Immigration and the Church

Following are video excerpts from The Line in the Sand, performed by members and staff of Most Holy Trinity Parish at the Celebration Publications conference, "A Light to the Nations," held Jan. 12-14, 2011 in San Antonio.

Scene 1:

Lucresia, a migrant mother of three from Mexico (played by Lupita Parra), embarks on a journey to the United States.

Scene 2:

Shana Machain plays the part of a No More Deaths volunteer, and shares her experience providing aid to migrants in the desert.

Scene 3:

Deacon Ken Moreland plays a Tucson medical examiner and Leo Guardado plays the part of an intern at the Mexican consulate. The two share their perspectives on identifying bodies found in the Arizona desert.

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Senate voted down five immigration bills March 17 that proponents argued would crack down on illegal immigration even further than last year's S.B. 1070, which is still hung up by court challenges.

Meanwhile, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert March 15 signed a series of bills that have been described as a state equivalent of comprehensive immigration reform being sought at the national level. They step up enforcement, but also create a guest worker program that itself is likely to face court challenges.

Among the bills Arizona's legislators rejected were those that would have required hospitals to verify patients' legal status before admitting them for nonemergency care, required schools to collect data on immigration status and challenged the 14th Amendment's provision for birthright citizenship.

"All of the most problematic bills were defeated soundly on the Senate floor," said Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, which represents the state's bishops in public policy matters.

Opinion

As reported by the Catholic News Service on Feb. 9, Archbishop of Los Angeles José Gomez told a group of Catholic business leaders in Florida that “the church's approach to immigration -- like the church's approach to every social issue -- is never about politics. It is about preaching the good news of God's love for all peoples. It is about transforming the city of man into the family of God.”

Despite the compassion that Gomez as well as now-retired Cardinal Mahony have demonstrated for the plight of undocumented immigrants, a closer look at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops immigration stance reveals something quite the opposite: the bishops seem totally willing to play politics, and their oral compromise on the DREAM Act, the immigration legislation that was defeated last year in Congress, is a case in point.

Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces N.M., who spoke at the Celebration conference on immigration in San Antonio, Jan. 12-14, is reportedly still recovering from a cold that developed into pneumonia and hospitalization when he got back to his diocese.

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, Ramirez suffered some broken ribs from coughing, and this prolonged his recovery time. The story also quotes the bishop as saying he would be submitting his resignation Sept. 12, when he turns 75, as all bishops are required to do. Whether it is accepted and when is be up to Rome, he said.