Bishops concerned about "homeland security's" threat to immigrants

Social justice news
August 2002

AIDS claims thousands while Africans wait for Western help
Amnesty International renews call for suspension of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel
Bishops concerned about "homeland security's" threat to immigrants
CRS in emergency response to drought and famine in southern Africa
School of the Americas protesters sentenced
Supreme Court affirms school vouchers
Voice of the Faithful meet in sorrow and hope
War drums along the Potomac

Bishops concerned about "homeland security's" threat to immigrants
America's Catholic bishops are concerned about the Bush administration's proposal for the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Part of the proposal includes bringing Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) under the new agency's already broad umbrella.

"Immigration does not equate with terrorism," Kevin Appleby reminded members of the House subcommittee on Immigration in a July 19 testimony on the situation, quoting the words of their colleague Sheila Jackson Lee. "The United States is a nation of immigrants."

Appleby is Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Migration and Refugee Services. He testified on behalf of Thomas Wenski, Auxiliary Bishop of Miami and chair of the bishops' Committee on Migration.

Appleby outlined four main reasons the USCCB opposes the plan. The first is the concern that placing immigration services under the category of homeland security implies that immigrants are a threat and consequently dishonors our nation's immigrant heritage. "The transfer of all of the INS's functions would ignore over 200 years of evidence that a generous immigration system which welcomes the foreign-born to our shores serves, not undermines, our nation's best interests. It would also send a stark and clear message to the world that the United States views foreign-born persons, generally speaking, with suspicion and fear and not as neighbors who bring skills, culture, and faith to benefit our communities," he said.

The second reason is that the proposal for the homeland security department threatens to be an overburdened department with too many missions. INS is already operating under a backlog of cases waiting to be reviewed and transferring its functions to a new department would likely serve to worsen that situation. The USCCB warned that adding the responsibilities of INS to a department unable to deal with its heavy task load will endanger both the mission of immigration services and national security efforts.

Third, the bishops feel it is necessary to maintain a separation between anti-terrorism and security efforts and the everyday needs of immigrants and refugees. Appleby said the "great bulk of immigration enforcement needs and efforts have nothing to do with terrorism. Instead they relate to such mundane but important functions as preventing entry of undocumented immigrants on our Southwest border, enforcing laws against the hiring of undocumented workers, detaining criminal aliens, and removing inadmissible aliens from the U.S." Furthermore, he said, it is unlikely that immigration services like processing visas, would receive the attention it deserves in a structure focused on national defense. "The vast majority of people seeking immigration services on a day-to-day basis are already in the United States" seeking naturalization, employment authorization, or asylum status, said Appleby.

Appleby offered some counter proposals from the U.S. bishops. They agree that INS should remain part of the Department of Justice but undergo restructuring that would divide INS into an enforcement bureau and a services bureau. Aspects of enforcement related to anti-terrorism and border security could be transferred to the new department, such as detention and removal of potential terrorists.

The USCCB also calls for the establishment of an office for children's services to assist foreign-born unaccompanied minors, currently numbering 5,000.—Tara Dix

For more information:
INS
Transcript of testimony
White House: Department of Homeland Security

Back to page top