Alexandria, Va. (Catholic Online) – The erection of 700 miles of a fence between the United States and Mexico is no solution to a broken immigration system that needs immediate repair, said the head of Catholic Charities USA.
U.S. President George W. Bush signed H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, in a public ceremonies at the White House Oct. 26, which authorizes the building of 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border.
In an Oct. 27 statement, Father Rev. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, called on Bush and the U.S. Congress to finish the job by acting swiftly to enact just and fair comprehensive immigration reform.
“Catholic Charities USA and its members call on the president to provide swift and immediate leadership to ensure that the next step results in just and fair immigration reform,” he said.
Noting the disappointment that “enforcement-only is the only piece of immigration reform was made into law” during this midterm election year, the Catholic agency representing more than 1,700 local charities organizations and institutions throughout the United States said it will continue to press the administration and Congress to enact “comprehensive reform.”
Catholic Charities USA urged that “this enforcement-only strategy does not stand alone as a solution to a broken system.”
“We are counting on your leadership and commitment to reform immigration laws so they are comprehensive and balanced providing both national security and a system putting immigrants on a pathway to citizenship,” Father Snyder said.
Catholic Charities USA said that the enactment of comprehensive reform requires elements, including:
- A path to lawful permanent residence and citizenship for the 11-12 million undocumented persons in the United States.
- A mechanism to sustain and reunite families.
- The promotion of the security of our nation.
- Greater legal avenues for necessary workers to enter the United States in the future.
- Ability to integrate and promote the success of newcomers.
- Potential to improve the economic prospects, health, labor protections and stability of all U.S. residents, including newcomers.
The U.S. bishops’ conference opposed the construction of the 700-mile fence as an ineffective method of solving the problem of illegal immigration and as act that will lead to an increase in smuggling-related violence.
In an Oct. 10 letter, Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked U.S. President George W. Bush to veto H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, passed by the two houses of Congress at the end of September.
“We are opposed to this legislation because we believe it could lead to the deaths of migrants attempting to enter the United States and increased smuggling-related violence along our border,” Bishop Skylstad said.
“It would send the wrong signal to our peaceful neighbor to the south, Mexico, as well as the international community,” he said, adding, “we do not believe it will solve the problem of illegal immigration faced by our nation.”
The conference president stressed that the U.S. bishops are “are supportive of efforts to enforce immigration law and secure our borders” as long as such measures “protect human dignity and protect human life.”
Bishop Skylstad referred to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that found migrant deaths have doubled since 1995, about the time the government began a series of border enforcement initiatives designed to stem illegal entries at ports-of-entry and other traditional crossing routes. Since this time, he added, close to 3,000 immigrants have died in remote portions of the southwest region of the country.
“In our estimation, the erection of a border fence would force migrants, desperate to find employment to support their families, to seek alternative and more dangerous ways to enter the country, contributing to an increase in deaths, including women and children,” Bishop Skylstad wrote.
The Catholic Church bears witness to the poverty that drives desperate people to seek employment in the United States, he said. “We do not believe that a fence will deter persons desperate to escape poverty from seeking employment in our country.”
He pointed out that international economic policy would impact on immigration in a positive way. “We strongly feel that the development of just global economic and trade policies designed to help create living wage jobs in countries of origin would permit persons to remain home and support themselves and their families,” Bishop Sklystad said.
“It is our view that the best way to secure our border is through the enactment of a comprehensive immigration reform measure, not by the construction of a border fence,” he said.
Bush had sought immigration legislation that would create a guest-worker program to help provide a workforce for jobs Americans are either unable or unwilling to do. But a group of House Republicans pushed for tougher enforcement and border measures instead.
With the legislation, both House and Senate Republicans sought to demonstrate their efforts to stop illegal immigration before the Nov. 7 mid-term elections. Democrats accused the Republican majority of playing politics with the issue, and opponents of the construction of the fence said it would be expensive and was not an effective deterrent to illegal immigration.
An estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants were arrested in the last fiscal year trying to cross into the United States along the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, with sections of the fence to be built in each state.
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