Q&A with Bishop Wester on last week's USCCB immigration conference in Salt Lake City

Q: Why did the U.S. bishops want this conference?

A: We sponsored the conference because it looks like it could be helpful to further the agenda of immigrants in our country. We’re in a pivotal time now – the states are passing more and more laws, and the federal government is getting more and more paralyzed, so we felt that it would be a good time to have a meeting. We wanted to know what’s going on at the state level across the United States. What are the state laws like and how can we deal with these new laws? How are we going to be able to help our immigrants because of these new laws, or despite them?

Q: Why hold the conference in January?

A: One of our purposes was not only to educate ourselves about how to deal with these new laws of the states but also maybe to put pressure on the states to put the ball back in the court of the federal government. In addition, the issue is being used by politicians at both ends, catering to what they think their voters want to hear, either hard on immigration or open to allowing more in. During the upcoming elections, we want to get real leadership in terms of bringing about real immigration reform. At the conference, we shared best practices about how to frame the matter, so that when advocates talk to their own state houses they’ll have some talking points about how and why the federal government should be involved, why it is that the states can’t solve the issue – although states can do some things, they can’t solve the big issues like granting citizenship and giving status to those who have been undocumented and things like that.

Q: One of the questions brought up several times at the conference was how to address the opposition of some Catholics to the Church’s involvement in the immigration debate. How can that opposition be addressed?

A: There are Catholics who disagree with the official Catholic Church position, so we need to educate people about the issue and the Church’s position. That doesn’t always solve the problem, but it’s a good first step. People need to look at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Justice for Immigrants website, read the papal documents, read the bishops’ documents, read the teaching of the Church and why the Church teaches what it does on immigration. Also, getting to know the stories of the immigrants is very important. That helps, I think, a great deal to put a human face on immigration. Other things that are helpful are to have pastors speak about it more often, and to have workshops on it. These are all ways of educating our people and help them to see that this system needs to be fixed. At the very least, I think that both sides can agree that we have a broken system and we need to do something. That’s a starting point, and then the question is where we go from there. It can be contentious, but we need to at least start.

Q: Why was Utah chosen for the conference venue?

A: The Utah Compact attracted a lot of attention. People felt that the Utah Compact was a creative way of creating a framework within which legislators could craft laws and enact laws. I think, too, that we have so many immigrants here was another reason. And, finally, I think that while our state legislators did enact laws that had some enforcement provisions, they did try with the guest worker program and with the exchange program to come up with a more humane, more hospitable, more compassionate approach. I think that attracted people. I think also that we’re pivotally located in the intermountain region, so transportation was fairly easy.

Q: What do you hope that the people who attended the conference will take back with them?

A: I hope they’re re-energized, that they got a booster shot in their enthusiasm for promoting immigration reform. I hope that some of the conversations and workshops and presentations informed them about what’s going on, and what some of the best practices are, so that they can bring those back to their own state conferences or parishes or schools or religious orders. I think, too, the networking was important. They have more people to call for help or for support or for information. Also, it let them know that they aren’t alone. We had 43 states represented and well over 200 people. I think that says, ‘Hey, we’re not alone.’