Cardinal Mahony Reponds to Senate's Passing of Immigration Bill
Jun 15, 2006
Cardinal Mahony: U.S. Senate Immigration Bill is imperfect, but still a step toward reform.
(abclocal.go.com, May 25, 2006) Though it contains a number of punitive provisions that are objectionable, Senate Bill 2611 is an important step toward achieving effective immigration reform in our nation that is just, fair and humane.
On the positive side, the Bill includes a number of provisions that I, and my fellow U.S. Catholic bishops, have supported for years. A path to citizenship is provided to many of the 12 million undocumented persons in the U.S., including 1 million farm workers. Family reunification and a temporary worker program are also positive provisions included in the Bill.
But the Bill also contains provisions that are unnecessarily punitive in nature, and will not help to fix our nation's broken immigration system. Objectionable provisions include mandatory detention along the border, and an expansion of the expedited removal of asylum seekers. The construction of a 370-mile-long wall and the deployment of National Guard forces along our border with Mexico, incorrectly applies a military solution to a problem that is socio-economic in nature.
We will redouble our efforts as a church over the next few months to encourage our representatives in Congress to adopt immigration reform legislation that is just, fair and humane. We will work hard to convince them that they should not support unnecessarily harsh and punitive provisions that will do little to nothing to help our nation achieve meaningful immigration reform. I will oppose a final bill that comes out of the House-Senate Conference Committee if it removes or significantly weakens the legalization provisions of the Senate Bill, including the path to citizenship.
Our nation stands at an important juncture in its history. I encourage all of our Catholic people to continue to pray for our legislators at this time. Let us also pray for the millions of hard-working immigrants and their families -- our brothers and sisters -- whose lives will be profoundly affected by the laws our legislators will enact.
Cardinal Mahony Reponds to Senate's Passing of Immigration Bill