A week ago now, “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” failed in the Senate. 12 million people live and work in the United States without documents. We have a broken immigration system that cannot manage or deal with our labor needs, the people already here, and those on their way. People blamed the failure on the massive gap between those who called, wrote, emailed, or yelled at senators calling the bill “amnesty” over those of us who want desperately to see the system overhauled. I called, wrote, and lobbied, but I understand why the support was unbalanced. While it was easy to use the buzzword “amnesty” to shoot down this bill which was “too liberal for conservatives,” the bill represented such a weak reform that many of us had a hard time fully supporting it.
The Episcopal Church identified five priorities as the Church Policy on Immigration Reform at General Convention last summer. They are:
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Undocumented aliens should have reasonable opportunity to pursue permanent residency.
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Legal workers should be allowed to enter the United States to respond to recognized labor force needs.
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Close family members should be allowed to reunite without undue delay with individuals lawfully present in the United States.
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Fundamental U.S. principles of legal due process should be granted all persons.
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Enforcement of national borders and immigration policies should be proportional and humane.