Federal Immigration Reform

The immigration system of the United States is broken. On the one hand, security at our borders is inadequate and porous, representing a failure of our nation to regulate migration, protect its citizens, and enforce its own laws. On the other hand, U.S. immigration policies have utterly failed to adequately respond to the rights of migrants, many of whom are fleeing violence and destitution.

What is needed is comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level. The USCCB supported a proposal in 2014 that would have created a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (which included fines and required civics education), secured our borders, and made changes in our immigration system to prioritize family unification and humanitarian relief. The measure ultimately failed, but MCC continues to support comprehensive federal immigration reform.

We work with the USCCB’s Justice for Immigrants (JFI) to monitor and advocate for just immigration reform.

Recent Statements from Minnesota's Bishops

Archbishop Hebda Calls for Immigration Reform in Wall Street Journal Commentary

If recent events in Minnesota have clarified anything, it’s that we can no longer put off the hard work of immigration reform. Each year of inaction has made the debate louder, angrier and less humane. A difficult policy discussion has hardened into a cultural and political battleground. It’s playing out on the streets here, where federal immigration officers are clashing with protesters.

We had a chance in 2013, when a bipartisan bill passed the Senate. It was a strong bill that provided billions for border security and a 12-year path to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented immigrants. The House never took it up.

The longer Washington waits, the worse the problem gets. Communities are strained and millions live in a constant state of uncertainty. This serves neither justice nor the common good.

As a bishop entrusted with the care of souls, I want to reiterate the consistent call of Catholic bishops around the U.S. for true statesmen to step forward, set aside partisan calculations and enact meaningful federal immigration reform.

Minnesota Bishops Statement on Immigration Law and the Common Good of the Nation

Sadly, our nation’s immigration system is broken. For too long, our laws on paper said “stop, no entry,” while in fact, for economic and political reasons, undocumented migrants were allowed inside, sometimes with the encouragement of business interests and even our government. As Pope Francis has said, migrants have been too often treated “as pawns on the chessboard of humanity.”

Elected officials in both major political parties have failed to rise above political calculation and collaborate on a solution rooted in respect for migrants and the common good of the nation. This leadership failure has resulted in repeated conflicts at the border and in our communities that have only grown worse.

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To the extent that the new Administration’s actions focus on detaining and deporting those with criminal records who pose a danger to society, we offer our whole-hearted support. We oppose, however, any campaign of indiscriminate immigration enforcement that threatens to unnecessarily or unjustly separate the families of those we have come to know as our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We repeat our plea to Congress for comprehensive immigration reform to fix our broken system, and we appeal to the Administration for a revised order that would establish that, absent exigent circumstances, no immigration enforcement action may take place on Catholic church or school property without a properly executed warrant.

Federal Immigration Reform