San Antonio, Texas, Jun 14, 2007 / 09:20 am
Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio is calling on citizens, legislators and policymakers to muster the courage to create new immigration policy now.
“The issue is urgent. It won't go away, no matter how much politicians would like it to,” he said, referring to the recent defeat in the Senate of the latest attempt at immigration reform.
“Reform can't wait another political cycle,” he wrote in a comment published in the June 12 issue of the San Antonio Express News. “The lives of millions of undocumented workers and their families hang in the balance. So does our national security and economic well-being.”
The archbishop underlined that the debate requires citizens to acknowledge two facts: millions of immigrants live in the U.S., and these immigrants are needed here. He said the debate is being impacted by fear and a loss of the sense that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants.