It is morally imperative that the United States protect its borders, confront rampant drug and weapons trafficking, meet head on criminal behavior and networking, and stop increased human smuggling/trafficking – truly a fundamental crime against humanity.
These challenges are necessary even though most illegal immigrants entering this country have no intention to harm anyone, or because they are criminals with bad intentions. Rather, they simply seek a better way of life, and cannot find a legal means of entry.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has long promoted comprehensive and bipartisan immigration reform based on respect for human rights, biblical mandates, e.g., welcome the stranger, and the Church’s social teachings. How does the recent state law in Arizona measure up against Catholic moral principles?
The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (SB 1070) was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer in April and takes effect in August. It has pushed immigration reform onto the nation’s front burner.
In essence, the law makes illegal immigration a state crime, as well as a violation of federal law, and allows police to request proof of citizenship from anyone they reasonably suspect of being an illegal immigrant.
The law demands that immigrants meet federal requirements to carry identity documents legitimating their presence on American soil, and permits people to sue local governments or agencies if they believe federal or state immigration laws are not being enforced.
Even before this bill was signed by the governor, President Obama strongly criticized it. He said that the Arizona law threatens “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”
The Arizona legislature later narrowed the original law by changing its language to require scrutiny only of people who police stop, detain or arrest, and barred officers from “solely” using race as grounds for suspecting someone is in the United States illegally. Even with these modifications, however, the law remains flawed and ineffective.
The law is seriously defective as it is a de facto open invitation for harassment and discrimination

against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status. Although denied by proponents, the law is a recipe for racial and ethic profiling. This is why Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angles noted that the authorities’ ability to demand documents is akin to Nazism.
Since the passage of the Arizona law, Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York and several other Democrats introduced a 26-page framework entitled “Real Enforcement with Practical Answers for Immigration Reform,” known as REPAIR.
This proposal is the sole comprehensive act on immigration and importantly addresses the thorniest question of the immigration debate: What should be done about the 12 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States? Most of these immigrants are from Mexico and many are members of families that include U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, a fact that makes compliance with current immigration policy destructive of family life.
REPAIR has 4 components: 1) enforcement and internal security, 2) “biometric” Social Security or ID cards to all U.S. workers that would contain physical data such as fingerprints or retinal scans, 3) a process for admitting temporary workers, and 4) a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The biometric information would track visa overstays, which account for about 40 percent of all illegal immigration.
REPAIR is a blueprint which sets out parameters for becoming a “lawful prospective immigrant” by requiring registration, fingerprinting, a background check, and payment of fines for having broken the law.
It also necessitates eight years of residence in the U.S., a crime-free record, an application for a green card, proficiency in English, and the filing of tax returns and payment of back taxes.
This framework also includes the Dream Act which makes the children of illegal immigrants who have graduated from a U.S. high school or served honorably in the military eligible for citizenship.
REPAIR provides a reasonable and fair path to citizenship. To the contrary, the Arizona law offers discrimination, racial profiling, and a dehumanizing approach to the dignity of the human person.
•Father Gerald D. Coleman, SS is Vice President for Corporate Ethics for the Daughters of Charity Health System, and lecturer at Santa Clara University.