Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined members of the Justice for Immigrants (JFI) Campaign from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter to President Biden calling for protections for longtime undocumented residents in the United States. Read the letter as a PDF.
Dear President Biden:
The undersigned core members of the Justice for Immigrants (JFI) Campaign, guided by our Catholic faith, urge you to take all action within your power to protect longtime undocumented residents of American communities from needless removals, especially the spouses of U.S. citizens, DACA recipients, and others with close ties to our country.
Families are the essential building blocks of society, and only through strong families can a society flourish. Taking administrative steps to protect longtime undocumented residents would ensure that members of many mixed-status families remain united, freed from the constant fear of separation. This certainty and the confidence it provides would be extended to employers throughout the United States currently grappling with labor shortages.
Furthermore, in responding to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, we urge you to uphold our nation’s longstanding commitment to humanitarian protection, including the right to seek asylum. The preservation of human life is of paramount concern, and we encourage policies that respect the fundamental right to life for vulnerable people at our borders. Safe, orderly, and humane migration requires a fair and accessible asylum system.
Addressing Congress in 2015, Pope Francis stated, “[W]hen the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past. We must resolve now to live as nobly and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn their back on our ‘neighbors’ and everything around us. Building a nation calls us to recognize that we must constantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset of hostility in order to adopt one of reciprocal subsidiarity, in a constant effort to do our best.”
Immigration has long been a politically divisive issue in our country, but a just and humane reform of our immigration system is desperately needed to meet the needs of American communities and families. This will require a bold and sustained commitment by elected officials from across the political spectrum, steeped in a shared concern for the wellbeing of all who inhabit this land, native-born and immigrant alike, each imbued by God with inherent dignity. Please work with Congress to prioritize this increasingly urgent issue.
In carrying out the responsibilities of your office, we implore you to remain ever mindful of the mandate in Matthew’s Gospel: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” As organizations committed to the common good, we and the millions of people we represent remain ready to work with you and your Administration, members of Congress, and all people of good will to promote justice for our immigrant neighbors. Toward that end, please be assured of our steadfast prayers for you.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Health Association of the United States
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
Center for Migration Studies
Franciscan Action Network
Glenmary Home Missioners
Hope Border Institute
Ignatian Solidarity Network
Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Migration and Refugee Services, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Office for Social Evangelization and Engagement, Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe (USA)
Pax Christi USA
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
Photo of the border wall on the US/Mexico border by Greg Bulla via Unsplash.