When Newt Gingrich talked about new and fancy and localized ways to keep some immigrants from being deported, there was really no discussion of how many people he was talking about. Gingrich limited his plan, for community boards to determine who was a good enough citizen to stick around, to immigrants who’d been here more than 25 years. How many people are we talking about? The Pew Hispanic Center gives us a hint. And the organization deals with Gingrich’s talk about immigrants who were “involved in the church” – ie, respectable people.
According to the 2010 NSL, nearly four-in-ten (39%) Hispanic adults who are not citizens or legal permanent residents say they attend religious services weekly. An additional 23% say they attend services at least once or twice a month. And one-in-five (19%) say they attend services seldom or never.That’s a lot of people to deport; alternatively, it’s a lot of people for community boards to analyze.
