Joining the Evangelicals, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), one of the top ten refugee resettlement agencies, testified in support of amnesty for illegal immigrant workers at a Senate hearing last week.
Comprehensive immigration reform is needed to help bring undocumented immigrants “out of the shadows” and to reunite them with their families, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick told a Senate subcommittee on Thursday.
Addressing the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the cardinal said the United States requires an immigration system that links legal immigration with the country’s long-term economic needs, with family unity and with basic human rights.
Frankly, I never understand why the basic human rights and the economic needs of American citizens are always trumped by concern for the immigrants? What about our own unemployed and low-income struggling families?
The cardinal urged that any immigration reform legislation help bring undocumented immigrants “out of the shadows” and give them the opportunity to achieve permanent residency and citizenship. He recommended that family-based immigration be strengthened in order to preserve family unity and that legal avenues be created to help migrant workers enter the country legally and safely.
As a Catholic myself I have many questions for the Cardinal. First, how much is the USCCB receiving from the federal government now for immigration services they provide and will they then be expanding their taxpayer-funded services when 12 million illegal immigrants are legalized? (Note here that we don’t know how much the USCCB gets because they have no Better Business Bureau report on file).
And, then when considering the flood of illegal aliens taking jobs from Americans, aren’t the Bishops one bit concerned about the thousands of legal refugees they resettle each year with only about 20% of them finding work now? Aren’t the illegal aliens taking jobs refugees will do?
One last question. If the 12 million are legalized what is to stop the next million illegals from coming across the border illegally and expecting to be legalized as well?
Readers are reminded of the USCCB’s ties to ACORN and the political Leftwing, here.