New Arizona law highlights need for comprehensive immigration reform

Intermountain Catholic

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 Arizona’s tough, new immigration bill (SB 1070) has elicited some strong reaction from the citizens of our country, indeed, from people around the world. It has also deepened the divide between those who see the undocumented immigrant as the problem and those who see our outdated immigration laws in need of reform. In my view, this heightened divide is both good and bad. It’s good if Arizona’s SB 1070 spurs our federal government into action toward reform and it’s bad because we keep trying to fix the system with enforcement-only legislation that has proven ineffective time and again.

The newly passed law in Arizona, due to be put into effect within 90 days, has frightened many people, citizens and non-citizens alike. And rightly so. It pits law enforcement officials against immigrant and ethnic communities, which have traditionally had a good relationship with the police. This legislation gives broad leeway to arrest someone on a very low legal standard, including appearance and how someone talks, which could lead to racial and ethnic profiling. True, there have been some "fixes" since Governor Brewer signed the bill, but from what I can tell, these amendments offer precious little protection against people being harassed based on the color of their skin or their accent. We are already seeing that people are living in fear as they are pushed even further into the shadows. And not to be lost in these recent events is the prospect that families are once again in danger of being fragmented as parents, children and spouses are potentially separated from each other.

While these consequences of the new Arizona law are deeply troubling, I also disagree with the legislation because it is more of the same: the same enforcement-only mentality that has proven ineffective. The federal government has spent more than 100 billion dollars on immigration enforcement initiatives since the year 2000, amounting to a doubling of Border Patrol agents to almost 20,000, nearly 700 miles of border fencing, a failed "virtual" fence costing billions and a tripling of detention beds to nearly 30,000. And this does not even take into account the personnel, weaponry and other resources used to whisk away powerless mothers from their even more powerless children in enforcement raids.

Despite all these enforcement efforts used to respond to valid concerns about illegal immigration, the tide of illegal immigration has not abated. Instead, we have seen a 50 percent rise in undocumented immigration in the past 10 years, from 7 million in the 2000 census to 11 million today. Clearly, we need a new strategy – we need Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Immigration reform, in my view and that of many others in our community, would respond to our country’s needs as well as assist immigrants who come to our country looking to support themselves and their families, while at the same time providing our country with necessary services and labor. It would also, I believe, help to make our borders truly secure and make us a safer nation.

To me, Comprehensive Immigration Reform really makes sense. It would bring 11 million undocumented persons out of the shadows to register with the government, thus eliminating the desire or need for the Arizona law. It would create more legal avenues for migrant workers to come and work in our country, giving our law enforcement officials more time and money to pursue those who are a real threat – drug smugglers, human traffickers and would-be terrorists. Immigration reform would restore the rule of law as it provides greater security for our country and as it protects human rights, now threatened by such legislation as Arizona’s SB 1070.

We bishops and other like-minded persons have been accused of not respecting the law of the land. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have a deep, abiding respect for the law and for that reason want to see legal reform in our immigration system. Outdated, archaic and ineffective laws that no longer meet the needs of the people are the biggest threat to the rule of law. Comprehensive Immigration Reform will bring the laws into the 21st century and give us a system that we can all live with and support. This is the best way to promote respect for and compliance with our legal system.

Immigrants are not criminals. They are predominantly family-oriented, religious and hard-working individuals who love our country and want to contribute to its growth. Sadly, they have fled countries whose economic and political realities have made it impossible for their own citizens to eke out a living. They are fellow human beings who share our values and want to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in supporting our great country. They are thoroughly part of our country’s history and deserve a better response than Arizona’s SB 1070. Indeed, we all do.