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Success: Salvation Army Shuns Grinchly Policy, Stops Immigration Checks for Toys

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The blogosphere has been abuzz this week with news that the Salvation Army of Houston was forcing families to present Social Security cards to receive free Christmas toys.

BoingBoing.net noted sarcastically:

“Evidently, I missed the part of the New Testament where Jesus instructs his followers to check people’s immigration status before rendering charity to them.”

Now we’ve learned that the outcry has forced the organization to reverse its policy and allow all families to participate.

Major Chris Flanagan, head of the Houston Salvation Army, told the Houston Chronicle:

“It was never our intention to offend anyone with our registration requirement to provide a Social Security number, or to give the impression that we were discriminating against those individuals and families who do not have a Social Security number.”