We also know that when the man came to Jesus asking what he had to do to gain eternal life, Jesus responded with the requirements to enter heaven: “Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc., what you do the least of your brothers and sisters you do to Me.” 

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington D.C, spoke on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as some leaders of the Evangelical Christian, Protestant and Jewish traditions, and issued a statement about the need for immigration reform and also for the defeat of H.R. 4437, the Border Protection, Anti Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Act of 2005.  Cardinal McCarrick said, “immigration is not a simple issue, but one that evokes strong passions and economic, legal, social, and national security debates.”  He went on “but it is also a humanitarian issue that impacts the basic dignity and life of the person created in the image and likeness of God.  It is because of this impact on basic human dignity and human life that we believe immigration is, first and foremost, a moral issue.”  He continued, “Our nation must create an immigration policy that is humane, while also serving our nations economic and national security needs.” 

The heart of Bill H.R. 4437 is that it criminalizes anyone who is in the country illegally.  Jailing all these immigrants breaks up the families, makes unification of families difficult  and also causes enormous economic problems for the government.  It also calls for all helping agencies in this country such as churches, doctors, social workers, counselors, and lawyers to demand proof that they are here legally before any service can be offered to them.  This is not only un Christian but un American.  Daily we are called upon to respond to the many needs of new immigrants, hard working people who have fled their homeland in despair and fear.  All agree that immigration reform is very much needed but in keeping with American and Christian values.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times as well as in his Ash Wednesday message, Cardinal Roger Mahoney called on all his 5 million Catholics of the diocese to fast, pray and press for humane immigration reform.  He criticized the Minutemen Project, private militia who are patrolling the borders with guns.  He said he would instruct his priests to defy legislation - if approved by congress - that would require churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance and penalize them if they refuse to do so.  He continued, “If you take this to its logical, ludicrous extreme, every single person who comes up to receive communion, you have to ask them to show their papers.  It becomes absurd and the church is not about to get into that.  The church is here to serve people.  We are not going to be immigration agents.”