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El Salvador bishop rips Arizona immigration law

July 28, 2010

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El Salvador’s leading prelate has called for the repeal of Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

“We are all against the law,” said Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador. “We sincerely hope the judge charged with the matter will opt for a repeal, because the law in question is not only anti-immigrant, it is totally anti-human rights.”

The law “turns innocent men and women into criminals and this cannot be allowed to happen in a country such as the United States of America, a nation of democracy,” he added. “To enforce such a law would put the entire country in a very bad light.”

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• Posted by: BobJ70777069 - Jul. 28, 2010 6:52 PM ET USA

  Another uninformed opinion from someone who hasn't read the law and hasn't a clue about what it says and doesn't say. "It's better to keep silent and have others think you're stupid than to open it and have them be certain."

• Posted by: Defender - Jul. 28, 2010 3:07 PM ET USA

  "The law turns innocent men and women into criminals..." I would venture to say that most (if not all) countries have immigration laws and most probably "frown" on people who just show up. Illegal does not equal innocent unless they were kidnapped and taken here against their will. There are legal ways to enter any country and people need to use them. The fact that the federal government doesn't do a good job (which also brings up the notion of security) prompts the states to step in and try.

• Posted by: samuel.doucette1787 - Jul. 28, 2010 3:04 PM ET USA

  Archbishop Escobar, with all due respect, let me ask a few questions: 1) Does El Salvador have a duty in terms of public safety and national identity to control its own borders as a sovereign nation; 2) If someone breaks Salvadoran law and enters your country, are they still innocent?