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Comprehensive immigration reform on horizon

18 Nov 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“You it is who hold fast my lot,” the psalmist says of the Lord this Sunday, adding for good measure, “You will show me the path to life.” The lot of some 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. lies with the U.S. Congress, where there are signs that a comprehensive approach to immigration reform with a path to citizenship could be on the post-election horizon.Since President Barack Obama was reelected last week with overwhelming support from Hispanic voters, many Republicans have expressed a new willingness to work with Democrats to pass immigration reform after years of legislative inaction.Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said he and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham have agreed to resume talks on immigration reform which broke off two years ago. “And I think we have a darned good chance using this blueprint to get something done this year. The Republican Party has learned that being . . . anti-immigrant doesn't work for them politically. And they know it,” Schumer said.Obama in 2010 called the proposal backed by Graham and Schumer a “promising framework” but it made no headway. There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of them Hispanic.Graham said the tone and rhetoric used by members of his party on immigration ”built a wall between the Republican Party and the Hispanic community.” He noted that Republican presidential candidates have been steadily losing the support of Hispanic voters since 2004.“This is an odd formula for a party to adopt: the fastest-growing demographic in the country, and we're losing votes every election cycle. And it has to stop. It's one thing to shoot yourself in the foot. Just don't reload the gun. . . . I intend to tear this wall down and pass an immigration reform bill that's an American solution to an American problem,” Graham said.Homily hint: Nations divide when voting for their leaders, then must come together under the guidance of a leader a good portion of the populace did not support. Suggest that folks reach out to someone in the faith community on “the other side” of the voting divide and let them know that on immigration, and on many issues, people of good will can work out their differences and address the nation’s many problems. Source: An article by Will Dunham for Reuters

barack obama hispanics voters republican party lindsay graham immigration policy undocumented immigrants charles shumer
Immigration reform migrates to top of legislative agenda

03 Feb 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus' neighbors in Nazareth were not pleased when he pointed out in this Sunday’s gospel that the benefits of God’s care and concern are not reserved only for the "home team" but are available to outsiders and foreigners alike. Immigration reform picked up momentum this week, but battle lines began to emerge over whether a clear path to the benefits of citizenship will be laid out for those currently in the country without legal documentation.Both President Barack Obama and members of a bipartisan group of U.S. senators called “the gang of 8” unveiled immigration plans this week. The approaches are in broad agreement on basic principles, but issues such as border security and the route to citizenship could spark division between the president and Republicans.The Senate's avenue to citizenship would allow many undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status immediately upon passage of the law. Their ability, however, to then seek legal permanent residency would be contingent upon the U.S.-Mexico border being deemed secure by measures as yet undefined.While the White House has said that it is withholding judgment on the Senate plan until actual legislative language is drafted, the president said he wants a bill that makes it clear from the outset that undocumented immigrants eligible to earn their way to citizenship can eventually obtain it."What we don't want to do is create some kind of vague prospect in the future that somehow comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship will happen, you know, mañana," Obama said. "We want to make sure we are very clear this legislation provides a real pathway."Emphasizing the idea that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, Obama said: "A lot of folks forget that most of 'us' used to be 'them.' . . . Unless you're one of the first Americans, a Native American, you came from someplace else."Homily hint: Biblical values such as the proper treatment of strangers and sojourners in our midst are front and center in the immigration debate. Providing information in the parish that reviews some of these core biblical principals as well as church teaching on the subject would go a long way toward informing the local debate on immigration reform. Testimony from faith-community members who are recent immigrants, as well as those who recall their ancestor’s stories of immigration, would also serve the cause of-consciousness raising. Sources: Articles by Jordan Fabian for ABC News, Matthew L. Skinner for The HuffingtonPost, and Christi Parsons and Kathleen Hennessey for the Los Angeles Times

citizenship barack obama senate undocumented immigrants gang of 8 immigration reform
Exploring the word

