HOLLAND (WHTC) — Tonight, Western Theological Seminary hosts an event that’s part panel discussion, part town hall — and hones in on one of the hottest presidential debate topics: Immigration reform.
The evening, under the umbrella title Bibles, Badges and Business, feature two pastors, two businessmen and a Holland police officer. The participants want to change the the view of immigration.
Bibles, Badges and Business is a National Immigration Forum project; this is the first such event in Michigan.
Spokesman Dan Gordon says the Western Seminary panel aims at highlighting facts, such as how often immigrants start small busineses and other ways they help fuel the U.S. economy.
“Immigrants are buying things like you and I are, right?” he said. “They’re going grocery shopping. They’re buying houses. They’re doing all kinds of things that contribute to our local and national economies. Any money that anyone earns in this country is taxed. So, that is money that’s going back into our community.”
Immigrants help grow churches and can help make communities safer, if trust with police develops, Gordon said. (Hear his WHTC interview.)
The panelists include two pastors, New Community Fourth Reformed Church‘s Reverend Jonathan Brownson and RCA Holland’s Classis Coordinator for Multicultural Ministries, Reverend Jose Angel Lopez Dominguez. Other panelists are entrepreneur and business coach Seth Getz, who teaches at Hope College; Micandy Garden founder Micki Buist; and Holland Police Sgt. Larry Matzen of the city’s community policing division.
Tonight’s discussion is set for 7 p.m. Thursday (March 3) at Western Theological Seminary‘s Common Area, E. 13th St. Holland.
