Catholic Bishops Call for Immigration Reform

The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops called Thursday for reform of immigration laws, declaring that immigrants are denied basic human rights and face death in crossing the border illegally.

The resolution, approved on a voice vote without debate at the annual fall meeting here of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, reflects heightened concern by bishops over an issue that has long held their attention. It also underscores the fact that the Catholic church in America has once again become the church of immigrants, as it was in earlier periods of U.S. history.

“Our current immigration system deprives immigrants of basic rights to due process, unnecessarily divides immigrant families and literally places the lives of those who cross our border in jeopardy,” Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Camden, N.J., told the conference. DiMarzio is chairman of the bishops’ Migration Committee.

In the past three years, 600 people have died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, he said.

Noting that immigrants from south of the border are predominately Catholic, DiMarzio said the situation compels the bishops to seek reform of immigration laws.

The bishops particularly criticized two laws passed in the mid-1990s that reduced the rights of noncitizens to challenge immigration decisions in court. The bishops also criticized parts of the federal welfare reform law that eliminated legal immigrants’ eligibility for public benefits.

The resolution declares that the nation must look anew at “its historic roots” as a nation of immigrants.

Although the bishops were unanimous in their resolve, they acknowledged Thursday that parishioners are divided. That can undermine the church’s effectiveness in working to change the law, said Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, president of the bishops’ conference.

“Politicians know there are divided opinions in the Catholic community on many issues. Unfortunately, it gives them a way out, particularly Catholic politicians,” said Fiorenza, bishop of Galveston-Houston. “I think in their own heart they know that they should be more in line with the church’s moral teaching.”

In the meantime, he told reporters, bishops and pastors must continue to present the church’s teachings on human dignity to its parishioners.

“This is a built-in tension, but it is something that we as Catholics have to continue to work at and diminish those tensions and to understand . . . we’re all children of the same God.”

In a related human rights issue, the bishops strongly denounced continuing war and genocide in Sudan. The statement was urged by bishops in Sudan, who have complained that the West is indifferent.

More than 2 million men, women and children have died in the conflict during the past 16 years in an unending “cruel, fratricidal conflict.”

The bishops said they worry that new revenues to Sudan flowing from its oil reserves will be used to prolong the war and suffering rather than help the people.

They called on oil companies to recognize their “special responsibility” to see that their actions respect human rights.