IMMIGRATION IN THE NEWS

If you live in Miami or genuinely watch the news, you 100 percent have heard the word “immigration” at least  once or twice in your life. While it is something we are all familiar with, time passes, and what used to be familiar, can start to change. 

CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF MIAMI’S POSITION

To that end, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami recently spoke on a new immigration bill which is under consideration in Florida. 

The Archbishop stated that the bill criminalized human empathy by making it a crime to transport undocumented migrants for any reason.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

The bill, SB1718/HB1617, makes it a third-degree felony for anyone who “transports into or within this state an individual whom the person knows, or reasonably should know, has entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry from another country.”

The bill is strongly supported by Florida Governor Ron de Santis.

For some context, 51% of the population of Miami-Dade county is foreign born, making Miami one of the most diverse cities in the world which means if this bill is implemented, many residents may be adversely impacted.

Ms. Christie Arnold, an Associate for Social Concerns and Respect Life at the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB), which represents all eight of Florida’s bishops, testified against the bill outlining FCCB’s opposition last month.

WHY THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS ARE AGAINST THE BILL

“These bills unfairly target the immigrant community in Florida as well as those who devote themselves to assisting them. Criminalizing the mere transport of undocumented people within Florida will have far-reaching negative consequences in the business and church communities,”   the FCCB.

CONSEQUENCES IF THE BILL PASSES

The bills would call for felony charges in situations such as sheltering, hiring and transporting undocumented immigrants, require hospitals to ask patients their immigration status, report that status to the state, invalidate out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants, and much more. 

“Anyone offering a ride to an undocumented migrant from church, school, or workplace could be charged with a third-degree felony. Requiring hospitals to collect data on patients’ immigration status would discourage migrants from seeking timely medical care and would end up overburdening hospital emergency rooms,” cited Archbishop Wenski as one of his many concerns regarding the passing of the bill.

Though separation of church and state is enshrined as part of the U.S. constitutional framework, it appears the Archdiocese of Miami, in concert with other Catholic bishops, and as represented through Archbishop Wenksi, strongly believe this is an issue to important to ignore.