Opening Prayer For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving them food and clothing. So you too should love the resident alien, for that is what you were in the land of Egypt. Deut. 10:17-19

Immigration and the Common Good The Legal and Illegal Movement of People

Precedent Matthew (2:13-15) Flight to Egypt When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

The Issues The Catholic Church in the United States does not support ‘open borders’, illegal immigration, or an “amnesty” that would unconditionally grant legal status to all unauthorized immigrants outside of any accepted legal boundaries. The Catholic Church cares about the marginalization of an entire group of people, their dignity as God’s creation and the destruction of their families. Which includes the ability for people to move freely among the resources of the planet, to have access to protection, opportunities, and services which will provide dignity to their lives is an important right but one which must be balanced for all people.

Alabama HB 56 Main Provisions Allows legal stop, detention, or arrest for “reasonable suspicion” Public Benefits o Illegal immigrants Cannot receive public benefits, state or local Cannot attend public colleges or universities o Primary and secondary education required to ascertain if children are illegal for statistical purposes only

Alabama HB 56 Main Provisions Aid o Prohibits transporting or harboring illegal immigrants o Prohibits landlords from renting to illegal immigrants o Employers cannot knowingly hire illegal immigrants (must use E-Verify system) o Discriminatory act to hire or not remove an illegal immigrant over a legal resident

Alabama HB 56 Main Provisions All state, municipality, and county employees: o Have a duty to report violations of the Act of which the person has knowledge o Failure to do so willfully is obstructing governmental operations, Class A misdemeanor o Must comply with and support enforcement of the law, to the fullest extent of the law

“Today’s ruling…nothing short of a great victory for the State of Alabama and for those who support the rule of law. Many of the law’s most vocal critics, including the Obama Justice Department, the ACLU and other liberal extremists, were simply proven wrong today. We are quickly learning that once you cut through the rhetoric of those who seek to protect illegal immigrants, there are no facts to support their outlandish claims against this statute.” (Micky Hammon, The Huntsville Times, September 28, 2011) The Challenges

Catholic Church Stance The Catholic Church does not believe that criminal prosecution and deportation of unauthorized immigrants offer a viable approach to the problem. Doing nothing, the church believes, would facilitate the growth of a population of second-class noncitizens with limited rights, few prospects, or security. "It is against the common good and unacceptable to have a double society, one visible with rights and one invisible without rights — a voiceless underground of undocumented persons." - US Bishops 1986

The Response Lawsuit from Bishops Baker and Rodi against Alabama HB 56 o Also included support from Episcopal and Methodist Bishops Various Statements from the USCCB

Statistics

Immigration from

Immigration By Decade

Historical Shares of Immigrants In 1980, according to the Census Bureau, the foreign-born represented 6.2% (14.1 million individuals) of the total U.S. population By 1990, their share had risen to 7.9% (19.8 million individuals) By 2000 census, they made up 11.1% (31.1 million individuals) As of 2009, immigrants comprised 12.5% (38.5 million) of the total U.S. population

Top Five State in Number of Immigrants California (9,947,000) New York (4,178,000) Texas (3,985,000) Florida (3,484,000) New Jersey (1,759,000) In 2009, the top five U.S. states by the number of immigrants were:

However: South Carolina (76.9%) Alabama (67.5%) Tennessee (67.1%) Delaware (64.9%) Arkansas (63.2%) Between 2000 and 2009, the five states with the largest percent growth of the immigrant population were:

En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo. Amén. Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre. Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentación y líbranos del mal. Amén.