Bishop Wenski testifies on immigration reform before House panel

Published: 2007-05-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The problem that must be solved by immigration reform "is not the immigrants" but "the broken system," the former chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration told a House subcommittee. In testimony May 22 before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law, Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., urged lawmakers to produce legislation that would reform the current immigration system and respect the dignity and rights of immigrants and migrant workers. He spoke on behalf of the U.S. bishops about comprehensive immigration reform, joining representatives of other religious denominations in giving testimony to the subcommittee. Before the hearing, Bishop Wenski told Catholic News Service that one of the most important aspects of immigration reform is to ensure that policies would help unite families and not divide them. He expressed concern in his testimony that the current Senate bill would separate families by replacing the family preference system with a merit-based system and by capping the number of visas for parents of U.S. citizens.

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