Prelates urge federal action on immigration
April 25, 2012
Joined by 13 other Christian and Jewish leaders, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles called upon President Barack Obama and members of Congress to “reassert [their] authority” and enact federal immigration legislation.
“Instead of one federal immigration system applicable to all, we now have many states and an untold number of localities attempting to create their own immigration policies,” the signatories wrote. “This will only lead to a patchwork of laws which would cause family separation, economic disruption, and divided communities.”
In addition, Ambassador Johnny Young, executive director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, called for federal action in a Senate subcommittee hearing devoted to state and local immigration legislation. In his statement, Young--who served as ambassador to Sierra Leone, Togo, Bahrain, and Slovenia during his diplomatic career--summarized “the foundation for USCCB’s position in opposition to Arizona S.B. 1070 and similar unconstitutional state and local immigration policies” and its “support for comprehensive federal immigration reform legislation as the more appropriate solution to a broken immigration system.”
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