16 Oct 2022 - Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Undocumented persons are having a hard time in this country of late. But in every age and culture, people who don’t technically exist have had to live on the edge of their wits and their nerves. The undocumented perennially include foreigners, known by the dehumanizing term “aliens”—as if to remove them from this planet and its natural affections altogether. People deprived of their papers during wartime are virtually paralyzed. Children have rarely had a viable presence: Being “seen and not heard” rendered them voiceless and prone to victimization. In the ancient world and in some cultures even today, the independent woman does not exist politically, financially, or socially. The Bible offers us a wealth of information about the social status of those who were literally not counted when a census was taken. Widows garnered special attention because of all women they were least valued and most socially problematic. First of all, they were known on sight because of their designated clothing. They could not inherit from their deceased husbands and could only return to their father’s house if childless. If without sons, they might also appeal to the husband’s next-of-kin for the protection of his tent until a son might be raised up in the name of the deceased. Widows might marry again (but not a priest—only a priest’s widow could marry another priest). But how many men would want to take on the expense of raising another man’s children along with a wife? Even today, the blended family remains a daunting situation for many. The law was on their side The law of Moses, needless to say, was not indifferent to the unfortunate triumvirate of aliens, widows, and the fatherless. They were to receive a share of society’s resources in lieu of the more standard systems of support. According to Deuteronomy, they had the right to glean the fields after the first harvesting, as Ruth famously did on her relative Boaz’ property. In addition, every third year a communal store of the holy tithes was to be made available to them. Anyone who violated the rights of strangers, widows, and orphans was ritually cursed in Israel. But laws have no teeth if they are not enforced or even enforceable. Not everyone is dismayed at the thought of evoking a curse if financial profit is to be had. The best evidence we have that the rights of widows and their partners in misfortune were routinely oppressed, ignored, and cheated is that the prophets regularly denounced the nation for such abuse. Without a man to defend her interests, a widow could easily be cheated by creditors and dishonest judges. See the woman who appeals to Elisha because her children are to be sold as slaves to pay a debt. Job laments that he lives in a society that would deprive a widow of her ox—the one animal that might sustain her livelihood. The prophets and Jesus himself rage against those who deny widows and orphans due support according to the law of Moses. Later, the Christian community would also wrestle with the justice owed to widows. The deaconate is born in the midst of one such struggle. Peter is compelled to raise Dorcas from the dead because her good works on behalf of the widows was deemed indispensable to the community. By the time of the writing of 1 Timothy, widows have been organized into a veritable vocation within the church with both rights and responsibilities. The widow’s parable So this is the context in which Jesus tells a story about the irreverent judge and the persistent widow. The original audience did not gasp at the idea that a judge would cheat a widow: Such was anticipated. The real surprise in the story is that the judge doesn’t cheat the widow. After all, this woman is not a juridical person, to use the frosty term. She has no legal presence. Neither earthly power nor moral conscience stands between the judge and a personally profitable decision. The only obstacle is the woman’s relentless cry for justice. Astonishingly, this is enough to make a mighty judge cave in and render a just decision. The judge does stammer something in the end about being afraid of the widow’s wrath—this was intended as a joke, and the crowd around Jesus would have tittered at the idea. Then Jesus says, “Don’t you think God has even better motivation to do justice than the judge? Don’t you think God will be swifter to answer the cry of the oppressed than you are?” Today we are a nation brimming with non-juridical persons who cry for help and need our protection. It doesn’t matter what judges decide or courts allow. The Catholic Church has never asked the Supreme Court what the rights of an unborn child should be, how a disabled friend or a terminally ill relative ought to be treated, if it’s morally permissible to put a convicted man or woman on death row. We don’t turn to Congress to determine which of our wars are just. So why should we wait for our lawmakers to decide if the undocumented millions in our midst should have our protection, medical treatment, education for their children, decent living facilities, or the basic right of due process? The widow’s parable is not some quaint little story, like those about wandering sheep and royal wedding banquets, which have no practical modern implications. We are square in the middle of this one, and God is listening to the cry of the oppressed once more. Applying the word Be persistent whether convenient or inconvenient It’s darned inconvenient to be caught in the crossfire of the dysfunctional immigration system. Our laws are broken, and nobody wants the blame for fixing them. We can build walls to keep people on the far side, but even the Great Wall of China is falling down stone by stone and never was much good at keeping out invaders. How much better for people of good conscience, bound by the divine mandate “to do justice,” to thoughtfully consider how best to create a means for all people to share in the goodness we have received. The holy tithe belongs to the world’s disadvantaged, even if we refuse to render it. Related scripture links They were not counted: Mark 6:44; Matt. 14:21; Luke 9:14; John 6:10 Widows’ garb: Gen. 38:14, 19 Widows are cheated and oppressed: 2 Kings 4:1; Job 22:9; 24:3; Ps. 94:6; Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Ezek. 22:7; Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5; Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47 Judges treat widows dishonestly: Isa.1:23; 10:2; see story in 2 Sam. 14:4-11 The law defends widows: Exod. 22:22-23; Deut. 14:28-29; 16:11-12, 14; 24:17-22; 26:12-15; 27:19; Book of Ruth Christianity in the widow’s corner: Acts 6:1; 9:36-41; 1 Tim. 5:3-16; James 1:27 Do justice: Mic. 6:8 Catechism links Justice: CCC 1807; 2401-2449

Authors Alice Camille

widows orphans parable of the persistent widow undocumented immigrants

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