Central American church leaders want humane immigration policies

Published: 2006-07-27

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (CNS) -- While the U.S. Congress holds hearings on immigration reform, Central American church leaders are calling for "more reasonable, more humane policies" than the versions being considered. Scalabrinian Father Ademar Barilli, director of Casa del Migrante or the House of the Migrant in Tecun Uman, was among church leaders criticizing the hard-line attempts to stop illegal immigration -- both on the U.S.-Mexican border and the Guatemalan-Mexican border. Critics also said constructing more miles of fence along the U.S. border will not stop poor immigrants from crossing illegally. A real immigration reform, said Father Barilli, would attack the causes of migration. "We can't change the migratory flow by combating the consequences," he said. "We can only change migration if we attack the causes that generate the exodus of so many people." He said money invested in building fences and increasing border controls would be better spent on development projects in Central America.

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