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- Newcomer Liturgy
- Catholic Social Teaching
SUPPORT JUST AND FAIR IMMIGRATION POLICIES
Just and comprehensive policies addressing the needs of newcomers – as well as the security and economic health of our nation – should be a priority as Congress seeks to reform our nation’s immigration laws. The positions of Catholic Charities USA are deeply rooted in Catholic social teaching and our local agencies’ experiences in providing services to nearly half a million immigrants. Our agencies have been working with immigrants for more than 100 years, and experience first hand the economic and political forces that cause people to seek a better life in the United States, as well as the impact of current immigration policies that keep an estimated 11 million undocumented persons in the shadows, separate families and disrupt family life, and cause undue hardship to those who are working hard and building their own American dream.
Some facts:
Newcomers to our nation face a range of struggles: Every day, on average, a migrant dies trying to enter the U.S. It typically requires 5 years for a lawful permanent resident to be eligible to become a naturalized citizen; once eligible, applicants face further delays that can last nearly a year. Nearly 22% of non-citizens in 2003 fell below the poverty line. One million applications are pending for family members to become lawful permanent residents; the average processing time for these applications is 13 months. Immigrants suffer work related injuries at higher rates than U.S. citizens; Mexican nationals living in the United States are 80% more likely to die on the job than other workers.
Immigrants contribute to the economic vitality of our nation. Nearly 60% of newly created jobs between 1996 and 2000 were filled by immigrants; these rates were higher for service and construction jobs. Many immigrants work in professional highly skilled jobs while others perform the often thankless, necessary work that serves the common good and benefit us all. A study conducted by the Urban Institute Found that immigrants paid $70.3 billion in taxes per year and received only $42.9 billion in services.
Catholic Charities agencies across the country served nearly half a million immigrants and refugees in 2004, offering such services as citizenship classes, counseling and other social services, legalization assistance and legal aid, language instruction, and employment services.
Catholic Social Teaching calls us to seek justice for newcomers. Our history as a faith community in the United States has been as an immigrant church in an immigrant nation. By 1920, immigrants constituted 75% of U.S. Catholics. In response, the Church created, adapted or expanded ministries to meet the needs of this immigrant population. The Church’s biblical experience of migration has taught all Catholics to empathize with migrants. Jesus himself was a migrant – born in a manger on a journey, he and his family fled to Egypt, and in his ministry he had “nowhere to lay his head.” (Mt. 8:20). We have been taught by Him to look for Him in the faces of migrants and to welcome the stranger.
There is public support for providing immigrants an opportunity to legalize their status in this nation. A December 2005 Washington Post/ABC News poll found that three in five Americans said undocumented workers should be given the opportunity to stay and become citizens.
What can Congress do to meet the needs of newcomers?
- Enact comprehensive immigration policies that would not only promote the security of our nation, but also put undocumented workers and their families on a path to lawful permanent residence and citizenship, create greater legal avenues for necessary workers to enter the United States, integrate and promote the success of newcomers, and improve the economic prospects, health, labor protections, and stability of all U.S. residents.
- Support other policies to assist newcomers, including: The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act addresses the tragedy of immigrant children who grew up in the U.S., graduated from high school, but can not attend college because current immigration laws prohibit states from allowing these students to attend State institutions at “in-state” tuition rates. These children derive their immigration status solely from their parents, and if their parents are undocumented, in most cases, they have no mechanism to obtain legal residency even though they lived here most of their lives. Also, the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security (AgJOBS) Act would provide a path to legalization for temporary workers while providing them with the protection of U.S. labor laws, job portability, and a just wage.