With the government shutdown, healthcare.gov glitches, and gun control issues, immigration reform has been put on the back burner since June. This morning, President Obama called for the issue to be readdressed. Many think that this is long overdue.
The president, using sources of support from both political parties, urged the House of Representatives to rethink the bill to fix the “broken immigration system.”
"It doesn't make sense to have 11 million people who are in this country illegally without any … way to come out of the shadows, get right with the law, meet their responsibility and permit their families, then, to move ahead," Obama said.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ have been pushing for immigration reform for a long time. They cite the Catechism of the Catholic Church that instructs the faithful to welcome the foreigner out of charity and respect for the human person. It also states that the faithful have a right to secure their border and enforce the law for the sake of the common good and that immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them.
A poll from CBS News back in July found that 78 percent of people favor immigration reform. It is time we move ahead on this issue.
Image: Flickr photo cc by Korean Resource Center 민족학교
