REJECT IMMORAL IMMIGRATION REFORM

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I wish to add my voice to that of my brother bishops of the United States and other concerned clergy to put a halt to the smokescreen that has been raised by many which places the need for immigration reform under the cloud of national security.

I speak from long experience in working for immigrant justice---as chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), as a consultant to the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Migration, and most recently as the only United States member of the Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM). The GCIM issued its report to the United Nations Secretary General after a two-year worldwide study. I await the discussion of the recommendations of this study among the nations of the world at the UN. International migration is a global phenomenon whose negative aspects can only be addressed through international cooperation. National and global security and the protection of the most vulnerable migrants is a concern worldwide.

It has been proven many times that the overwhelming majority of people who enter the United States pose no threat whatsoever to our security. It has also been demonstrated clearly that their presence and their labor, which takes nothing away from American citizens, is actually a major contribution to our economy. To cast the great number of hard working and crime-free immigrants as potential terrorists, does nothing more than create unnecessary fear and friction among peoples, and categorizes whole ethnic groups as dangerous, setting them apart for discrimination and abuse.

It is time to recognize that immigration is a moral­ issue, calling forth from all of us that basic American value of respect for the dignity of each human person. As religious people, we know that this respect is generated by the belief that each person is created in the image of God our Creator, no matter in which country they were born, or how they may have crossed a border to the place they now call home.

It is because we believe that immigration is a moral issue, we bishops have a duty to teach and to call for adherence to our teaching, even if this adherence might lead people to challenge provisions of particular laws. Specifically, I can categorically state that there will never be a time when priests, religious and dedicated laypeople whose ministry and service is among immigrants will ever be forced to limit the Church's outreach and care because of the contents of a person's passport. The "passport" of people of faith comes directly from the Sacred Scriptures, which commands us to respect and care for the alien and the newcomer because they are brothers and sisters to all.

Therefore, legislation such as the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437), recently passed by the House of Representatives, is ill conceived and should be rejected as a negotiating position for an agreement between the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. We do not categorize undocumented immigrants as criminals, nor should we criminalize those who serve them. Church teaching upholds the right of a sovereign nation to protect its borders and admit whom it wishes to promote the common good. The provisions of this bill calls forth the worst in people and will not fix our broken immigration system or make our country any safer.

Instead, true reform must be comprehensive. It would address the reasons why people need to leave their homelands and come to our country. It would provide a pathway to allow people to regularize an undocumented status and come out of the shadows. It would aim to keep families intact, provide more visas for workers and protect those workers after they arrive here.

While insisting on the necessary background checks and other security issues, I wish to underline my previous statements calling for a very generous regularization of all undocumented people now living and working in the United States. There is no better act of security than to know who is here, where they are from, why they came and that they can drive and live among us legally. It is obvious to me that this will make us more secure.

The Diocese of Brooklyn is a microcosm of the whole world. Over four million people live and work together here in Brooklyn and Queens. In the communities in these two boroughs of our great city, we can hear almost every language on earth and see people of every race, nationality and religion. Even in our large and complex city, we all live in peace. Our legislators, in particular our senators, know this. I urge them not to play with the lives of so many, but rather to join me by putting out into the deep in insisting on true immigration reform, and having the courage to accept nothing less.

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