May 23, 2005 VOL. 43, NO. 11Oakland, CA

By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

Two thousand years ago, Jesus came into the world as a migrant. Except for Native Americans, all of us living in the U.S. come from immigrant backgrounds.

Religious groups at both the state and national levels are including these Scriptural and historical reminders as part of a multi-faceted response to recent anti-immigration rhetoric and to launch a new national initiative aimed at educating Catholics on how immigrants benefit the nation, how Catholics can advocate for changes in immigration laws and policies, and how they can build networks and coalitions to help immigrants with legal problems.

Last Wednesday, May 18, at a press conference organized by the Industrial Areas Foundation, a state-wide community organizing group in Los Angeles, an interfaith group of clergy issued a statement denouncing anti-immigrant propaganda and demanding a meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss proposals for real immigration reform.

The previous week in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a new education and advocacy project entitled “Justice for Immigrants: A Journey of Hope: the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform.”

In Los Angeles, Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala read a statement from Cardinal Roger Mahony deploring the “ugly and shrill volume” of anti-immigrant rhetoric.

It said that Gov. Schwarzenegger's “recent attacks targeting our State's undocumented immigrants for run against the grain of American values and his own religious tradition. Governor
Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the REAL I.D. ACT, his puzzling criticism of the Matricula Consular Identification Card, the ridicule of desert water stations installed as life-saving measures, and praise of the Minutemen-which appeals to vigilantism-are all in direct contradiction to the social teachings of the Catholic Church as well as being contrary to the dignity of our democratic traditions.”

The cardinal called on Schwarzenegger “to embrace the moral high-ground and to meet with us to begin a serious discussion about how we can bring both moral and political values and principles to bear on the complex issue of immigration reform.”

Reminding those present at the press conference that a concern for migrants characterized Christ’s life, Bishop Zavala praised the McCain/Kennedy immigration reform proposal as a “positive opportunity for responsible and respectful dialogue.”

Sacramento Auxiliary Bishop Richard Garcia was present at the press conference to endorse the initiative. Representatives of various Protestant and Jewish congregations also spoke in favor of efforts to protect immigrants.

At its May 10 press conference, the nation’s Catholic bishops, in conjunction with a coalition of church groups including the USCCB Migration and Refugee Services, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, and The Catholic Health Association, urged reform that both legalizes the status of undocumented immigrants and welcomes new immigrants. They also called for:
•Expanded opportunities for legal entry for work and family reunification.
•Establishment of an appropriate and effective temporary worker program.
•Re-establishment of due process rights and other legal safeguards for undocumented immigrants.

“The Church must begin to move” on behalf of the eight to ten million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington and a spokesman for the initiative.

The bishops, he said, have grown increasingly disturbed by the spread of anti-immigrant rhetoric on TV and radio shows. He also said they are aware of the negative impact of immigration policy on families who are often split up by deportations or detentions or must wait years to secure visas to bring additional family members into the country.

Celia Rivas, director of immigration services at the Spanish Catholic Center of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., said “changes in immigration laws in the late 1990’s and tougher approaches to how immigrants are handled mean that 10, 15, or 20 years can go by before immigrant families can be reunited.”

So many broken families is a factor in the growth of gangs, the increase in domestic violence and mental health problems, Rivas said.

In California, Catholic officials involved in immigration issues have welcomed the national initiative.

Solomon Belette, executive director for Catholic Charities of the East Bay, said the Justice for Immigrants program is a “step in the right direction. It is important for Catholics to speak with a unified voice.”

“As a Church and as Catholics, we need to be supportive of immigrants,” he added. “This country is built on them. We have to show compassion and humanity towards individuals who have been traumatized and forced to flee for their lives.”

Steven Pehanich, executive director of the statewide network of Catholic Charities, said he was pleased that the project “acknowledges how immigrants are benefitting the nation.”

Franciscan Philadelphia Sister Maureen Duignan, director for the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant in Berkeley, said she hopes the bishops’ project “seeps down at the pastoral level, to the people in the pews” so that Catholics truly understand the idea of justice for immigrants.

“Anywhere you go in the U.S. and Europe, it’s the immigrants, both documented and undocumented, who are keeping the infrastructures going, working in restaurants, harvesting crops and putting our food on the table. It’s the right of all people not to have borders. We are all human beings,” she said.

Pehanich added that the USCCB project enhances what Catholic Charities agencies are doing both nationally and locally to provide cost-effective naturalization services. His organization, for example, is currently supporting a naturalization services program known as AB 930, The New Californians Initiative, which would provide permanent legislation to fund the naturalization services program in California.

Funding is crucial because it represents seed money to the many non-profit community-based organizations throughout the state such as Catholic Charities which assists citizen-eligible Californians to complete their naturalization applications.

For further information about AB 930, go to the California Catholic Conference website at www.cacatholic.org. A new USCCB website with information concerning Justice for Immigrants is in the planning stages - www.justiceforimmigrants.org and www.justiciaparalosimigrantes.org.

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