On May 10, 2005, the U.S. Catholic Bishops launched the Justice for Immigrants (JFI) Campaign in an effort to educate Catholics, including Catholic public officials, and other people of good will, about Catholic social teaching concerning immigrants. The goals of the Campaign are to raise the awareness about the positive contributions of immigrants to our society and to advocate for changes in immigration law. Congress should provide an orderly and safe pathway for undocumented people to integrate into our society.We need your help to educate Catholics and others of good will about Catholic social teaching with respect to immigrants. Please help us change hearts and minds by spreading what we teach:
- No person is a criminal in the eyes of God merely for being undocumented. No good Samaritan should ever be considered a criminal for providing humanitarian assistance to another person in need.
- All people regardless of their immigration status deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
- The Catholic Church does not support illegal immigration. It respects a nation’s sovereign right to control its borders for the common good. If the laws that control the border do not serve the common good, then they are not fair and just.
- Catholic social teaching instructs us that people have a responsibility to care for their families. People have a right to live in their own country. Yet, if society prevents them from caring for their families due to poverty or other circumstances, then they have a right to migrate to support their family. If our economy needs these workers to fill jobs that Americans will not take, a fair and just law would allow them to enter legally.
- People do not want to migrate illegally. People would migrate legally if they could.
- Catholics make up 23 percent of the U.S. population. We are an immigrant nation and an immigrant church. Immigrants are a positive force for our country.
The JFI Campaign needs your help to raise the awareness among Catholics. They must see the human face of undocumented immigration and recognize the positive contributions that immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, make to our country.
More info: www.justiceforimmigrants.org