BISHOP GERALD KICANAS (Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Arizona): Even the Arizona legislators, Bob, are considering modifications to the bill, which suggests that they themselves are concerned about how it could be misinterpreted. So there will be legal action, certainly, and we’ll monitor that and participate where we feel it would be appropriate.
{BOB] ABERNETHY: Do you think the church might become a party to the lawsuits to try to stop the bill?
BISHOP KICANAS: I don’t know that we’ll be bringing the lawsuits forward. Those will be brought forward by, certainly, others, but we will review those, and perhaps being a friend of the court where it would be appropriate.
ABERNETHY: Do you think in the end that the bill can be stopped, that the law can be stopped?
BISHOP KICANAS: Well, there is great national concern, certainly concern within our state among religious leaders, among many portions of our community. It has to be addressed that this bill does not well represent the state of Arizona and is not going to resolve the issues that we are facing.
I must part ways with the Bishop on this issue. Treating illegal immigrants with the dignity due to all persons and enforcing immigration laws are not mutually exclusive in my mind. Also this law (as I understand it) simply mirrors federal law and requirements about proving residency status.
And the Bishops seem to have forgotten the very real burden put on law abiding citizens by illegal immigration. And the violence that is encroaching into border states partly because of unchecked immigration.
I do favor immigration reform. But that reform has to start with securing our borders and making sure preference is given to those who have come here legally.
If the Bishop wants open borders then he should say so.
I find it disturbing that I have only read of one priest who acknowledges that illegal immigration impacts the most vulnerable of our own citizens, the poor and the lowest salaried workers. Who suffers the most when jobs are lost to illegal immigrants? When a local hospital or clinic must curtail services or shut down? When schools become over crowded? When police and other municipal services can not meet the added demand?
Many people focus on the economic price of illegal immigration. But there is also a human cost which the Bishops brush aside except when discussing the illegal immigrant. Then it’s all sleeves and hankies.
If people want to come to this country, fine……but let them do it [b]legally,[/b] just like my great grandparents did!
Instead of attacking AZ government for passing this law, these church leaders should be galvanizing their churches to help the AZ gov’t care for the poor who are being dumped on it because the Fed Gov’t has not and will not secure our borders. What are these border states supposed to do – simply lie down and go broke? And what are the responsible citizens of our country and the responsible legal aliens in our country suppose to do – lie down and go broke? Wait for the illegal alien criminal element to come rob their homes and kill their families? (The liberals seem to think that because the illegal aliens are poor, that they are noble, responsible and caring.) Congress and Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations should be totally embarrassed that a state has had to attempt to pass a law like this one to deal with the illegal aliens that have come across our borders that they have refused to secure. The AZ law is not nearly so reprehensible as the neglect of our Fed Gov’t.
I have heard so many misinterpretation of this law it is amazing. And most are from people who SHOULD know better: MSM, politicians, religious leaders. Too many stress that the local police will decide if the person in question is libel to deportation; in fact, it is the job of the police to notify ICE for their determination of the situation. And there is in place a Federal program wherein Federal and Local law enforcement works together on immigration issues with the Federal Gov. doing the enforcement (and paying the cost.) No excuses.
It is especially annoying to hear complaints about having to “carry papers” to assure legal residency. Give me a break! I am asked for my driver’s license on a pretty regular basis! Fortunately, mine is pretty secure and indicative of citizenship unlike those in, say, Oregon!
we don’t need border security, we need real consequences for those employers who are giving illegals jobs, ie. prison time and high-dollar fines. an ID card that cannot be counterfeit would help immensely. a lot of migration has reversed since the recession which proves the point; no jobs- no illegals.
It is already federal law that anyone here on a green card, visa, etc., should always be able to provide that info when asked. This is nothing new and nothing nefarious. Check out this article in the Denver Post – I think it’s excellent and says what many of us think:
I heard someone give a good suggestion the other day:
Instead of immigration reform, first enforce the laws that already exist. THAT would solve a lot of the problems.
Thanks for that #9….and not just for immigration. How many other laws could this be said for? Too many.
Thanks, Paula (#1,3) and Branford (#8). I’m a political conservative; I’ve lived in CA and WA, in both large urban areas and the “ag belts.” Both sides of my family were immigrant stock who came to this nation [i]legally[/i](of course, really EVERYONE in the USA is of immigrant stock, even arguably Native Americans, if one accepts the land bridge from Siberia thing). I take care of many recent immigrants in my work as a large-city MD. I work with MDs and RNs who are recent immigrants, and great additions to the American melting pot. So, I’m NOT “anti-immigrant,” or a “bigot,” or “fascist.” Yet, I’m amazed at the hyperbole generated by the AZ law.
I’d like to ask those, including the good RC bishops and other clergy so opposed to this, whether they support complete abolition of all immigration laws, and dissolution of the ICE and Border Patrol. Because ISTM that’s what, at its core, a lot of “immigrant advocates” want. Do we have completely open borders, or reasonable controls on immigration? Do we treat ALL immigrants exactly the same (remember “Equal Under the Law”), or allow some to “jump the queue” while others slog through the legal process? Do we allow some employers to disadvantage other workers (where are the U.S. labor unions in all of this??), exploit illegal workers with lower wages, and undercut other employers who check for green cards, or not??
Are we a nation of laws, or just those that suit us when convenient? This should be a slap in the face to the federal Congress and others who have allowed this problem to fester along our borders for decades, and now cries for a solution. Like, for one, enforcing existing laws at both the entry points AND the workplace.