Bishop's Statement on Immigration - June 29th, 2007

The following statement was issued June 29, 2007 by Bishop Michael P. Driscoll of the Diocese of Boise following the Senate vote on immigration reform:

Today is a sad day for our country because our elected leaders have been unable to find a way to welcome the stranger in our midst. The inability of the Senate to close debate on immigration reform legislation means that the failures of our current immigration system will continue to encumber those who come here looking for jobs and those who need their labor.
I ask Catholics and all people of good will throughout the state of Idaho to offer special prayers during the month of July for a just resolution to this problem, which affects many of our friends and neighbors. I ask you to pray for our policy makers, that God may show them the wisdom of supporting a policy that better addresses all our needs. I ask you to pray for those immigrants in our country whose families are being torn apart, who are being denied the right to work and who live in fear of deportation because of the current unacceptable system. Finally, I ask for prayers for all of us in Idaho to embrace the message of Christ that calls us to welcome the stranger among us.
Members of the Idaho Catholic Church will continue to live out our call to speak up for the vulnerable in our midst. Jesus, who as a child was a stranger in a foreign land, spoke out for the widow, the orphan and the alien; so we too will continue to work and advocate on their behalf until the aliens in our land find justice and compassion.
Indeed, we will not be whole until we are all at the table.