Immigration and the Church

MEXICO CITY -- A Catholic priest serving undocumented migrants praised new immigration legislation that would provide more rights and legal protections to the thousands of Central and South Americans traveling through the country toward the United States.

Father Jose Alejandro Solalinde, whose defense of migrants has brought death threats from criminal gangs and immense media attention for his outspoken advocacy, said the new legislation also discards potential sanctions against those working on behalf of migrants.

Parishes looking for more information and educational material on the U.S. bishops' views on immigration reform can be found at www.justiceforimmigrants.org, a site sponsored by the U.S. bishops.

Resources such as suggestions for homilists, statements from Archbishop José Gomez and others, answers to questions such as 'why don't they come here legally' and more are found at the Web site.

Currently, the campaign is encouraging people to send postcards (found on the Web site) calling for immigration reform to their representative and senators in the United States Congress.

As part of the NCR Blog effort to put a human face on the immigration issue, here is a short but powerful documentary about a group of women in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz who provide food for the desperate Central American migrants passing by on the tops of trains bound for the U.S border.