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February 28, 2008
TOPEKA, Kan. (CNS) -- The four Catholic bishops of Kansas have joined with the state's four Methodist, Lutheran and Episcopal bishops to urge lawmakers to work for comprehensive immigration reform and not pass legislation that unfairly targets migrants.
Their statement comes in the midst of legislative hearings in Topeka on numerous bills aimed at the illegal immigrant population of Kansas.
Four House bills and one Senate bill would clamp down on undocumented residents and on the businesses that employ them.
"They're going to cause more confusion and cost to the state than meets the eye. It's not going to solve the problem," said Beatrice Swoopes, interim director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, the policymaking arm of the Catholic Church in Kansas.
"All of this is based on fear -- fear that cannot be documented -- of what a threat immigrants are to the state," she told The Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Salina.
"It's a political issue. That's what's given it teeth. Some feel that if the states do something, then that will force the federal government to act," she said.
Efforts to reform federal immigration law have been stymied the past several years, despite support from President George W. Bush. Estimates say at least 12 million people are in the United States illegally.
The statement signed by Catholic and Protestant bishops in Kansas acknowledges that illegal immigration is not good for the nation or the people migrating, but it urges Kansans to reject attacks on migrants.
The Catholic bishops who signed the statement were: Salina Bishop Paul S. Coakley, Dodge City Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore, Kansas City Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann and Wichita Bishop Michael O. Jackels.
Also signing it were: Bishop Scott Jones of the Kansas United Methodist Church; Bishop Gerald Mansholt of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Bishop Dean E. Wolf of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas; and Bishop James M. Adams Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas.
"We all need to work together toward a humane resolution of the problem of illegal immigration," the bishops' statement said.
"We acknowledge the right and necessity of our country to maintain our borders and enforce our laws," it said. "We caution that while doing so our government must respect human rights and dignity and minimize the separation of families."
The bishops urged both federal and state officials to work for a solution to the problem and asked their parishioners and Kansans to reach out to migrants rather than turn away from them. And they asked state officials not to support the proposed legislation.
"We ask Gov. (Kathleen) Sebelius and our Kansas legislators to resist the frustration caused by the inactivity of our federal government and to refuse to react to a fear that seems to focus on people in our state who for the most part are here because they or their parents want to work," the statement said.
"We ask them to work for laws that benefit and support all people of our state," it said.
Proponents of the House legislation testified Feb. 25, and opponents testified Feb. 26. Hearings on the Senate bill took place Feb. 27.
Swoopes said the bills "are very punitive and very restrictive."
One House bill, H.B. 2370, requires that law enforcement officers ask the resident status of anyone detained for possible violation of any law. H.B. 2680 bans businesses from hiring undocumented workers and requires them to verify the legal status of every employee.
H.B. 2367 bans undocumented residents from obtaining any public benefits. H.B. 2836 includes most of those regulations, as well as allowing governments to prevent undocumented residents from obtaining housing and state driver's licenses.
The Senate bill, S.B. 458, encompasses many of the same issues, Swoopes said, but isn't as restrictive.
"I think the bishops' letter is right on," she said. "I'm proud of the ecumenical effort, that the faith community is behind a Christian way to do these things."
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