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The National Association of Evangelicals hasn't taken a position on immigration since 1985. At that time, as President Reagan was ushering in what was in effect an amnesty program for illegal aliens, the NAE pledged "to eliminate the spirit of racism in any of our responses" and "show personal and corporate hospitality to those who seek a new life in our nation."

Led by evangelical organizers at World Relief, 42 national religious groups and 69 local ones signed a statement in October calling for a process to let undocumented immigrants apply for legal status. Signatories ranged from the Union for Reform Judaism to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In Congress, debate hinges largely on whether immigrants who pay a fine and other penalties should be able to then seek legal status. A bill proposed by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow for such a process, while President Bush's guest worker proposal would require the undocumented to leave after a designated period. Whether family members should be separated or kept together also looms large as an issue up for grabs.

Evangelicals' hesitancy traces, observers say, to political as much as moral reservations. Evangelicals might be inclined to sympathize with fellow Christians from south of the border who have taken a grave personal risk in order "to support their families back at home," Bliss says, but those views apparently can't survive in public discourse.

"The rhetoric is considered a liberal issue," Bliss says. "Fear of looking weak or too liberal permeates a lot of the discussion. I think that's the concern."

Evangelical groups, if determined to appear tough on illegal immigration, could endorse the House-approved bill, which provides for a fence along 700 miles of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border, though it doesn't address the question of what to do with undocumented immigrants.

But evangelicals who appear unsympathetic toward immigrants run other political risks. They could alienate business interests, that is, political allies in industries known to employ thousands of undocumented workers. They could also run afoul of a growing foreign-born constituency, according to Manuel A. Vasquez, associate professor of religion at the University of Florida and an expert on religion and immigration.

"In many ways, conservatives see immigrants from Latin America are bringing values that they would like to regain: values of family, gender roles that are very well defined, an ethic of hard work," Vasquez says. "Immigrants have values that can convert America and return America to the values of thrift and hard work."

Faced with the specter of political costs no matter where they come down on immigration, leading evangelical groups are opting not to get involved. That means, barring an unexpected change of heart, the road to resolving the fates of some 11 million, mostly Christian immigrants to the United States seems certain to include minimal input from the evangelical conscience. And for evangelical outreach workers, that's distressing.

"We can't just stand by and ignore this issue," Bliss says, "if for no other reason than because the international community is such an important part of the growing church."

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Other Christianity Today articles on immigration include:

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January (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50