New Lutheran chief Wants to Make US Welcoming to Migrants

Ekklesia – The newly announced president of the US Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Linda Hartke, has said she will work to make the United States a more welcoming place for immigrants and refugees – writes Peter Kenny.

The LIRS board of directors announced in a statement made available to Ecumenical News International on 28 January, that it has appointed Hartke to take up her post in Baltimore on 22 February. The announcement followed a LIRS board meeting on 22 January 2010.

Of her appointment as president and CEO, Hartke said, “I look forward to working together with the LIRS board, staff, partners and friends across the country to make the United States a more welcoming place for immigrants and refugees.”

Until the end of 2009, Hartke headed the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, a broad international network of churches and Christian organisations cooperating in campaigning on food and HIV/AIDS issues.

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