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CURRENT
ISSUE: April 3, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 7Oakland,
CA
Debate on immigrant justice
WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- As hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across the
country in support of comprehensive immigration reform, Catholic bishops
in various states joined the chorus of voices calling on Congress to do
more than crack down on illegal immigrants.
At an interfaith prayer service at the Capitol on March 27, several hundred
clergy asked for God’s guidance on Senate deliberations on immigration
legislation.
The Senate Judiciary Committee answered most of the prayers, for the time
being, anyway. The committee voted 12-6 to send the full Senate a bill
that would give the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants
in the country a chance to legalize their status and would provide 1.5
million temporary visas to agricultural workers in a new guest worker
program. Another 400,000 “green cards” or permanent resident
visas would be available to people in various industries.
The bill would double the size of the Border Patrol and provide more funds
for high-tech equipment to monitor the border.
The Senate began debate on the bill the next day. Floor discussion is
expected to take two weeks before the Senate votes.
Whatever the final Senate bill looks like, it will need to be reconciled
with legislation passed in the House in December that deals only with
enforcement-related issues. It is those provisions that have provoked
the most protest over the past few weeks.
Even in their approval of enforcement provisions, the Senate committee
rejected many elements included in the House bill.
The committee refused to adopt amendments like those in the House bill
that would make it a crime to be in the United States illegally or to
provide assistance to undocumented immigrants.
Illegal immigration currently is a violation of civil law. Religious organizations
are among the most vocal opponents of those provisions in the House bill.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., repeatedly questioned whether proposed amendments
to criminalize aiding illegal immigrants would create problems for a shelter
for victims of domestic abuse, which takes in women and children regardless
of their legal status.
One of several amendments proposed by Sens. John Kyl, R-Ariz., and John
Cornyn, R-Texas, would have required anyone who provides humanitarian
assistance to illegal immigrants to register first with the federal government.
“You’d be asking every religious organization, humanitarian
organization, every employee, every volunteer to be certified by the Department
of Homeland Security before they can serve soup at a domestic abuse shelter,”
Durbin suggested.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said while he understood the motives for ensuring
that nobody uses the “religious setting” for criminal purposes,
such as a front for human smugglers, “we have laws on that already.
The criminal statutes already cover that.”
Four Republican members, including chairman Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania,
joined committee Democrats in approving most parts of the legislation
individually and in the final vote on the whole bill.
The finished version closely mirrors most of a proposal by Sens. Edward
Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., which had the support of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and dozens of other religious, immigrants’
rights, business and union groups.
Among the key principles endorsed by the bishops are:
• That any legislation provide a way for people who are already
in the country illegally to “come out of the shadows, regularize
their status upon satisfaction of reasonable criteria and, over time,
pursue an option to become lawful permanent residents and eventually”
U.S. citizens.
• That the system of immigration for family reunification be revamped
to significantly reduce waiting times, which now run many years for some
categories of relatives of legal U.S. residents. The backlog is considered
to be a factor in why some people try to enter the country illegally and
in the breakup of families.
• That any system for “guest workers” to fill jobs in
the United States includes legal avenues for workers and their families
who wish to remain in the country to do so.
• That border enforcement policies respect individuals and protect
human rights, while allowing the government to identify terrorists and
dangerous criminals and prevent their entry.
Thousands of demonstrators march toward Los Angeles
City Hall during a March 25 rally expressing opposition to a House-passed
immigration bill that calls for tougher border protection and stiffens
penalties for undocumented immigrants and those who help them.
CNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Sacramento Auxiliary Bishop Richard Garcia speaks
at the state capitol on immigration reform after leading worshippers to
the site from the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, March 26.
LUIS GRIS PHOTO
More than a thousand people gather outside the U.S.
Capitol, March 27, to protest a House-passed immigration bill that stiffens
penalties for undocumented immigrants and those who help them. The protest
took place while the Senate Judiciary Committee was drafting a bill backing
a guest-worker program.
CNS PHOTO/Bob Roller
Thousands
of demonstrators march toward Los Angeles City Hall during a March 25
rally expressing opposition to a House-passed immigration bill that calls
for tougher border protection and stiffens penalties for undocumented
immigrants and those who help them.
CNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Fernando Lopez, 4, waves an American flag while
riding on the back of his father, Julio, during a “Day Without Latinos”
march, March 23. The Milwaukee Archdiocese supported the event and many
parishes participated.
CNS PHOTO/SAM LUCERO/Catholic Herald
In a march that began at Holy Redeemer Catholic
Church, thousands of people walk through through southwest Detroit March
27 in opposition to H.R. 4437, proposed legislation that would criminalize
providing assistance to illegal immigrants.
CNS PHOTO/PHIL McCARTEN/Reuters
