Migration has played a significant role in the bishop's own life. His father came to the U.S. from Mexico in the mid-1950s to look for work.
"He grew up on a farm and he didn't see a future in farming in northern Mexico. He went with one of his brothers and a cousin to Chicago. They worked odd jobs and made a living," the bishop said.
The bishop's father met his mother one summer when he returned to Mexico to visit. "The next summer he married her and brought her up to Chicago," he said, and they became American citizens.
"In a way their hearts were always in Mexico," Bishop Cantú reflected. "I love Mexico. I consider myself Mexican in heart. I also love America. This is where I was born."
"There's no dichotomy in being a Mexican-American. We love both countries because we have part of ourselves in both countries."
He said it had become much more difficult for immigrants to become American citizens.
"I think that there are some sensible ways that we can update the laws of immigration in our country," he said. "Something that everybody agrees on is that our immigration laws are broken. I think we are wise enough and smart enough to fix them. It just takes some political will and some courage."
Bishop Cantú is one of the signers of a petition to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about the situation facing Christians in Iraq and Syria. The petition asks the U.S. government to recognize as genocide the Islamic State's atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities.
The bishop said the petition is important to show that the world is watching the situation and to help ensure that the Islamic State does not go unpunished.
"That they have killed Christians simply for the fact that they are Christians. I think it is important to call it what it is."
Bishop Cantú also spoke of the Obama administration's efforts to close the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, noting that "the bishops' conference has supported for some time the closing of Guantanamo."
He said there are human rights issues with U.S. policy there. Accused terrorist detainees have been held there without trial for many years.
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"I think that Guantanamo represents a stain on the soul of America. We need to hold ourselves to the same standard that we hold others," Bishop Cantú said. He advocated that the detainees be released "with some responsibility, knowing that here is some probability that they have committed crimes."