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Mahony Calls For Humane Border Enforcement

POSTED: 3:39 pm PDT June 14, 2006
UPDATED: 3:45 pm PDT June 14, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony called on federal lawmakers Wednesday to pass immigration legislation that includes humane border enforcement and does not criminalize people who sneak across the borders.

"We are for regulating access to our country from all four borders in ways that respect the dignity of people," Mahony said at a news conference before the start of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at the Millennium Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles.

Enforcement cannot criminalize undocumented workers because "it will just force people more underground and into the shadows," he said.

Mahony joined bishops from Orange, San Bernardino, New York and Tucson to discuss the church's continued support for illegal immigrants and federal legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship and guest worker program.

"The only solution to this problem, to this challenge is international cooperation," said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

Recognizing that many undocumented workers come from Mexico, the group said they would continee to work with church leaders in that country to address the economic problems that cause people to some to the United States illegally.

"It is a sad reality of immigration -- a people who love their land so much feel the need to abandon it for the survival of their own families," said Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto.

Enforcing laws against employers who hire undocumented people will not stop illegal immigration, the bishops said.

"The question is not to go after employers and sanction them -- it's giving them a system so they can check the facts they're given," DiMarzio said. "Make a system that works to have a labor market that operates properly."

Immigration is a humanitarian and moral issue -- not political, Mahony said.

"Laws and policies which infringe upon dignity and harm human life are wrong," he said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will be at the Biltmore through Saturday.

Bishops are expected to discuss adaptations of the Order of Mass, liturgical translations, and reports on a hurricane task force and Catholic Relief Services.

A report will also be presented by the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Politicians. The bishops are expected to spend half a day on study and reflection on the theme of New Evangelization.

The We Are America Coalition, which Mahony has supported, also plans to host Citizenship Day July 1. As part of a nationwide effort, the coalition will assistant immigrants interested in becoming U.S. citizens.