USCCB urges Senate to reconsider comprehensive immigration reform
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement calling for the Senate to resume consideration of comprehensive immigration reform legislation “as soon as possible.”
Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, said in a statement released June 7 that the urgent nature of the issue requires Congress to take action imminently.
“The issue of immigration is too important for our elected officials to abandon,” wrote Bishop Barnes, the bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif. “It cannot wait for several more years. Human beings are suffering and dying. Justice demands that our elected officials stop this suffering and mend our broken immigration system.”
Bishop Barnes further stated that the U.S. bishops will work with the Senate to help to develop a “workable and fair” legalization program. He added that the bishops believe it is possible to develop a system that both “serves our economic needs and upholds the rights and dignity of the human person.”
Bishop Barnes had previously written to Congress April 23 to encourage their efforts to pass immigration reform but warned against the acceptance of the Bush Administration’s proposal, which they feared would be harmful to the families of immigrants and would “impose fines and wait-times for legalization that are far beyond what most immigrants could bear.”
The bishops’ statement followed a June 7 test vote on the immigration bill which failed to end debate on the bill to bring it to a final vote. At the time, it was removed from further consideration by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, leading to concern that Congress would not pass any immigration reform this year.
The bill has since been reconsidered, with the Senate scheduled to debate further amendments before another test vote this week.
Call to action
The USCCB encourages those who support immigration reform to contact their state senators to voice their concern on this issue. New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg can be reached at (202) 224-3224 and Senator Robert Menendez can be contacted at (202) 224-4744.
— Scott Aless
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law