Our position on the immigration issue stems from both scripture and church teaching.  First, in scripture, the people of God (first Israel, then the church) are admonished to care for “the stranger” in both testaments.  In Leviticus (and likewise in Deuteronomy), the Chosen People (Israel) are reminded that they were once “strangers” in Egypt.  Based on this, they should treat those among them in the same way they would have wanted to be treated:

“You shall treat the stranger who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Lev. 19:33-34)

Jesus himself experienced displacement when his family was exiled to Egypt to escape Herod.  Beyond this, he admonished his followers to encounter him in the care of those who need it most: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Mt. 25:35)  Caring for the stranger is a sacramental encounter.

Finally, Peter reminds the church that they are “aliens and sojourners” in his first epistle (1 Pet. 2:11); while Paul reminds us that: “There is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28)  These apostolic teachings function to remind us that our identity and collective conscience is not, ultimately, properly founded on the nation in which we reside, but the “kingdom come” for which we wait.

Based on these teaching of scripture, Catholic social teaching builds upon four basic tenants when considering the immigration issue:  the essential human dignity of all persons, promotion of the common good, the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, and the call to solidarity.

Regarding the promotion of human dignity, Pope John Paul II had this to say:

“The comprehension of the human being, that the Church acquired in Christ, urges her

to proclaim the fundamental human rights and to speak out when they are trampled upon.

Thus, she does not grow tired of affirming and defending the dignity of the human person,

highlighting the inalienable rights that originate from it. Specifically, these are the right

to have one’s own country, to live freely in one’s own country, to live together with one’s

family, to have access to the goods necessary for a dignified life, to preserve and develop

one’s ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage, to publicly profess one’s religion, to be

recognized and treated in all circumstances according to one’s dignity as a human

being.”

~Pope John Paul II, Message of the Holy Father for the World Day of Migration

2001, par. 2 (February 2, 2001).

With the teaching of human dignity as its foundation, the Catholic Church seeks to affirm those rights which are essential to dignity.  Those rights include “all that is necessary for living a genuinely human life: for example, food, clothing, housing, the right freely to choose their state of life and set up a family, the right to education, work, to their good name, to respect, to proper  knowledge, the right to act according to the dictates of conscience and to safeguard their privacy, and rightful freedom, including freedom of religion.” (Gaudium et Spes, par. 26)  The Franciscan Coalition, likewise, works to affirm the dignity of persons through the recognition of these essential rights.

Regarding the promotion of the common good, the church teaches:

“The Church recognizes the right of a sovereign state to control its borders in furtherance

of thecommon good. It also recognizes the right of human persons to migrate so that they

can realize their God-given rights. These teachings complement each other. While the

sovereign state may impose reasonable limits on immigration, the common good is not

served when the basic human rights of the individual are violated.”

~Congerencia del Episcopado Mexicano and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,

Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope, par. 39.

Yet, the promotion of the common good is expressed with a preferential option for the poor:

“If we recall that Jesus came ‘to preach the good news to the poor” (Mt. 11:5; Lk 7:22),

how can we fail to lay greater emphasis on the Church’s preferential option for the poor

and the outcast?”

~Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Tertio Millenio Adveniente, par. 51.

And just as God expressed his preferential option for the poor by becoming one of us, so too much our ministry must be incarnational.  Put otherwise, as our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper, we are called to stand alongside those who suffer threats to their essential human dignity.  With acts of hospitality and advocacy for justice among the poor and oppressed, we must fully bear witness to the truth of the Gospel.

For more, we highly recommend the U.S. and Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops pastoal letter "Strangers no Longer."  For more, please feel free to contact us.