Catholic social teaching more than anything else insists that we are one family; it calls us to overcome barriers
of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, economic status, and nationality. We are all one in Christ Jesus (cf Gal 3:28) - beyond
our differences and boundaries.
Communities of Salt and Light, page 10
Update
on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Hearing on
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
On October
18th, 2005 Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called a hearing on Comprehensive
Immigration Reform. The National Advocacy
Center applauds Senator Specter for holding this hearing and fostering
dialogue on immigration reform that is comprehensive and does not focus only on enforcement.
The following people gave testimony at the hearing: Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, Secretary of the Department of
Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Frank Sharry, the Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, Douglas Massey,
Professor at Princeton University
and Mark Krikorian, Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
A number of issues
central to the immigration debate were raised at the hearing. Members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee and the panelists discussed and had differing views on how to deal with border and interior enforcement,
the demand for skilled and unskilled labor, what to do with the nearly 11 million undocumented people already in our country,
the millions more who want to come and how to ensure that U.S. jobs are not taken away from American workers. In addressing these complex issues, Senator Kennedy pushed his and Senator McCain’s bill, the Secure
America and Orderly Immigration Act, Senators Cornyn and Kyl advocated for their bill, The Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration
Control Act and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao supported President Bush’s immigration proposal. The competing proposals differ in many ways, perhaps most importantly is the ways they approach the issue
of whether to legalize the undocumented migrants already in the U.S.
and those who will come in the future.
To read the letter
The National Advocacy sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on comprehensive immigration reform click here (word document) or here (pdf file).
DETAILS
OF INTEREST
- Senator Specter (R-PA) opened the hearing by speaking
of the U.S.’s need for immigrants and for skilled and un-skilled
labor and acknowledging that the U.S.
was built by immigrants. He said that the issue of comprehensive immigration
form particularly speaks to him because his parents were immigrants from Ukraine.
- Senator Kennedy (D-MA) asked whether it is even possible to deport the approximately 11 million undocumented people in the United States.
Secretary Chertoff responded
by explaining how difficult that task would be because it would include finding them, processing them, removing them and would
cost billions and billions of dollars.
- Senator Feinstein (D-CA) said that guest worker programs spur illegal immigration and she would not vote for any bill that had a
guest worker provision.
- Panelist Mark
Krikorian from the Center for Immigration Studies rejected the claim that there was a need for unskilled labor, insisting
that industries develop in relation to the amount of unskilled labor and that the market would adjust if there were not undocumented
people to fill unskilled positions.
- Senator Durbin (D-IL) asked Secretary Chao whether she would support a path to residency for those
who worked hard and paid taxes or legislation like the Dream Act and she said would not.
- Senator Kennedy expressed the need for legal channels
by which intending immigrants could migrate to the United States
as opposed to just focusing on enforcement.
- Frank Sharry expressed support for the Kennedy/McCain
immigration bill.
The National Advocacy Center
supports comprehensive immigration reform which includes:
- An opportunity for hard-working undocumented people already contributing to our country to
earn lawful permanent residence status, and, eventually, citizenship if they satisfy reasonable criteria.
- More visas for families to reduce the backlog for family visas so families can be re-unified.
- Policies that enhance economic development in countries from which people are migrating.
- A temporary worker program that would match willing workers with willing employers, create
a legal channel for people to enter the U.S. and return, if they wish, to their countries and eventually allow workers to
adjust to lawful permanent residence status and apply for citizenship.
- Humane border protection policies that allow authorities to identify dangerous criminals and
terrorists.
The National Advocacy Center supports the Kennedy/McCain
bill because we believe it best matches the criteria above.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
A description and
analysis of the immigration bills can be found at the National
Immigration Law Center’s
website.
A faith
based perspective on immigration reform can be found at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s website and here.
