Point Loma University Writes Letter to POTUS About Immigration

In early February, Point Loma Nazarene University President Bob Brower wrote an open letter to President Trump and Vice President Pence. In the letter, President Brower, alongside Jon R. Wallace, President of Azusa Pacific University and Jim J. Adams, President of Life Pacific College, spoke about the recent immigration policies. They asked President Trump to “consider the pain that these restrictions cause for many innocent people.”

The letter opened with a brief statement about the importance of education and its ability to transform lives. They also spoke to their Christ-centered education background as well as their location within California, “a state where a multitude of cultures and languages intersect and enrich the fabric of the cities we call home, the people we call neighbor and the students we enroll.”

They then went on to discuss how education is vital to open up doors of opportunity and to address society’s most pressing problems. They spoke about the students that choose their universities, many of whom, “come to our campuses on the shoulders of immigrants.” In fact, they stated, this diverse community is also the basis of the country’s “heritage of welcoming the vulnerable, extending hospitality and inviting participation in the great experience of these United States.”

However, the letter didn’t stay focused wholly on education. As Nazarene universities, the presidents went on to quote Bible verses that spoke about caring for “the poor, the orphan, the widow and the refugee.” They stated that every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, which is why “The executive order signed last Friday temporarily suspending immigration from certain foreign nations and refugee resettlement in the United States cases concerns as it could be read to selectively treat people in a manner that overlooks that God-given dignity.”

The letter ended speaking about the impact of the executive order on the universities, including many students “coming here to attend universities in our nation.” They closed it out by asking President Trump and Vice President Pence to “engage experts in considering a more refined and humane means to strengthen our immigrant processes in order to protect the American people while upholding our national value for the God-given dignity of each person.”

regions: San Diego

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