HOW SHE SEES IT Treat immigrants to U.S. with dignity

By LINDA P. CAMPBELL
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
With just a month of my maternity leave remaining, my husband and I still hadn't found someone to look after our new twins.
That's when we met Lucy.
Quiet but friendly, eager to please, she was skillfully at ease with the babies the first time she visited our Capitol Hill home. On one of the days she came over, we loaded up the diaper bag and walked the twins in their double stroller to the Supreme Court to pay our respects to Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was lying in state in the Great Hall.
Finally comfortable with the idea of trusting a stranger with our precious blessings, I offered her a job, which she quickly accepted.
But the following week, when I asked for her green card, communications broke down. My rudimentary Spanish collided with her limited English. She acted baffled by my inquiries. I felt stymied -- confused about her legal status, not wanting to renege on a deal, squeezed by time constraints.
Lucy was a jewel during the 10 months she worked for us. She took the twins to the park, introduced them to story time at the library, loved them as though they were her own. We learned that she was from a Central American country and had a teenage son whom she hoped would some day join her. During the time we knew her, she married an honorable, responsible man who seemed devoted to her.
Lucy and legislation
We lost track of her during the past dozen years. But she came to mind when the priest at a recent Mass spoke about the U.S. Catholic Bishops' organized opposition to the callous, unrealistic elements of immigration legislation pending in Congress.
The bishops particularly object to a measure that, if taken to an extreme conclusion, could make it a federal crime for ministers, health-care professionals and social workers to provide basic humanitarian assistance to people living in this country illegally. That provision rests in a bill already passed by a U.S. House that is determined to use the heaviest hammers it can wield in the mistaken belief that fences and guns and threats of imprisonment will solve the problems of illegal immigration.
The bishops argue persuasively that immigration reform can be effective only if it recognizes the value of undocumented workers, as contributors to the U.S. economy but more important as human beings.
A pastoral statement attributed to the Catholic bishops of Texas urges the Senate to reject the House version and "enact comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders, leads to quicker family reunification and makes it possible for those who want to come to our country for good purposes to be treated with respect for their human dignity."
Respect bishops' positions
The bishops are at their best when they advocate for social justice, for the compassionate treatment of all God's children.
Their efforts shouldn't be interpreted as a ploy to build church membership or be greeted cynically through the political calculus of which party will benefit by swaying Catholic voters.
And the campaign shouldn't be characterized as a hijacking by radical liberal do-gooders. It's hardly novel for the church to argue simultaneously that people have a right to support themselves and their families and that nations have a right to control their borders through just and humane policies.
There's no question that border violence, human trafficking and the strain on social services are challenging outgrowths of ineffective enforcement of immigration laws.
At the same time, treating decent people decently and offering them hope isn't rewarding them for wrongdoing -- it's recognizing that those who have broken rules in search of a better life don't cease to be human beings with physical and spiritual needs. A program that, for instance, imposes a waiting period and a fine, and requires, among other things, a clean record to even begin the lengthy process of becoming a legal resident and then a citizen can hardly be considered a free ride.
It's fair to expect immigrants to take responsibility, to contribute to the society in which they wish to live, to follow the rules and to make the effort to correct their legal status. But it's not fair to assume that most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States are mainly leeches and threats to our well-being. Nor is it realistic to expect that immigration enforcement can be improved through hateful, largely punitive measures.
X Linda P. Campbell is a columnist and editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Bertram de Souza's column will return to this space next week. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.