Since my arrival in Fort Worth, almost eighteen years ago, I have heard our leaders in Washington tell us that we have an immigration system that is broken. I believe it's time for them to take action and fix it.
The greatest nation in the world with a broken system, that is responsible for the accountability of those who want to come here to be part of the American Dream, is not acceptable. A leadership in Washington that is not willing to fix our immigration system is not acceptable. Not solving the issue by our leadership in Washington will only complicate things for the local leadership which will take actions on their own, and that should not happen. We have polarized the broken system on the undocumented immigrants, and we want to punish them for it, instead of fixing a system that is not working.
In his speech on immigration reform on July 1, 2010, President Barack Obama said "I am ready and the majority of the Americans are ready to move forward with the immigration reform." Why, then, is our leadership in Congress and the Senate not ready?
In the 1980's the Catholic Bishops of America said, with faith and conviction, that the immigrants are "a blessing for the country and a gift to the Church." Then, why would some want them to leave? What harm have they done to our country? They are building our roads, our streets, cleaning our homes, attending our restaurants, roofing our buildings, picking our crops, and creating small business that offer new jobs. They are sending their children to school, attending our churches and sharing their values and culture with us. Their children are learning our language and culture and will be the new pioneers for our country. And yes, they are spending and paying taxes as every American does.
The undocumented are not taking jobs away from our citizens, they are doing the jobs we left behind. The high number of unemployed people we have is not due to the undocumented. That level of unemployed workers is waiting for new jobs to be created for them; they will never do the job the undocumented are performing now.
The world looks at America as a role model for Human Rights. Therefore, we have to be sensitive to the families and their children that live with the daily psychological pressure that, at any time they may be deported; children who know no other life, than life here in America, live with the idea that maybe when they come home from school, Mom and Dad may not be there for them. It is easier to create and implement punitive laws that to reform a system that is not working. Let us not take the easy road that only hurts defenseless children and families.
Deportation is not the solution to an immigration system that is broken and not working. This would hurt our country in more ways than one. President Obama said in his immigration speech that "a program of mass deportation would disrupt our economy and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable. Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive." The President also said "Moreover, it would tear at the very fabric of this nation -because immigrants who are here illegally are now intricately woven into that fabric."
From reliable sources (Policy Center for American Progress), we know that the immigration reform would be a boost for the economy of the nation. It has been said that the documentation of the immigrants "would translate at least a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added GDP (Growth Domestic Product) over 10 years, which includes $1.2 trillion in consumption and $256 billion in investment." Our nation needs them here.
I understand that an immigration reform goes beyond the issue of the undocumented and requires collaboration from all political leaders involved, and information on the issue from other countries, especially our neighbors to the south. I am confident that we have the experts that know how to do this job. As we seek and pray for a reform of our immigration system, do not let fear be the guide, but truth. Our nation should always be guided by truth, if we let other principles guide is, we will lose the battle.
The immigration reform was a presidential campaign promise, topic of a major speech in 2010 and addressed in the State of the Union message in 2011. I urge our leaders in Washington not to ignore this issue and roll-up their sleeves and start working on it. The reform of our immigration system will be a blessing for our country in more way than one.
Let us pray that soon our leaders in Washington may start to reform our immigration system that is not working and give to our nation and to the world a system that is just and human, and that works.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Matthew 25,35.
Fr. Stephen Jasso,
T.O.R. Pastor, All Saints Catholic Church.
The greatest nation in the world with a broken system, that is responsible for the accountability of those who want to come here to be part of the American Dream, is not acceptable. A leadership in Washington that is not willing to fix our immigration system is not acceptable. Not solving the issue by our leadership in Washington will only complicate things for the local leadership which will take actions on their own, and that should not happen. We have polarized the broken system on the undocumented immigrants, and we want to punish them for it, instead of fixing a system that is not working.
In his speech on immigration reform on July 1, 2010, President Barack Obama said "I am ready and the majority of the Americans are ready to move forward with the immigration reform." Why, then, is our leadership in Congress and the Senate not ready?
In the 1980's the Catholic Bishops of America said, with faith and conviction, that the immigrants are "a blessing for the country and a gift to the Church." Then, why would some want them to leave? What harm have they done to our country? They are building our roads, our streets, cleaning our homes, attending our restaurants, roofing our buildings, picking our crops, and creating small business that offer new jobs. They are sending their children to school, attending our churches and sharing their values and culture with us. Their children are learning our language and culture and will be the new pioneers for our country. And yes, they are spending and paying taxes as every American does.
The undocumented are not taking jobs away from our citizens, they are doing the jobs we left behind. The high number of unemployed people we have is not due to the undocumented. That level of unemployed workers is waiting for new jobs to be created for them; they will never do the job the undocumented are performing now.
The world looks at America as a role model for Human Rights. Therefore, we have to be sensitive to the families and their children that live with the daily psychological pressure that, at any time they may be deported; children who know no other life, than life here in America, live with the idea that maybe when they come home from school, Mom and Dad may not be there for them. It is easier to create and implement punitive laws that to reform a system that is not working. Let us not take the easy road that only hurts defenseless children and families.
Deportation is not the solution to an immigration system that is broken and not working. This would hurt our country in more ways than one. President Obama said in his immigration speech that "a program of mass deportation would disrupt our economy and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable. Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive." The President also said "Moreover, it would tear at the very fabric of this nation -because immigrants who are here illegally are now intricately woven into that fabric."
From reliable sources (Policy Center for American Progress), we know that the immigration reform would be a boost for the economy of the nation. It has been said that the documentation of the immigrants "would translate at least a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added GDP (Growth Domestic Product) over 10 years, which includes $1.2 trillion in consumption and $256 billion in investment." Our nation needs them here.
I understand that an immigration reform goes beyond the issue of the undocumented and requires collaboration from all political leaders involved, and information on the issue from other countries, especially our neighbors to the south. I am confident that we have the experts that know how to do this job. As we seek and pray for a reform of our immigration system, do not let fear be the guide, but truth. Our nation should always be guided by truth, if we let other principles guide is, we will lose the battle.
The immigration reform was a presidential campaign promise, topic of a major speech in 2010 and addressed in the State of the Union message in 2011. I urge our leaders in Washington not to ignore this issue and roll-up their sleeves and start working on it. The reform of our immigration system will be a blessing for our country in more way than one.
Let us pray that soon our leaders in Washington may start to reform our immigration system that is not working and give to our nation and to the world a system that is just and human, and that works.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Matthew 25,35.
Fr. Stephen Jasso,
T.O.R. Pastor, All Saints Catholic Church.
