Where All Find a Home
The DREAM Act is a matter of fairness. Maryland kids whose families pay Maryland income taxes would pay in-state tuition rates at Maryland colleges. It grants tuition equality at our state’s higher education institutions to immigrant high school students, including those in Maryland without legal status and who were largely brought here as children. Unfortunately, the new law, long-promoted by Maryland’s Catholic Church, has been petitioned to a statewide referendum for the November 2012 general election, when the voters of Maryland will decide whether to keep or repeal the DREAM Act.
Last year, the Bishops of Maryland formed an Interdiocesan Task Force, whose mission is to educate Maryland Catholics about why the DREAM Act deserves their support, and to help them make the connection between Gospel values and the Church’s public policy positions on immigration. The task force is chaired by Bishop Francisco González, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, and includes representatives from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Archdiocese of Washington and Diocese of Wilmington, which each have territory in Maryland.
Want to get involved? Contact us by email or call 410/269-1155 or 301-261-1979.
The Maryland Catholic Conference has launched a Facebook page dedicated to the issue of immigration as a way to connect people to this issue and educate them (http://www.facebook.com/JusticeforMDImmigrants). Please LIKE this new Facebook page and share it with your friends and parishioners.
The Conference also has prepared a Q&A on the DREAM Act, that also is available in Spanish.
This week [April 24, 2012] the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Arizona’s controversial immigration law. The case before the court focuses on a few provisions of this law, but the principle at stake is whether the federal government holds full authority to enact and implement immigration law in this country.
The implications are huge. How the court responds could fundamentally alter how our country governs immigration. Instead of one federal law that applies to all the states, a patchwork of 50 state immigration policies could suddenly define our nation’s immigration system.
In a friend of the court brief submitted in the case, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argues that the federal government is in the best position to balance competing goals of enforcing of immigration laws while upholding long-held American values such as family unity and human dignity. These values help define America as a nation. They should not be taken for granted.
Immigration is increasingly becoming the subject of debate in our neighborhoods, families and parishes. In many places, the discussion can grow divisive. It doesn't need to be. As Catholics, our focus must be the dignity of the human person and the welfare of families.
The Maryland-serving bishops have released "Where All Find A Home: A Catholic Response to Immigration." In it, Baltimore Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Wilmington Bishop Michael Saltarelli urge Catholics to engage in faith-filled discussion of the issue.
In the Church no one is a stranger, and the Church is not foreign to anyone, anywhere.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was a naturalized immigrant from Italy and the first American citizen to become a saint. Today she is universal patroness of migrants.
