El Pregonero, News Report, Marlene Salinas, Posted: Jun 10, 2010

WASHINGTON - Bishops from the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as from other countries in Latin America, asked the U.S. Congress to initiate the debate on the need for comprehensive immigration reform, which allows 12 million undocumented working people to emerge from the shadows, El Pregonero reports. Gathered at the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the USA, the bishops said that laws like SB1070 in Arizona are "anti-humanitarian" and promote racial profiling against certain ethnic groups. They also pointed out the importance of understanding the human condition of immigrants traveling to other countries in search of dignified work and a better life. Monsignor John C. Westers, president of the immigration committee of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the USA, said that reinforcing border vigilance is not going to resolve the problem of immigration, and that a legal solution is needed to solve the situation.

“In the debate in the United States on immigration, often one loses sight that this is a global phenomenon and we do not recognize the economic or political reasons that push people to migrate,” Westers said.