Faithful Citizenship: It’s time to fix our broken immigration system
Catholic Spirit, June 2010, Good News
By Barbara Budde
Columnist
Arizona is in the news these days because of the immigration law that was signed in late April by their governor. The bishops of Arizona and surrounding states strongly advocated against the law, but did not prevail. Many may wonder why these Catholic bishops would be advocating for those who have “broken the law.” The reason is that laws such as the one recently passed in Arizona do not address the real issues of our broken immigration system.
In two pastoral letters the U.S. bishops have addressed the need for comprehensive immigration reform: “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us” in 2000 and “Strangers No Longer” in 2003, which was a joint letter with the bishops of Mexico. For a decade, the bishops have been calling on members of Congress and the administration to address this national problem. With the bishops of Mexico they address five broad areas they see as broken.
Global Poverty: The bishops recognize that many who come to the U.S. without proper documentation do so out of dire necessity. The best solution is to address the need for economic development around the world so that more people would have opportunities to work and feed their families in their native homeland.
Family Reunification: Many citizens and legal permanent residents are forced to wait five, 10 or more years to get visas for their spouses and children to join them. Economics tear families apart; our broken system keeps even citizens and those who followed proper procedures from unifying their families.
Temporary Worker Program: The millions of undocumented workers who are here would not be, if there was not work for them. There are jobs that are not being filled by citizens or permanent legal residents and so there is a need for more workers. The bishops call for a program that protects temporary workers from abuse and ensures that the wages of the present U.S. workforce are not eroded.
A path to legalization: The bishops support a process of “earned legalization.” In a March editorial in “Politico,” Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, who presently chairs the USCCB Committee on Migration, said, “Let us remember that undocumented immigrants’ offense, which is not a crime but a civil infraction, is motivated by the need to work to support their families and feed their children. The proportionate punishment, many would reason, is payment of a fine and any unpaid income taxes and a long wait in the back of the green card line –– in other words a legalization program that allows them to pay their debt and earn full membership in our society.”
Restoration of due process: Whatever else happens, the U.S. should not abandon its own commitment to law and due process for every person in the face of our immigration process. Persons need to be respected as persons and treated with dignity at all times. There is no room for ethnic profiling, for detention without charges or other activities.
The U.S. needs comprehensive immigration reform. While the law passed in Arizona has been decried by our church leaders, at least this law brought the need for comprehensive federal immigration reform to the forefront of political discourse.
Senate leaders have proposed a framework, which the bishops have noted as an “important first step” in a process that they hope inspires a “robust but civil debate.” This framework is far from perfect, but it is a beginning. We need to be part of this robust debate. As always the bishops ask us to pray, study and act.
The website www.justiceforimmigrants.org has information, study guides, parish resources, statements, articles and editorials on immigration by the pope, our bishops and many others. There are Scripture passages to read and pray with and there are advocacy action alerts. I hope everyone in our diocese will visit this website, and will join the bishops in prayer, study and action on comprehensive immigration reform.