Jerry Lewis Fights Back Against Pearce
Jerry Lewis in his campaign photo.
By Staff Report
Modern Times Magazine
Sept. 18, 2011 — Jerry Lewis, the man trying to unseat Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce in a recall election recently finalized to take place this November, went on the offensive Saturday, releasing a new video defending his right to run and clarifying that his “moral” position on “immigrants already here” is in line with dogma sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
“As an important moral issue, I, as well as many others in Mesa’s faith community, share my church’s state concern that any state legislation that only contains enforcement provisions likely to fall short of the high moral standard of treating each other as children of God,” Lewis said. “I want to be clear that I am speaking for myself and not to imply that my church has endorsed me, which it does not do. I invite all to sincerely listen to these concerns without dismissing people as being anarchists or for open borders which is not true at all in my case. Name calling prevents serious discussion and isn’t part of what Mesa wants.”
The most recent statement on immigration from the church happens to contain some of the exact same wording as Lewis used, including, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned that any state legislation that only contains enforcement provisions is likely to fall short of the high moral standard of treating each other as children of God.”
Read the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ statement on immigration
Church policy has been to allow undocumented immigrants access to temple as long as they are in good standing with the church.
“Immigration reform is an important issue to me. We need a secure border and the rule of law. The federal government is fully to blame for not doing their job protecting the border,” Lewis said. “Where I differ with Senator Pearce’s approach is what to do with the remaining undocumented immigrants who are here.”
The Utah legislature, buoyed by church support and at the chagrin of hard-line conservatives, passed the Utah Compact in the last legislative session which was designed to establish guidelines for all future immigration provisions. The principles of the Utah Compact are that border policy is a federal issue, that local law enforcement should not focus on federal laws, opposition to policies that separate families, and the recognition of the economic impact and existence of immigrants.
See the video below or on JerryLewisforSenate.com.
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