Indiana Catholic Conference opposes state immigration proposal

By Brigid Curtis Ayer

The American dream: a good job, a safe place to live for family, and the belief that if one works hard enough, economic prosperity will result.

This dream and the 1980s economic boom inspired a wave of Mexican immigrants to journey to the United States.

Unlike the immigrants who landed at Ellis Island, the federal government was unprepared to respond to the influx of Mexican immigrants creating today’s federal immigration quagmire.

Father Steve Gibson, the pastor of St. Mary Parish in East Chicago, Ind., in the Gary Diocese, a parish with a large Hispanic community, said the pathway to legal citizenship can commonly take more than a decade to attain and, for many, there is no clear or legal way to gain entry into the United States.

These immigrant families—many of whose parents are undocumented and children are American citizens—will suffer if a state proposal aimed at tightening up immigration enforcement becomes law—a proposal that the Indiana Catholic Conference opposes. (Related: The Church’s position on immigration reform)

Senate Bill 213, authored by Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, increases penalties for driving without a driver’s license or falsifying identification, and encourages local law enforcement officials to arrest individuals suspected of being undocumented.

The Senate Pensions and Labor Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 213 after hours of testimony by those who support and oppose the bill.

Glenn Tebbe, Indiana Catholic Conference executive director, who testified in opposition to the bill before the Senate panel, said, “Immigration is, first and foremost, a humanitarian concern and a moral issue. Immigration is not a new phenomenon. The majority of us in the room, including myself, descended from immigrant families.

“In Indiana, we are experiencing many of the human consequences of a federal immigration system that is both broken and inadequate,” Tebbe said. “Here, as throughout the nation, many immigrant families are separated. A lost job or a traffic arrest can contribute to frustration, alcohol abuse and other social evils—and expulsion.”

Undocumented immigrants are non-citizens and are aliens in the legal sense, but they are not aliens within our human family—they are our brothers and sisters, Tebbe said.

“Because of its harmful impact on human life and human dignity, the Church has stated that the status quo is immoral,” he said. “We are insistent in calling for comprehensive reform of the U.S. immigration system.

“Unauthorized presence in the U.S. is usually a violation of civil, not criminal law,” Tebbe said. “This legislation creates criminal penalties for many things that are incidental to daily life: driving a car to work, renting an apartment or using public institutions that are designed to protect and promote the common good.”

Tebbe told the panel that the provision in Senate Bill 213 to encourage local and state law enforcement officers to become immigration officials would invite racial profiling by law enforcement.

“This, too, is happening already in some communities,” Tebbe said. “We are witnessing an increase in profiling by some local law enforcement officers. Law-abiding persons are being pulled over and being taken to jail because of looking Hispanic. The economic and emotional effect on the family when this happens is significant and unnecessary as well as the offense against the human dignity of the person.”

In addition to the moral and practical concerns of the Church raised by Tebbe, others testified in opposition to the bill, including David Sklar of the Jewish Community Relations Council, who also cited concerns about an increase in racial profiling.

Kathy Williams, who represents social services organizations, raised concerns about an increase in human suffering. Ed Roberts, representing the Indiana Manufacturers Association, voiced the potential problems that the proposed new law could cause employers. Angela Adams, an immigration attorney for the Lewis & Kappes law firm, stressed a need for comprehensive immigration reform, but said that it must be addressed at the federal level.

Franciscan Father Thomas Fox, who serves as a Hispanic ministry assistant in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, also was present at the hearing to testify in opposition to Senate Bill 213 as was John Livengood, a lobbyist for the Indiana Restaurant Association. Time constraints prevented them from testifying.

Representatives from the Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform & Enforcement (IFIRE) and the American Legion testified in support of the bill, claiming that the legislation would help law enforcement catch criminals and protect against terrorism.

“If this bill passes, there is no doubt that the consequences would be disastrous for people in this region and for the economy of northwest Indiana,” Father Gibson said. “The same compassion we are showing to the victims of tragedies throughout the world is the same compassion we should show to our immigrants who live around us.”

Senate Bill 213 was reassigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee, and will undergo another hearing to consider the fiscal impact of the legislation. Bills must pass committee by Jan. 29.

All bills must pass their house of origin by midnight on Feb. 3 to “cross over” to the second house.

(Bridget Curtis Ayer is a correspondent for The Criterion.) †