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Bishops: Show mercy to illegals
By James W. Brosnan
Scripps Howard News Service
February 22, 2006

WASHINGTON - As the Senate girds for Round 2 of the immigration reform battle, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is lobbying to persuade senators to pass a more forgiving bill than the one passed by the House last year.

"We don't condone illegal entry, but when someone is here, we try to take care of them. There is a kind of mean-spiritedness about immigrants, and as a Christian people, we try to show respect and love for all people regardless of their status," said Archbishop Michael Sheehan of the New Mexico archdiocese.

The bill that passed the House last year would brand as criminals the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States and would make it against the law for individuals and organizations, including churches, to give them aid.

The Senate is expected to consider a guest-worker program that would allow some illegal immigrants to register and remain for a period of years. The bishops back the bill by Arizona Republican John McCain and Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain permanent legal residency if they meet certain conditions.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, who had talked about taking up the bill in February, has pushed the measure back to late March or early April.

The New Mexico archdiocese has joined the Justice for Immigrants campaign to mobilize opposition to the House-passed bill and support a broader immigration bill that deals with illegal immigrants already here.

"For one thing, we have a natural connection to many Hispanics who are Catholic and those coming over," Sheehan said.

But the connection is also historic.

"The Catholic Church is a church of immigrants, primarily," Sheehan said.

It has been estimated there were about 25,000 Catholics in all the colonies, or about 1 percent of the population, when the colonies declared their independence in 1776.

Fueled by Irish and German immigration, Catholics represented 14 percent of the U.S. population by 1900.

Their ranks were swelled even more by Italians and Eastern Europeans in the first two decades of the 20th century, before the imposition of immigration quotas.

The Census Bureau does not track religious preference. The Catholic Church estimates the United States is home to 63 million Catholics, 23 percent of the population.

New Mexico ranked sixth in the highest percentage of Catholics in the population, 37 percent, according to a 2000 survey by the Association of Statisticians for American Religious Bodies. (Rhode Island, at 52 percent, topped the list, followed by Massachusetts with 49 percent and New Jersey, Connecticut and New York, all about 40 percent.)

New Mexico's senators say they at least listen when the Catholic bishops take a stand.

"Absolutely, I think everybody is entitled to their view," said Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican who has introduced his own bill with a guest-worker provision.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, said, "I'm in general agreement with their view that the House-passed bill is not good legislation and that we need something that is more balanced."

Rep. Tom Udall, Santa Fe Democrat, said his office was contacted by the bishops' conference about the House bill.

Their conclusions "were the same, and I voted against the bill," Udall said.

Supporters of the House-passed bill question the political influence of the church.

"I'm not sure the Catholic population necessarily goes along with everything that comes down from on high," said Ira Mehlman, media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "Look at the debate over abortion and birth control."

Mainline Protestant churches and Jewish groups also support a comprehensive immigration reform bill, but support among the evangelical faiths is mixed.

Southern Baptists would not support a bill that gives amnesty to violators of the immigration laws, said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

The 2000 survey estimated there almost 20 million Southern Baptists in the United States, second only to Catholics.

"Baptists are very strong believers that the civil magistrate is ordained by God to punish those who do evil," Land said.

He said a majority of Southern Baptists would probably support a guest-worker program, without amnesty, coupled with strong steps to enforce the border.

World Relief, the charitable arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, is working with the Catholic Bishops and other faiths on a March event to support an immigration reform bill. The association represents 52 smaller evangelical churches but not Southern Baptists.

"We're mobilizing the evangelical community to get involved," said Jenny Hwang, coordinator for advocacy with the refugee and immigration program at World Relief. "It's an issue that can be biblically based. We hope that is the message that people can use to be involved."

Cory Smith, deputy campaign manager for the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, said the House bill provision affecting aid workers who help illegal immigrants has "really captured attention and galvanized opposition" by religious officials.

Mehlman, the FAIR spokesman, said the measure affects only those who actively harbor or aid illegal immigrants, not just someone who provides a meal at a shelter.

"But churches have been actively involved in aiding people who are breaking the law," Mehlman said. "Churches should not expect to be exempt when they're disobeying the law."