U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 Fourth Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017
202-541-3000
www.usscb.org

The USCCB is an assembly of the Catholic Church hierarchy who work together to unify, coordinate, promote, and carry on Catholic activities in the United States; to organize and conduct religious, charitable, and social welfare work at home and abroad; to aid in education; and to care for immigrants. The bishops themselves constitute the membership of the Conference and are served by a staff of over 350 lay people, priests, deacons, and religious.
Latest News...

Catholic Bishops Begin Observance of National Migration Week, Jan 3-9, 2010

Bishops Say Health Reform Should Include All Immigrants, Legal or Not, Catholic Review,
September 2009

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STATEMENT OF CARDINAL FRANCIS GEORGE
ARCHBISHOP OF CHICAGO
PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
JUNE 18, 2009

On behalf of the United States Catholic Bishops, gathered in San Antonio, Texas, at our annual spring meeting, I would ask President Barack Obama and congressional leaders of both parties to work together to fashion and enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the end of the year.
It has been clear for years that the United States immigration system requires repair and that reform legislation should not be delayed.
We urge respect and observance of all just laws, and we do not approve or encourage the illegal entry of anyone into our country.  From a humanitarian perspective, however, our fellow human beings, who migrate to support their families, continue to suffer at the hands of immigration policies that separate them from family members and drive them into remote parts of the American desert, sometimes to their deaths.  This suffering should not continue.
Now is the time to address this pressing humanitarian issue which affects so many lives and undermines basic human dignity.  Our society should no longer tolerate a status quo that perpetuates a permanent underclass of persons and benefits from their labor without offering them legal protections.  As a moral matter, we must resolve the legal status of those who are here without proper documentation so that they can fully contribute their talents to our nation’s economic, social and spiritual well being.
Only through comprehensive reform can we restore the rule of law to our nation’s immigration system.
We urge President Obama and congressional leaders to meet as soon as possible to discuss and draft comprehensive immigration reform legislation, with the goal of making it law by the end of 2009.  The Catholic bishops of our country stand ready to assist in this effort.

BIshops Urge Obama on CIR, Catholic News Service, June 2009

Immigration Reform Statement by Cardinal Roger Mahony, June 4, 2009

igrants Should be More Than Pawns in the Game, by Bishop John Wester, Diocese of Salt
Lake, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 2009

Cardinal Francis George: End immigration raids, he tells President Barack Obama,
Chicago Tribune, March 22, 2009

Immigration and Hope Are Inseparable, Arch. Agnostino Marchetto, Secy. for the Pontifical
Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Travellers, Rome, Italy, Mar 1, 2009

Church Joins Interfaith Effort to Change Immigration Law, Catholic News Service, Sept 2008

RI Bishop Wants US to Halt Mass Immigration Raids, Associated Press, Aug 21, 2008

Words from the Holy Father On Immigration, Pope Benedict XVI's Visit to the United States, April 15-20, 2008

Pope's Message for 2008 World Migration Day

Bishops' Document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" is available on the USCCB website, Nov 2007

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio's Labor Day Statement - September 2007