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Thread ID: 18004 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2005-04-28
2005-04-28 12:01 | User Profile
[size=4]Catholic bishops take up border immigration problems[/size] Leonard Martinez
El Paso Times Catholic bishops from the United States and Mexico recently took an unprecedented step toward helping documented and undocumented immigrants.
[img]http://www.elpasodiocese.org/DMRS/News/20030207-73363-42375.JPEG[/img]
[size=1]Andrea Ortiz, right, and her daughter-in-law, Araceli Ortiz, both of San Elizario, waited their turn to be served at the Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services in Central El Paso.[/size]
A U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on migration and a bishops' conference in Mexico simultaneously issued a pastoral letter, "Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope," that dealt with immigrant issues.
The letter was also delivered to the White House to try to encourage President Bush to take action on those issues.
"It is disturbing that many policy-makers condemn the presence of the undocumented (immigrant) while quietly acquiescing to a system which benefits from their labor without recognizing their basic rights," Auxiliary Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami said. "The consequences of this flawed system -- the exploitation, abuse and even the death of migrants -- are morally unacceptable."
Wenski, chairman of the U.S. bishops migration committee, equated U.S. immigration policies to the Jim Crow laws that states and cities approved from the 1880s through the 1960s to legally discriminate against blacks.
El Paso Bishop Armando X. Ochoa sees the statement as historic.
"This is the first time we have ever done something like this," Ochoa said. "This document was not only addressing undocumented immigrants, but calling for more and continued dialogue between President Bush and (Mexican) President Vicente Fox on better avenues of improving the lives of those searching for a better life."
Being on the border, Ochoa said, the El Paso area has known about the need to help immigrants for quite some time.
"'I think that our bishops, speaking for the ones in the United States, are beginning to see that there is a growing number of Hispanics in the country and we need to do something to minister to them," Ochoa said. "Some of the immigrants are documented and many are undocumented, and we need to have an outreach to see what we can do to better their lives."
Las Cruces Bishop Ricardo Ramirez could not be reached for comment but has expressed his thoughts on the matter in his diocese's newsletter.
"The document reminds us of the many times biblical figures are welcomed," Ramirez said. "In the Bible, when hospitality occurs, wonderful things happen, such as when Abraham and Sarah welcome the three strangers who turn out to be three angels representing the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. After extending to them a bountiful hospitality, Abraham and Sarah were rewarded with the promise that they would have a son, even in their old age."
Juárez Bishop Renato Ascencio León could not be reached for comment. He and Wenski, representing the two conferences, issued a joint letter to migrants.
El Paso's diocese has dealt with immigrant issues through the Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services. The nonprofit legal aid clinic provides free and low-cost legal services to the indigent and low-income people who need help in immigrating to the United States.
"El Paso is in a leadership position," said Ouisa Davis, the clinic's executive director. "We've been asking the conference to pay special attention because of the problems both in Texas and Mexico. It's not just immigrants coming to the U.S., but also immigrants going to Mexico. Some of them going to Mexico are U.S. citizens or from Latin America."
Last year, the clinic gave legal consultation to about 10,000 immigrants, Davis said.
Despite the bishops' influence, Congress is unlikely to pass legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to become legal residents. Republicans control the House and Senate, and most GOP lawmakers oppose the idea.
Bush administration officials, who had aggressively pursued a migration agreement with Mexico before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, have been silent on the issue since then and have focused instead on border security.
In response to the letter recently, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer repeated the president's long-standing views on immigration.
"The president welcomes immigration to our country," he said. "He thinks it's a sign of how the world still looks to America as the best place ... for people to move for opportunity and for freedom."
But Bush also wants immigration to be done right, Fleischer said.
"That means that anybody who would come to our country (would) have to, of course, have legitimate documentation," Fleischer said.
The last time Congress passed a legalization bill was in 1986, when President Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act. The law granted legal residency to more than 2 million undocumented immigrants.
"Anti-immigrant xenophobia has always existed in this country and has been worse since September 11," Davis said. "When people start looking here in our region at the Mexican people or undocumented immigrants, they need to realize they are not our enemies."
Leonard Martinez may be reached at [email="lmartinez@elpasotimes.com"][color=#0000ff]lmartinez@elpasotimes.com[/color][/email] Washington Bureau reporter Sergio Bustos contributed to this report.
[url="http://www.elpasodiocese.org/DMRS/News/2-7-03.htm"]http://www.elpasodiocese.org/DMRS/News/2-7-03.htm[/url]