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IMMIGRATION-BILL Mar-8-2006 (700 words) With photos. xxxn
Thousands rally at Capitol to protest House-passed immigration bill
By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Thousands of people, many of them Spanish-speaking immigrants, loudly voiced their displeasure about a House-passed immigration bill with a large rally outside the Capitol March 7.
The bill would stiffen penalties for undocumented immigrants and their employers, and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles has said church and charitable organizations would be subject to prosecution if they aid immigrants. The Senate is considering its own versions of immigration legislation.
Father Jose Hoyos, head of the Spanish apostolate for the Diocese of Arlington, Va., drew sustained cheers from the crowd when, at an interfaith prayer service that was part of the rally, he said, "I want to pray for all the representatives and the senators and the president of the United States, because they have become atheists -- because if they were Christians they would not pass this kind of law."
The bill, the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., passed the House Dec. 16 by a vote of 239-182.
The day of the rally the Senate Judiciary Committee began consideration of an immigration bill drafted by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., committee chairman.
It includes provisions to criminalize violations of immigration law, including the act of providing aid to illegal immigrants; would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens; and would penalize state and local governments that do not pointedly enforce immigration laws, currently only a responsibility of federal agencies. It would eliminate a visa lottery program that allows up to 50,000 people a year from certain countries to enter the United States legally and would build 700 miles of new fence along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.
The bill also would expand the employment authorization verification program, but not replace what many say is a flawed database currently used by employers for checking documents.
The National Capital Immigration Coalition, sponsors of the rally, said they were expecting 20,000 to attend. No crowd estimate was offered by U.S. Park Police. Among the 44 coalition members are the Archdiocese of Washington's Office of Justice and Service, Catholic Charities of the Arlington Diocese and the Catholic social justice lobby Network.
"Neither Sensenbrenner's bill nor Specter's markup is a solution to our immigration problem," said coalition chairman Jaime Contreras in a bilingual address at the rally. "In fact, their proposal will only create more problems instead of fixing them."
"What we need is real, comprehensive immigration reform," he said, touting the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., as the preferred alternative.
The McCain-Kennedy bill includes provisions for border security, temporary worker visas and family reunification. It would require efforts by foreign countries to help control the flow of emigrants, cover the costs borne by hospitals that provide emergency care for undocumented immigrants, promote citizenship, and take various steps to prevent fraud.
The Catholic bishops of Arizona stated their support of the bill last year, saying it took "a comprehensive approach to a complex issue."
Contreras said immigrant workers contribute $90 billion in income taxes, getting only $5 billion in services, and up to $7 billion each year in Social Security taxes, "and you know what, most of those people will never see anything from that."
Eduardo Castro, 35, came to the rally with a four-bus caravan from St. Michael and St. Patrick parishes in Baltimore.
Castro, who owns a small construction firm, said he came to the United States in 1988 to flee the civil war in his native El Salvador. Being in America has "helped me develop as a person and in the church," he said. By having a construction company, he added, "I have been able to employ people -- not just my own race, but people from here."
He said the reaction he gets from people in America about immigration is far removed from the language in the Sensenbrenner bill. "Most people I talk to about the bill, they look at me and say, 'Oh, my God! Is this true?' ... It's like they're trying to build the perfect race, like in Germany," he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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