The Iowa Catholic Conference supports the reform of our immigration system in a just and humane way. We believe that persons have the right to find opportunities in their homeland, in addition to a right to migrate to support and protect themselves and their families.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in collaboration with Justice for Immigrants, has issued a resource called “Catholic Principles of Migration” which you can find at: http://iowacatholicconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/16-337A-Catholic-principles-of-migration.pdf
As the document reflects, a country is a sovereign state and its citizens have duties and obligations to one another. Public policy should advance the common good and preserve and protect the life and dignity of all within its borders. Our Catholic teaching also extends that obligation to those outside our country who are desperate and seeking refuge.
Opening our homes and hearts to the stranger is not a measure of our income or location, but of our faith. It requires us to share our resources with the confidence we can accommodate the needs of those that come to us for help. The stranger arrives in many forms, from the unborn, to the immigrant to the anonymous poor and elderly. With charity and discernment, we can welcome all.
Specifically, for the 2019 Iowa legislative session, the ICC supports:
- Assistance for the resettlement of refugees
- Legislation to protect residents from racial profiling
- Legislation providing for a provisional driver’s license for undocumented immigrants
In addition, the ICC opposes authorizing state and local police to conduct additional enforcement of federal immigration laws.
