Bishops launch postcard campaign for immigration legislation reform

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, is shown welcoming participants to the 2008 National Migration Conference in Washington, D.C. Bishop Wester is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration.

SALT LAKE CITY - With immigration legislation reform a tumultuous topic both locally and nationally, the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake, is urging Utah's Catholics to let members of Congress hear their voices in support of the issue.

One in seven Utahns is Latino or Asian, and in 2007, 215,757 immigrants called Utah home, according to a report by the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C. "If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Utah, the state would lose $2.3 billion in expenditures, $1.0 billion in economic output and approximately 14,219 jobs," the report states.

The U.S. bishops have been advocating for comprehensive immigration legislation reform so that "undocumented persons can gain legal status, asylum-seekers are treated with dignity, and future migrants can obtain work visas," said Bishop Wester in a speech in Rome during the VI World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees.

In January, parishioners throughout Utah will be asked to sign postcards expressing the need to reform the United States' immigration law in conjunction with the national effort by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The postcards then will be delivered to the local offices of the congressional members.

"We could have made the choice to do this all electronically," said Dee Rowland, the Diocese of Salt Lake's government liaison, "but the decision was made...to have tangible evidence of people speaking out."

"Reform legislation failed in 2007 because opponents apparently contacted their legislators ten times more than proponents," Bishop Wester wrote in a letter to local pastors and church administrators, asking them to make the postcards available to parishioners. "In order to pass this needed reform, proponents, including the Catholic community, must do a better job of expressing support."

Bishop Wester is chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Migration, so support from the Diocese of Salt Lake is especially symbolic, Rowland said.

The postcard campaign was approved locally by the Presbyteral Council, and Bishop Wester is requesting that each parish make the postcards available during National Migration Week, which ends Jan. 10.

National Migration Week is the USCCB's annual celebration of the Catholic Church's work in settling refugees and welcoming strangers. The theme for 2010 is "Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice."

Each parishioner will have the opportunity to sign four postcards: one each for senators Bennett and Hatch, a third for the U.S. representative in whose district the parish is located, and a fourth if they want to receive more information from the Justice for Immigrants Campaign.

The Justice for Immigrants Campaign, sponsored by the USCCB, "is the focal point for the U.S. Catholic bishops for the ongoing campaign to reform immigration law, to educate and advocate," Rowland said.

For information, visit www.justiceforimmigrants.org.