Bishop Serratelli on Immigration

Bishop Arthur Serratelli, bishop of Paterson, NJ, comments on the immigration challenge being faced by the United States:

"Ever since the Mayflower landed and one hundred English colonists set foot on the soil of this country, America has faced the issue of foreigners coming to a new land.  For the last two centuries, our country has welcomed and absorbed millions of people from every corner of the earth and we have grown strong.  The history of the United States is the story of immigrants.

"The flow of immigrants has been constant, only interrupted by the two World Wars and the Great Depression. During the 17th century, immigrants came to colonial America mostly from England. In the 19th century, there was a greater influx of immigrants from northern Europe.  With the beginning of the twentieth-century, immigrants came mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe.  After 1965, greater numbers arrived from Latin America and Asia.  Today’s immigrants come from Mexico, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, China, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Ukraine, Russia and Jamaica.  Some statistics claim that the United States accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than all other countries in the world combined.

"Within the last ten years, there has been a growing concern that the arrival of an increasing number of illegal immigrants has a negative impact on our economic growth, our social system and our national security.  Historically, our government has not been consistent in controlling our borders.  Our federal government has not provided strong leadership in passing and enforcing laws governing immigration in a uniform way.  As a result, state and local authorities have tried to cope with the situation in different ways, sometimes ineffectively, sometimes harshly."

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CNA: "Immigration - Pizza, Pita and Pancit"