Catholic Response on Immigration
Submitted by jgehring on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 4:10pm.
Story summary:
Even before Pope Benedict landed in the United States last month, he addressed immigration as an issue that will determine the future of the Catholic church in America and will test the moral authority of U.S. bishops in shaping the debate over national policy. Benedict’s remarks reflected consistent papal teaching and a balanced approach from the U.S bishops: National borders must be respected, but the economic and political realities that drive immigration must also be acknowledged with an orderly, fair, humane system that addresses the inevitable flow of desperate people seeking to enter the United States to work, either temporarily or on a path to permanent legal status. Human dignity and family integrity must be paramount in any policy.
Catholic Response on Immigration
National Catholic Reporter
5-16-08
The failure of bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform by Congress in 2005 sent a message that no legal solution is at hand. Without a guest-worker program or a reasonable allotment of visas to fill low-skilled jobs, illegality and exploitation will abound. Meanwhile, millions of undocumented people are in limbo without a path to legalization. A deportation-only approach invades the entire Latino population, two-thirds of whom are American citizens. Raids and deportations are separating parents from their underage children. State laws criminalizing the hiring, housing or assisting of any undocumented person encourage profiling by hue, accent or ethnic origin, regardless of legal status.