NEWS PROVIDED BY
Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church
Sept. 9, 2025
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 9, 2025 /Standard Newswire/ — Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church’s Pastor Grant Van Leuven revisited the United States Declaration of Independence because a speaker to professionals serving immigrants described it and the country’s other founding documents with a stronger version of how the Apostle Paul refers to his own works in Philippians 3:8.
“Contrary to that blanket dismissal, the Declaration could be cited to support some immigration advocacy and humanitarian work.” Its seventh of many grievances to warrant leaving England for what was viewed as the monarch’s tyrannical oppression reads:
“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither …”
For this bi-vocational pastor employed by World Relief Southern California, the Declaration’s recognition of the essential economic impact of U.S. immigration on the nation’s formation is striking. “It has timeless and timely relevance for our country.”
This year, a large San Diego hotel reached out to his World Relief office seeking a flow of job applications from refugee clients and expressed concerns about staffing needs without ample immigrant interviewees. And a leader in a company headquartered there constructing high-level housing developments throughout major U.S. markets conveyed apprehension about lacking enough immigrant employees, slowing progress and increasing consumer expenses.
Especially germane to recent news is the assertion by the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, Ilya Somin that
“When the Federalist Party pushed through the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, giving the president broad power to deport immigrants he deemed “dangerous,” Jefferson and Madison denounced the law as both unjust and unconstitutional. They and their allies mobilized such strong resistance … that the federal government never actually managed to deport anyone … When Jefferson became president in 1801, he allowed the Act to expire … The successful resistance to the Alien Acts was a triumph for liberty and equality that deserves to be far better known than it currently is.”
Further, “… despite … unjust limitations, the principles of the Declaration of Independence did lead to the establishment of a nation that … became a refuge for millions of people fleeing poverty and tyranny. Immigrants and natives alike have much to gain from a more consistent adherence to the principles of the Declaration of Independence.”
Read Van Leuven’s article: puritanchurch.com/the-7th-grievance-of-the-u-s-declaration-of-independence-against-tyrannical-restrictions-on-vital-immigration-growth.
SOURCE Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church
CONTACT: Grant Van Leuven, 619-479-5053, pastor@puritanchurch.com