ARTICLES

Commentary
The need for Immigration reform

by Jimmy Culpeper
special to The Catholic Virginian

Much has been written in recent months concerning the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

This issue has the potential to be as divisive as the recent national debate concerning health care reform.

Like health care, immigration reform is a complex issue with no simple solutions that touches every facet of our society, including the economy, education, national security, access to social services, and more.

Any reform must address especially sensitive issues such as protecting our borders and what to do with those individuals who are currently in our country illegally.

Just like health care, there is no question that our current immigration system is broken and in dire need of reform. A system that requires an individual to wait 20 or more years to enter our country legally and keeps families apart for extended periods of time is broken and in need of reform.

A system that causes families to be ripped apart as undocumented workers are placed in detention centers for civil (not criminal) offenses or deported is broken and in need of reform.

A system in which the number of available visas doesn’t match the demand for labor, especially in the agricultural, construction and service industries, is broken and in need of reform.

A system that compels desperate human beings to risk death to enter our country illegally to perform menial work for less than minimum wage is in need of reform. Let’s face it, they are exploited by employers willing to ignore labor laws in exchange for cheap labor.

A system that results in state and local governments, frustrated by the lack of national legislative action, adopting measures directed toward immigrants is broken and in need of reform.

A system that strips individuals of their human dignity is broken and in need of reform.

Both proponents and opponents of immigration reform use specific language, such as illegal or undocumented, to define where they stand and cite often conflicting statistics (depending on the source) to justify their position.

Despite any label we might apply, each immigrant is a human being created in the image of God and deserving of basic human rights. Regardless of their source, the statistics cited are aggregate numbers representing individual human beings, each with a story that brings them to America.

I believe the issue becomes less complex when, as Catholic Christians, we look at it through the lens of our faith informed by Scripture and the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching.

Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and to care for the least among us, including the stranger. If we really embrace Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness, then the need for compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform becomes a moral mandate.

Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, stated in an op-ed in The Washington Post on March 19, 2010, “As a moral matter, we should no longer tolerate a system which preys upon the vulnerability of our fellow human beings and benefits from their labor, yet fails to guarantee their basic human rights.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has supported the need for such reform for many years. Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States jointly issued a pastoral letter entitled “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope” that presents a reasoned approach to immigration reform. It seeks to correct the worst flaws in our current system. Some of the more significant recommendations address legalization of the undocumented, employment-based immigration, family-based immigration, and humane enforcement policies as sovereign nations exercise their right to control their borders and to ensure the security interests of their citizens.

(It can be viewed at http://www.usccb.org/mrs/stranger.shtml.)

The USCCB raised its collective voice again in opposition to the recently passed Arizona SB 1070, which criminalizes undocumented immigrants. Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a statement opposing the enactment and implementation of the legislation calling it “symptomatic of the absence of federal leadership on the issue of immigration.”

Bishop Wester called for “the Administration and Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to enact comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible.”

Shortly after passage of Arizona SB 1070, Senators Reid, Schumer, Durbin, Feinstein and Menendez announced their framework for moving forward with a comprehensive immigration reform proposal. While far from perfect, the senators’ proposal is a start and will hopefully lead to fruitful dialogue that will result in much needed reform. Virginia Senator Mark Warner has also called on President Obama to pursue comprehensive reform.

I implore readers of The Catholic Virginian to join the call for action. Call or write Senator Webb’s local office or call President Obama at 866-956-8590 to voice your support for compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform.

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