U.S. bishops give support to farmworker legislation

Published: 2003-11-10

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Federal legislation that would grant some legal protection to undocumented farmworkers is an improvement over those workers' "current deplorable situation," according to the chairmen of two U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees. In a Nov. 7 letter to members of Congress, Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and Coadjutor Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., said they support the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act. It represents "on balance, a positive improvement upon the current deplorable situation of migrant farmworkers, many of whom are unable to organize and/or bargain with their employers," wrote Cardinal McCarrick, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Policy, and Bishop Wenski, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration. The letter specifically praised provisions of the legislation that would allow many previously undocumented farmworkers to qualify for legal permanent residency after working in agriculture for a specified amount of time.

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