To the Editor:
Despite many attempted proposals, bills and votes for comprehensive immigration reform, none have yet become law. Our immigration system does not reflect America’s current economic and labor-market needs. Because of this, opportunities for legal citizenship into the U.S. are overburdened and backlogged, if they exist at all. This results in ever-increasing numbers of people attempting to enter the U.S. through dangerous, unofficial channels. Elected officials act as if increasing the amount of money spent on militarizing the southern U.S. border will resolve our immigration crisis when in reality such politics divert attention from the real solutions.
We, the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa, stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters.
We support comprehensive Immigration Reform which provides:
• A realistic path to earned legalization for people in the U.S. without status.
• An effective program for new permanent resident petitioners.
• A plan for addressing applicant backlogs for permanent residency, with family unity as a priority.
• An effective program for temporary workers.
• Restoration of due process protections and reformed detention policies for those detained in the immigration system.
• An effective border policy that is both just and humane.
• Enforcement of employment and labor rights for all workers.
• Alignment of the enforcement of immigration laws with humanitarian values.
We also call upon our government to address the root causes of immigration and long-term solutions involving trade policies, international economic aid, debt relief, wage disparities, taxes and tariffs.
Join us on Thursday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Canticle, 841 13th Ave. N., Clinton, to view “We Are Witnesses: Becoming an American.” Despite controversies over border walls, separated families and the Muslim travel ban, immigrants are still striving for American citizenship. This film tells their stories and the stories of those trying to help and hinder them.
The Sisters of St. Francis,
Clinton
