Bishops praise bipartisan work on immigration, say agreement needed urgently

Washington D.C., Feb 5, 2018 / 16:00 pm

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced a bipartisan immigration plan on Monday that would provide a path to citizenship for "dreamers" who have been in the country since 2013, and increase border security. The bill would not immediately provide the funds for a wall or enact any new measures on "chain migration" or the diversity lottery.

President Donald Trump's past proposals would put an end to the visa lottery and limit "chain migration," the policy which allows immigrants to the US to sponsor the immigration petitions of family members, and would have provided funding towards the construction of a wall on the Mexican border.

A representative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops told CNA Monday that the conference is in favor of bipartisan collaboration to solve this issue, and that they hope that a solution can be found quickly.
 
"The USCCB is reviewing the proposal, but we welcome the bipartisan effort to find a solution to protect Dreamers and pragmatically address and assess border security needs. We urge Congress to act to find a humane solution as soon as possible," the spokesperson said.

The USCCB has offered mixed reviews of Trump's past proposals. On Jan. 26, a bishops' conference spokesperson told CNA that while the conference was pleased with the proposed plan for a path to citizenship for about 1.8 million people, they were less enthused with possible restrictions on family migration and with the amount of money allocated for a border wall.

The White House has already rejected the McCain-Coons proposal, calling it a "total waste of time."