot to Mormons in Utah: Faith Prompts Most to Welcome Illegal Entrant,” Denver Post, 2 April 2006; see also Richard de Uriarte, “LDS Faithful Wrestle with Illegal Immigration,” Arizona Republic, 4 June 2006, http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0604lds0604.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

22.      Benjamin R. Kroll, “‘And Who is My Neighbor?’” Religion and Attitudes toward Immigration Policy,” 2008 Midwest Political Science Association National Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 3–6 April 2008, http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/6/8/9/2/pages268926/p268926-1.php (accessed 30 November 2011).

23.      Genesis 12:1; 15:13–15; 17:8; 23:41; 47:4–9; 48:4–16; Exodus 5:15; 12:19, 49; 22:21; 23:9–12; Isaiah 52:4; Leviticus 19:32–37.

24.      Deuteronomy 27:19; Jeremiah 22:3.

25.      Matthew 25:31–46.

26.      Malachi 3:5.

27.      Genesis 26:1–4; Exodus 12:40,49; Genesis 41:56–57 (37–47); Ruth 1–4.

28.      Genesis 15:13; 1 Chronicles 29:15–16.

29.      Harold Brown, “What Is a Lamanite?” Ensign, September 1972, http://lds.org/ensign/1972/09/what-is-a-lamanite?lang=eng (accessed 30 November 2011).

30.      J. Thomas Fyans, “The Lamanites Must Rise in Majesty and Power,” Ensign, May 1976, http://lds.org/ensign/1976/05/the-lamanites-must-rise-in-majesty-and-power (accessed 30 November 2011).

31.      Edinburgh Review, January 1862, 199.

32.      The American Immigration Collection (New York: Arno Press, 1969), 217.

33.      Richard L. Jensen, “Immigration and Emigration,” The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2:673–76, http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Immigration_and_Emigration (accessed 30 November 2011).

34.      “Mormon Immigration to Alberta,” Alberta Online Encyclopedia, 8 December 2010, http://www.edukits.ca/multiculturalism/student/immigration_mormon_e.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

35.      Countries with large percent increases in LDS membership; between 1,135 and 5,571 percent increases between 1960 and 1978, from Jon P. Alston and David Johnson, “A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Mormon Missionary Success,” Measuring Mormonism, 5 (Fall 1979),  1–17.

36.      Paul Rolly, “Paul Rolly: It’s Legal for LDS Church to Act Neighborly,” Salt Lake Tribune, 30 June 2008, http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9741443 (accessed 30 November 2011).

37.      Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Need for Greater Kindness,” 176th General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 9 April 2006, http://lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/the-need-for-greater-kindness (accessed 30 November 2011).

38.      Paul Rolly, “LDS Church President Delivers a Political Message,” Salt Lake Tribune, 15 April 2006, http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3715099 (accessed 30 November 2011).

39.      Harold B. Lee, “The Strength of the Priesthood,” Ensign, July 1972, 102, lds.org/ensign/1972/07/the-strength-of-the-priesthood (accessed 30 November 2011).

40.      Peggy Fletcher Stack, “LDS Leaders Ask for Compassion in Immigration Reforms,” Salt Lake Tribune, 23 January 2008, http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=8059575&itype=NGPSID (accessed 30 November 2011).

41.      Deborah Bulkeley, “Have Compassion for Immigrants, Lawmakers Urged,” Deseret News, 14 February 2008, http://www.deseretnews.com/
article/695253048/Have-compassion-for-immigrants-lawmakers-urged.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

42.      David H. Sundwall, “The Church Is Pro-Immigrant, Anti-Immigration,” A Soft Answer, 27 March 2008, http://asoftanswer.com/2008/03/27/church-pro-immigrant-anti-immigration (accessed 30 November 2011).

43.      Matthew D. LaPlante, “LDS Church Asks Lawmakers to Weigh Morality, Ethics in Immigration Reforms,” Salt Lake Tribune, 14 February 2008, http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_8258646 (accessed 30 November 2011).

44.      “The Utah Compact: A Declaration of Five Principles to Guide Utah’s Immigration Discussion,” http://utahcompact.com (accessed 30 November 2011).

45.      Elizabeth Stewart, “Mormon Church Reiterates Support for Utah Immigration Bills, Including HB116,” Deseret News, 20 April 2011, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700128720/Mormon-church-reiterates-support-for-Utah-immigration-bills-including-HB116.html (accessed 30 November 2011).

46.      Ronald W. Mortensen, “The Mormon Church and Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies, April 2011, http://www.cis.org/mormon-church-and-illegal-immigration (accessed 30 November 2011).

47.      “Church to Assist with U.S. Alien Amnesty Program,” News of the Church, August 1987, lds.org/ensign/1987/08/news-of-the-church/church-to-assist-with-us-alien-amnesty-program (accessed 30 November 2011).

48.      Gordon B. Hinckley, “True to the Faith,” Brigham Young University 2007–2008 Speeches, 18 September 2007, www.byub.org/talks/transcripts/devo/
2007/9/devo2007918-102.pdf (accessed 30 November 2011).

49.      Hartman Rector, Jr., “The Land Choice above All,” fireside address, Provo Freedom Festival, Brigham Young University, 30 June 1974, BYU Speeches of the Year: 1974 (Provo, Utah: BYU Press, 1975) http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6089 (accessed 30 November 2011).

50.      Themes also mentioned in Mark E. Peterson, “The Great Prologue,” fireside address, Brigham Young University, 29 September 1974, http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6083 (accessed 30 November 2011).