Justice for Immigrants:
A Catholic Response to Immigration Reform

A statement by Bishop John M. Smith

June 11, 2006

In recent weeks and months, the subject of immigration reform has become a primary focus for our country, drawing a great deal of media coverage, political posturing and public debate. We have seen people taking to the streets by the hundreds of thousands in cities across the nation asking for fair immigration laws. We have also witnessed how divisive the subject has become among our elected officials, even within the same political party.

Amidst all of the controversy that has surrounded this very volatile issue, there has been an ever-present, clear and steady voice that calls us to seek the path of justice and compassion. From the landmark document “One Family Under God” in 1995 to the galvanizing joint pastoral by the U.S. and Mexico Bishops titled "Strangers No Longer” in January, 2003, the Church has recognized the plight of immigrants and called for their fair and humane treatment. Bishops throughout the nation have spread the message to their people and the greater public that we are called by the Gospel to act on behalf of those who are the most vulnerable; we are required as members of God’s family to “welcome the stranger” and to “befriend the alien.”

We know, that inasmuch as the Church is mandated to speak out on issues that effect the common good and protect human life, we often find ourselves entrenched in the political and legislative worlds, dealing with people who have the ability to bring about change. And while immigration reform certainly does have its political and legislative aspects, it is also uniquely a moral issue and a grave concern of the Church.

It is often said that this is an immigrant nation, and indeed that is true. Nearly all of us come from families who came from somewhere other than this country. And the hostility and adversity that befell many of our ancestors upon their arrival here mirrors much of that which confronts today’s immigrants.

But in a profound way, we have always been an immigrant Church. The history of our Church has been built on the strength, determination and faith of immigrant families. Today’s immigrants, by vast majority, belong to us. They are Catholics, and just as they have always placed their faith and their Church at the center of their lives, so too do they look to the Church for guidance and assistance in nearly every aspect of their lives. We, as Church, must be responsive to their needs, whether they be full-fledged citizens or undocumented workers, new arrivals or first and second generation. We are all part of the same family.

Our Church also calls us to be universal, and to recognize that this family to which we belong is a global family. While we certainly must honor our nation and care about its security and well-being, we must never support laws being enacted that deny the dignity and sanctity of any of our brothers and sisters, whether they be U.S. citizens or immigrants from Central and South America, Africa or Asia.

Recognizing our interconnectedness as a global society is particularly important when reflecting on immigration concerns. The basic realities that drive the influx of immigrants over our borders illegally is their inability to adequately support their families in their own country and the insatiable demand for inexpensive labor in the United States. We cannot deny the fact that all U.S. citizens -- we who buy clothes, food, and other manufactured goods; we who eat at restaurants or patronize service providers who employ the undocumented -- are all complicit in the dynamics that feed the immigration problem. We all have had a hand in this problem and we cannot simply turn our backs on the very people with whom we have had this profound, if not always visible, connection.

To be sure, the quest to reform our nation’s immigration laws and policies is extremely complicated and challenging. There are places, right here in our own Diocese, that struggle to meet the needs of immigrants while still providing for their own citizens. To adopt a simplistic view that fails to account for such important concerns as the security of our borders and for the integrity of our laws serves nothing. We are called to gain a thorough understanding of the issues, separate the myths from the truths and resolve the areas of conflict.

Most importantly, we need to embrace the position of the Church in regard to immigration reform. Essentially, that approach is based on the reality that the current system is not working and that steps must be taken to enact just and humane immigration laws. We need to pursue reforms that establish a just penalty for breaking our laws, but provide a pathway toward earned legalization for the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants currently in this country; that work toward family reunification so that husbands and fathers do not need to be apart for years from their wives and children; that establish protection for workers’ rights so that immigrants cannot be victimized; that expand legal immigration opportunities while providing effective security measures at our borders, and that work though our foreign and economic policies to stimulate growth in our neighboring nations and close the wage gap that drives immigrants to come here.

There is hope that a law encompassing all of these objectives may come to pass. Rather than the punitive, enforcement-based bill that passed the House last year, calling for the criminalization of the undocumented and a tragic denial of their basic human rights, the Senate’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 just passed by a significant majority. Though there are provisions in the law that we, as Christians, can still not support, it is our best hope to achieve the most important protections for undocumented immigrants and their families.

Now is the time for us to come together as a Church and follow the Gospel mandate to “welcome the stranger.” The Diocese of Trenton has joined the coalition campaign, Justice for Immigrants, and will be seeking ways to raise awareness and advance the mission of the campaign through our parishes. I am asking all of our local communities to take part in the Justice for Immigrants Campaign by visiting the website: www.justiceforimmigrants.org, and by connecting with our local efforts by consulting the diocesan website, www.dioceseoftrenton.org.

I also ask representatives of all our parishes to come together as one diocesan family on Aug. 30 in St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Hightstown, for a prayer service commemorating Labor Day and the important contributions made to this country by immigrants, documented and undocumented alike.

Let us pray that our legislators are able to put aside partisanship and political agendas, and work to enact reforms that will truly serve our country and all of our people while still upholding the human rights of our newest arrivals. Moreover, even after laws are passed, we must encourage our legislators to remain open and responsive to the evolving needs of the immigrant population within our borders.

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