And, Appleby noted, it's diverted local police departments' attention away from their ordinary responsibilities, by saddling them with the task of enforcing federal immigration law.
“On the surface,” he said, the Secure Communities program “looks very reasonable. But when it's applied in local communities, there are some ill effects that really need to be scrutinized.”
But these programs, and state laws with similar or greater unintended effects, will most likely continue in the absence of comprehensive, nationwide immigration reform.
Appleby thinks the discussion about immigration reform should be refocused – from a gridlocked debate pitting humanitarian concerns against the rule of law, to a discussion about what is truly in the best interest of the United States.
“Those who are against immigration would make the argument that it's in their best interest that all these people go away,” Appleby acknowledged.
But he explained that the bishops consider this position shortsighted and impractical, as well as unfair.
“Immigrants, by and large, benefit our country. We need these immigrants, because they do a lot of things for our country that we need. But our laws aren't fit to make them legal.”
“Immigration reform may, in fact, be helpful over the long run for our economic future,” Appleby noted. He pointed out that it could help the U.S. government's own financial situation, by bringing underground sectors of the economy into the open where they can be taxed.
“Solving this problem is important to the common good of everyone,” he said.
Politicians, however, have plenty of incentive to accept the status quo.
“From Washington's perspective, it's working to have a hidden underclass doing these jobs,” Appleby observed. “It keeps the economy going, but we don't have to offer them the protection of the law. That's wrong.”
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