Religious Leaders Host Press Conference Opposing Anti Immigrant Legislation in the U.S. Senate

Interfaith Statement IN SUPPORT of Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The more I read about Immigration Reform, the more I am convinced of the solution.

"each day in our congregations, service programs, health-care facilities, and schools we witness the human consequences of an outmoded system."

Yes, I have no doubt they have witnessed the outcome of entering the US of A illegally, without papers, without the legal right to be here. Which leads too...

"the suffering of immigrant families who have lost loved ones to death in the desert or immigrants themselves who have experienced exploitation in the workplace or abuse at the hands of unscrupulous smugglers and others."

What everyone must comprehend about life is this: Consequences arise from within our choices.

Travel without the legal right and legal papers to travel and yes, you WILL be exploited, you WILL suffer abuse at the hands of smugglers (and employers) and possible death in the deserts. After all - you ARE traveling illegally, thereby placing yourself amongst those who will exploit, abuse and potentially kill you. For you are moving on the wrong side of the law.

IF the effort being expended by individuals and groups were redirected towards the source of the problem rather than at the results of the problem, immigration reform would be a far less volatile issue.

Fix the problems at home - don't run away from them, leaving the problems to those you left behind. For example - Mexico. Canada borders the United States - but Canadians (from my observations) appear to live a much better overall life than do Mexico's citizens. Why? Both border the US, both have NAFTA. What's wrong with Mexico that Mexicans do not want to fix?

Why is it easier to cross the border illegally than to gather together in Mexico, discuss the problems and decide upon a path and solution which will fix those problems? Corruption? Bad politicians? What? If the millions who have crossed into the US illegally and sent billions of dollars back to Mexico have not gone home to 'fix the problem', who are we to care?

I'm not being heartless here, I'm just pointing out those who have left do not want to go home. They send their money home in place of their returning home. If there are millions here illegally, and those millions were to go home and demand, then work for change - maybe, just maybe Mexicans and others of all nationalities would do the same - work for change.

Then maybe they'd find a whole lot of people from around the world would want to come live in their nation. What do you think?

"We call upon our elected officials to enact legislation that includes the following:

• An opportunity for hard-working immigrants who are already contributing to this country to come out of the shadows, regularize their status upon satisfaction of reasonable criteria and, over time, pursue an option to become lawful permanent residents and eventually United States citizens;
• Reforms in our family-based immigration system to significantly reduce waiting times for separated families who currently wait many years to be reunited;
• The creation of legal avenues for workers and their families who wish to migrate to the U.S. to enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner with their rights fully protected; and
• Border protection policies that are consistent with humanitarian values and with the need to treat all individuals with respect, while allowing the authorities to carry out the critical task of identifying and preventing entry of terrorists and dangerous criminals, as well as pursuing the legitimate task of implementing American immigration policy."

I disagree with allowing individuals to "come out of the shadows, regularize their status upon satisfaction of reasonable criteria and, over time, pursue an option to become lawful permanent residents and eventually United States citizens."

Ask the millions who came here legally - was it easy? Heck no it isn't easy! NOTHING worth having, nothing worth achieving is ever easy! Immigration reform should NOT reward lawbreakers by granting them blanket amnesty. Document them, get all their particulars, then return them to their home nation or to any other nation of their choosing. Let us see how many nations on earth will accept them without the proper documentation.

Jokingly, a thought scenario:

"US Air Force Starlifters flew over Paris, France today, delivering the first of many injections of new citizens by parachute. Air Force officials declared the operation a success.

Said Maj. General Bo Schmidt, "I must admit I was against it at first - because of the paradrop - but once we developed the proper delivery system, and we could be sure of a 99.9% survival rate, well... I got 50 more Starlifters booked solid by folks who always wanted to live in Paris and that's just since this morning!"

Parisians were at first dismayed but then became excited over the influx of new cultural influences. One Parisian spokesperson said, "Well, they will have to learn French - we're very strict about our language. But otherwise, we welcome our new citizens with open fingers."

This was the quote - later review of the quote indicates the Parisian spokesperson meant to say, "open arms".