These days our Los Angeles immigration attorneys know it is impossible to speak about comprehensive immigration reform without mentioning, or at least reflecting upon, the circumstances that catapulted Congresswoman Gabby Giffords' name and likeness into the national spotlight just three weeks ago.
What the Tucson representative now brings to the debate is more than just a tragic reference and hope for more civil discourse regarding immigration. Giffords has long - if not quietly - been known as an objective, reasoned, credible voice on the topic of immigration reform. After all, the epicenter of the immigration battleground rests in her district.
Much like Giffords, soon-to-be retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney also offers an objective, reasoned, credible approach to this explosive topic. For Mahoney, a native of Los Angeles raised in San Fernando Valley, immigration reform shouldn't be about economics or politics. It should be about people. Eleven million people (to offer up a rough estimate).
In his blog posting entitled "STANDING with ELEVEN MILLION: Welcoming the Strangers in Our Midst", Mahoney challenges his fellow Catholics (and the rest of us) to follow his lead and "advocate on behalf of the silent millions" who have come to the U.S. - by legal means or not - to make a better life for their families.
And about those 11 million. Mahoney laughed off the question posed by a Los Angeles Times reporter who asked him if the church jumped to support immigration reform as a way to refill sparsely-populated pews. To give the old numbers a boost, essentially. Mahoney said that more than 40 percent of the currently undocumented residents came to the U.S. with visa in hand but stayed on once time expired. That there is no tracking system for expired visas, Mahoney suggested, speaks to just one aspect of the dysfunctional nature of our current immigration system. He further noted that very few of that population are either Hispanic or Catholic.
In his post, Mahoney speaks of a life spent in brotherhood with the immigrant class, whether Mexican-American or Asian-Pacific or other. He speaks of being awed by their deep faith and their commitment to family and community. He speaks of them as friends, not stereotypes.
He questions the appropriateness of linking the undocumented with unemployment woes. "If we would refresh our memories as a nation, we would see that the presence of immigrants - with or without legal documents - is never a cause for concern when the unemployment rate is low and our economy is sound and expanding."
He speaks of the efforts of Cesar Chavez to improve the plight of the farm worker as inspirational.
A lifetime of service has made the debate of immigration reform a very personal, very emotional, issue for Mahoney. One he plans to focus on full-time in retirement.
Despite a heavily GOP-dominant congress, Mahoney has hope. He references several polls that reveal a majority of American people - anywhere from 63 to 81 percent of them - are supportive of "a structured path to earned citizenship" for current undocumented residents, the Catholic Sentinel reports.
Imagine the progress that could be made in resolving this debate if we followed in Cardinal Mahoney's footsteps. If we chose to work toward getting to know our immigrant neighbors as friends, rather than pointing them out and blaming them for our problems. Problems that have been long-simmering. Problems that like the plight of our undocumented brethren, cannot be resolved by simply wishing them away.
Our Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange immigration attorneys at Howard Law represent immigrants who have been charged with a crime or are facing deportation proceedings. The office offers confidential appointments to discuss your rights. Call 1-800-872-5925 or contact us through this website.
