WASHINGTON — Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles welcomed an immigration-reform plan proposed by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators as a much-needed foundation for further reform efforts.
“It is vital that the framework includes a path to citizenship, so that undocumented immigrants can come out of the shadows and into the light and have a chance to become Americans,” said Archbishop Gomez, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.
The proposal “gives hope to millions of our fellow human beings,” he continued.
On Jan. 28, a bipartisan group of eight senators introduced a series of principles to guide Congress in enacting broad immigration reform in the U.S.
The framework would offer a “tough but fair” pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States. It would work to secure borders and better track immigrants, while promoting reforms that keep families together.
In addition, the plan would change the process for allowing future immigrants to enter the workforce, particularly those working in agriculture or obtaining advanced degrees in America. It would also strengthen efforts to effectively verify employment, prevent the hiring of unauthorized workers and fight identity theft.
The eight lawmakers who introduced the blueprint are Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., John McCain, R-Ariz., Jeff Flake, R-Fla., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
The proposal aligns with many of the goals laid out in the U.S. bishops’ 2003 pastoral letter “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope.”
That document outlines policy goals for U.S. immigration reform that include a path to citizenship for the undocumented and family-based immigration policies that reduce family separation times.
It also calls for programs allowing low-skilled workers to enter the country and work with adequate wages and protections.
In a Jan. 28 statement, Archbishop Gomez hailed the Senate blueprint as an “important first step” in the immigration-reform process that “sets a bipartisan tone.”
However, he also observed that the current proposal will need to be improved, since it fails to address the root causes of migration, including persecution and a lack of living wages.
In addition, he noted, the framework fails to restore the due-process protections for immigrants that were taken away by the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.
Still, the archbishop vowed that the bishops’ conference will support immigration-reform legislation, while maintaining hope that reforms can be found to satisfy all parties: “A reformed system can protect human dignity and the homeland at the same time.”
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With due respect to the American Bishops, including Archbishop Gomez who push for amnesty, they need to re-examine their use of Catholic money to promote their own prudential judgments on issues which are not one of the Church’s non-negotiables.
The Bishops need to speak at length with people who live on the Border and who know the teachings of the Church and more importantly know the issue from the depths of the trenches have mixed ethnicity families and who have a long and varied experience with this Border culture. It seems that no seated Bishop has this experience. Would that be the case, their advocacy positions would be much different than they are.
This whole week, many of us who do have that experience have been discussing this issue.
Consensus is that the immigrant of today is much different than the immigrant of yesterday. Current immigrants, both legal and illegal now are imbedded in the drug culture, beholden to them because they entered as drug mules or because they are family members.
To confer amnesty or even simple retention, is to invite that culture into the United States. That we definitely cannot do.
I beg everyone to investigate and advocate for policies that do not empower greedy corporation who want to use low cost labor at the expense of legal American residents, that do not embed the criminal element, that do not help the left leaning politicians to gather a voting bloc.
The Bishop is very correct in saying, as have both Popes JPII and Benedict, to address the root causes for emigration, e.g. low wages. As the Popes said, that is the most important duty regarding immigration.
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