wfn.org | [ENS] Immigration proposal falls short of church's standards,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

December 9, 2005 -- Friday Forum

Immigration proposal falls short of church's standards, says EMM director

By Jan Nunley

[ENS] The Bush Administration's immigration reform proposal does not
meet the Episcopal Church's standards for a "meaningful" change in
immigration policy, according to Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal
Migration Ministries.

"While acknowledging the need to consider a program for temporary works,
and referencing a concern for immigrants in the US, [the proposal] falls
short of the comprehensive reform hoped for," noted Parkins. Assessing
an Arizona speech by Bush on November 29, Parkins said that "even with
the inclusion of a guest workers' program, rejection of earned permanent
residency and eventual citizenship for so-called temporary workers was
a serious deficiency of the proposal."

A resolution of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council, adopted at its
June 2005 meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, made clear that the option
of becoming a permanent resident and even a citizen was an essential
requirement of any comprehensive reform package which the church would
support.

"Those who contribute to the economy and their adopted communities should
be offered a chance to stay legally in the US," said Parkins. "Moreover,
returning folks and making them come back as guest workers probably
creates circumstances where many will attempt to stay once their temporary
status has expired.

"A policy of return cancels many of the benefits of an orderly and
transparent system of allowing workers to come to the US to make a needed
contribution to our economy."

The measures focus on border enforcement, punishment for those who enter
without papers, and expanded detention capacity. Those entering the US
illegally would be returned directly to the Mexican communities from
which they have come.

"Giving so little attention to the economic pressures which cause folks to
accept incalculable risks to enter the US so that their families can live
in more than grinding poverty is a serious flaw in the Administration's
understanding of our immigration crisis," Parkins observed. "It is
also this narrower view of the problem that prompts some of the more
restrictive Congressional measures being offered as the country views
various reform options."

While legislation dealing with immigrants must take into account the
priority of national security, Parkins said, "assigning equal priority
to a practical, just and fair system for allowing workers and their
families to come to the US to earn a living, be protected as workers,
and offered full participation in the society to which they will be
making a contribution does not contradict the importance of security."

Parkins said the proposed Kennedy-McCain bill, entitled the Secure America
and Immigration Reform Act of 2005, is more in line with what most faith
based organizations have endorsed in public statements about immigration
reform. Without offering blanket amnesty to those now in the country
without papers, or automatic permanent residence to new groups of workers,
it does make those options possible if certain reasonable requirements are
met -- such as having undocumented workers pay a fine and any back taxes
in order to seek legal status. According to proponents, the Kennedy-McCain
bill is a more balanced approach that includes a means for workers to
come to the US in an orderly and legal manner in response to known job
opportunities, while also recognizing legitimate US security needs.

-- The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy for communication for the Episcopal
Church.

-- To SUBSCRIBE to enslist, send a blank email message, from the address
which you wish subscribed, to: join-enslist@epicom.org

Send QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS to news@episcopalchurch.org

The enslist is published by Episcopal News Service:
  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens

--