Migration: Pax Christi USA's request for a faith response
July 2010
The following alert is circulated by Pax Christi USA.
Click here to read the plenary address by Elena Segura, director of the Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigrant Education in the Archdiocese of Chicago, given on July 17 at Pax Christi USA’s national conference. Use points raised by Segura's talk to shape a letter to lawmakers.
We cannot afford to let our voices be silent on this issue as millions of our immigrant brothers and sisters suffer under the draconian laws of Arizona and the malaise of the federal government.
When starting your letter, you might consider using aspects such as these in order to set the tone for the rest of the document:
1. I am a person of faith guided by the spiritual values of the Catholic church.
2. I believe that respect for human and civil rights is essential to safeguarding the integrity of our society and the inherent dignity of all human beings.
3. The degeneration of the U.S. immigration system over the last 20 years has an inefficient bureaucracy leading to systemic violations of rights: indiscriminate raids, detention without due process, worker exploitation, and families separated for years or even decades. At heart, we are calling for humane immigration reform that would restore integrity to the U.S. tradition of welcoming immigrants and provide real solutions to a broken immigration system.
To build on the content of your letter, please consider these talking points, among many, to educate yourself, your Congressperson and senators, and to issue the moral call to action for reform:
The separation of children from their families is morally reprehensible
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican have been clear and consistent on the immorality of the tearing apart of families due to the undocumented status of one or more family members. Nearly one in 10 U.S. American families are of mixed immigration status, where at least one parent is a non-citizen, and at least one child a citizen. Between 1997 and 2007, more than 100,000 children (mostly U.S. citizens) have been separated from a legal permanent resident parent who was deported. Pope Benedict XVI has said, “The unity and stability of families, including migrant and immigrant families, must be defended with courage and patience […] One must not forget that the family, including the migrant or itinerant family, is the original cell of society and must not be destroyed. The family is the community in which, from infancy, one is taught to adore and love God, learning the grammar of human and moral values and how to make good use of freedom in truth.”
Free access to fair and sustainable economic development is a human right
Many migrants are compelled to leave their homes out of economic necessity in order to provide even the most basic of needs for themselves and their families. We at Pax Christi call for international efforts designed to create conditions in which people do not have to leave their homes out of necessity. Trade, international economic aid, debt relief, and other types of economic policies should be pursued that result in people not having to migrate in desperation in order to survive.
Immigrants have already paid for their citizenship in the currency of suffering
Immigrants and refugees have suffered forced migration due to economic injustice, exploitation at the hands of U.S. employers, demonization in the media, and ostracization in U.S. policy. This does not include all they have contributed in the way of taxes and labor and all they have been denied in the way of due services due to their status as “illegal.”
Between 50-75 percent of undocumented immigrants pay federal, state and local taxes. They also contribute to Medicare and provide as much as nine billion dollars a year to the Social Security Fund. Further still, undocumented workers pay sales taxes where applicable and property taxes—directly if they own and indirectly if they rent. Immigration reform must create an inclusive path for undocumented immigrants, multi-status families, refugees, and asylum seekers to regularize their status and lead to eventual citizenship. Such a program must be workable, without any unreasonable preconditions, and not hindered by overly punitive criteria.
Look for further resources at the USCCB’s Justice for Immigrants website, the Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education at the Archdiocese of Chicago website, and NNIRR (National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights) website.
Mail your letter from home so it’s postmarked from your Congressional district!
Consider mailing it to the local office in your home district because letters mailed to D.C. go through a lengthy screening process and do not arrive in a timely manner.
Thanks for participating!
Click here to download Interfaith Worker Justice's resource, Immigration through the lens of faith.