Archbishop Gomez became a U. S. citizen the right way, through study, taking a test, taking an oath, etc.
He is not in favor of illegal immigration since he did it the right way. I think he just wants people to be treated humanely WHILE they follow the rules.
Catholic Archbishop Jose Gomez, often heralded by Catholic FReepers as being a "conservative" Catholic, is a vocal supporter of illegal immigrants. Here are two examples, both hosted on the Archdiocese of Denver's website:
America is a nation built by immigrants, and illegal immigrants — Irish, Italian, German, Polish and others — have always been part of the mix. But throughout U.S. history, Catholics have carried the burden of anti-immigrant prejudice in a unique way, so we have a special duty to speak up when we see it happening again.Defeated driver's license bill deserved to be lawI remembered this last week as I thought about two separate but related events.
The first was the copy of Foreign Policy magazine I received in the mail. In its March/April issue, Samuel Huntington argues that Hispanic immigrants, because of their differences from the American mainstream in language and culture and their resistance to assimilation, pose a serious threat to the American way of life. Huntington is a world-class intellectual writing in a prestigious national journal. In effect, he gives a credible-sounding vocabulary to the worst kind of nativism.
The second event was last week's struggle in the Colorado Legislature over House Bill 1187, designed to deny in-state resident tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants.
In her comments on the bill, State Senator Paula Sandoval said it best when she observed that, "All of these children (of undocumented workers) want to achieve the American dream. In some ways, what we're really saying is it's OK for people to come to this country to clean the university, to plow the fields, to harvest the crops and to work in our restaurants. But when it comes to enjoying the fruits of those labors, what we're doing ... is saying you're not invited to sit at the table for dinner."
I saw Senator Sandoval's comments the same day I read this passage from Samuel Huntington's Foreign Policy article: "The education of people of Mexican origin in the United States lags well behind the U.S. norm. In 2000, 86.6 percent of native-born Americans had graduated from high school. The rates for foreign-born population in the United States varied from 94.9 percent for Africans, 83.8 percent for Asians, 49.6 percent for Latin Americans overall, and down to 33.8 percent for Mexicans, who ranked lowest."
Most Americans, native-born or not, know what the expression "Catch 22" means. We've got a great example of it here.
For Huntington, Mexican immigrants have an alarmingly low education rate. That depresses their earning power, which prevents their upward mobility, which reduces their assimilation into the American mainstream. So what are Coloradans urged to do? We're urged to make it more expensive — in other words, harder — for the children of undocumented workers to get a college education. As a result, they'll earn less, contribute less to the public square and assimilate even more slowly. The one thing they won't do is go away.
Good people can disagree strongly and legitimately about immigration and its related legal issues. But in making U.S. immigration policies more coherent and just, we need to at least avoid punishing the young.
In hurting them, we're only hurting ourselves. And we're making absolutely sure that Huntington's nightmare will come true.
Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Auxiliary Bishop of DenverColorado Senate Bill 67 died on Valentine's Day in the Senate's Government, Veterans and Military Relations Committee. Its defeat will hurt many good people in our state, and concerned citizens need to hope, pray and work earnestly to ensure that next year, the legislative result will be different.
SB 67 would have allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. The main arguments in favor of such legislation are well known. They're worth restating one more time, though, so they remain fresh in people's minds. SB 67 may be dead for this year, but the underlying need for it is very much alive.
First, SB 67-style legislation would serve our public safety.
Colorado has a legitimate health and safety interest in licensing those who use its roads. More than 50,000 undocumented immigrants now drive on state roads unlicensed. If a job is at stake — a job that requires driving — a worker who cannot apply for a license will almost certainly drive anyway. And of course, unlicensed drivers are uninsured drivers, which makes them far more likely to flee the scene of an accident.
Second, SB 67-style legislation would aid law enforcement. A driver's license makes it easier to track outstanding warrants, repeat offenders and child support delinquents. It expands the database of fingerprints for crime investigation. It increases the willingness of immigrant witnesses and victims to aid crime investigations. It allows police to deal with traffic violators without becoming embroiled in policy issues. It also relieves police from issuing tickets for which there is no possible resolution. (Immigrants are rarely deported for driving and usually return — unlicensed — to Colorado roads.)
Third, it would not violate federal immigration law. Immigration law places no requirement on states regarding the licensing of drivers. The Immigration and Naturalization Service is not significantly interested in unlicensed drivers; rather, INS priorities focus on serious foreign criminals, terrorists and immigrant smugglers.
Moreover, state driver's licenses are irrelevant to work eligibility, government programs and benefits.
Fourth, it would arguably assist the fight against terrorism. Colorado licenses provide a database of identities including photographs and fingerprints. Excluding large numbers of people from this database could actually work against police efforts
Fifth and finally, it's the right thing to do. No one is a "criminal" for merely being an undocumented immigrant; it's a status with no criminal penalty. In fact, Colorado is host to thousands of working undocumented immigrants — and depends economically on their labor. A driver's license simply allows these people to drive safely and with insurance in Colorado while the U.S. Congress debates future policy on immigration.
Shortly before the recent debate on SB 67, Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote to key members of the State Senate noting that, "SB 67 acknowledges the reality that thousands of good but undocumented immigrant workers live in our state, contribute productively to our economy and deserve the ability to travel safely and with insurance while here. I'm convinced that SB 67 will help improve security on our roads for the whole community, and it will add a very worthwhile element of stability to the lives of immigrant workers and their families."
SB 67 was a bill that urgently deserved to be a law. Both justice and common sense support it. We need to remember that for next year. This is an issue Coloradans can't afford to forget.
You don't know much about Gomez.