Photo Caption: Father Tony Lee urges viewing undocumented immigrants first as people with human dignity during a panel discussion on immigration reform Aug. 7 in Bloomington.

By: By Tom Dermody

BLOOMINGTON — The 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States are tagged with labels ranging from “needed laborers” to “illegal aliens,” but Father Tony Lee urges that they first be seen as people with human dignity equal to all.

“They have families and relationships,” said Father Lee, the newly appointed pastor of Holy Trinity and Historic St. Patrick parishes in Bloomington who also has pastoral care of the John Paul II Catholic Newman Center. “They are cousins and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles.”

Father Lee was recently named a co-director of the Diocese of Peoria’s Social Action Board, sharing that role with Msgr. Doug Hennessy and succeeding Father Richard Bresnahan. On Aug. 7, he was one of four panelists at a discussion hosted by the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition at the McLean County Chamber of Commerce offices in Bloomington on the theme “Moving Us Forward: Illinois Voices for Immigration Reform.”

The U.S. Senate passed a massive reform bill on June 27. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are continuing their debate on the topic, with many hearing from their constituents this month while on summer recess.

The last major immigration reform legislation was passed in 1986.

SAFEGUARD HUMAN DIGNITY
“Often we look at numbers and statistics and forget these are people,” Father Lee told an audience Wednesday comprised of political, business, social service, religious, and media representatives. He said the extent of family relationships involved became very evident to him during six months of parish work in the Arizona border community of Douglas in 2010 and later while serving the Hispanic community in the Kewanee region when pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Atkinson.

Noting that he was in Douglas when nearby Arizona rancher Robert Krentz was murdered — sparking increased public support for an aggressive state bill aimed at combating illegal immigration, signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer within a month of the killing — Father Lee recalled “I was right there at ‘ground zero’ when it became a real public issue.”

Father Lee repeatedly told the forum that the Catholic Church respects the rule of law and the “sovereign right” of nations to protect their borders. Key issues from the faith perspective, however, are safeguarding human dignity, respecting human rights, and teaching that all people are children of God to be seen “not as enemies, but as brothers and sisters.”

The movement of peoples has been constant throughout human and biblical history, said Father Lee. “Jesus himself became an immigrant,” noted Father Lee, when Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt after his birth to escape the terror of King Herod.

How strangers and guests are treated speaks much about “who we are as a nation,” said Father Lee. The legal issues can be very complex, he acknowledged. Father Lee shared the story of an undocumented woman from a parish in Illinois whose ex-husband took their children — born in the U.S. — back to Mexico without her permission.

“So now we have children in Mexico who have no Mexican rights who are American citizens with no way back into the country,” he said, adding that the children were eventually returned to the woman, who is now on a path to becoming a documented person.

Father Lee urged that reforms be enacted “so those 11 million people already here can be protected and have the dignity that belongs to all of us.”

OTHER SPEAKERS
The Aug. 7 forum was co-sponsored by the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Farm Bureau, and the Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform Network.

Other panelists, all of whom advocated for immigration reform, included:

— Mark Peters, corporate counsel for Caterpillar, Inc., who handles immigration matters. He outlined the company’s global competition and increasing dependence on high-skilled, foreign born workers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields because of a shortage of talent in the U.S. Caterpillar, he said, “supports common sense, pro-American” immigration reform and that “the time to act is now.”

— Ben Taylor, director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Great Lakes Region. “The immigration system in the U.S. is broken,” he said, describing four priorities the Chamber would like to see as part of solutions that cover both high-skilled and lesser-skilled workers, though he preferred the term “valued employees.”

— Pat Bane, a longtime area pork producer representing the McLean County Farm Bureau. “Migrant workers are a very important part of what we do,” he said, praising their patience and expertise in handling livestock. Noting the U.S. is “the envy of the world in producing food,” he called for reforms because “it would be a shame if we didn’t have the resources and labor to continue that.”

The panel was moderated by Charlie Moore, president and CEO of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce.

All panelists encouraged citizens to let their representatives know where they stand on the issues. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has created a website that outlines church teaching on immigration and includes a sample postcard to send to political representatives. It can be found at justiceforimmigrants.org.