Bishop Wester delivers cards calling for immigration legislation reform to Utah's congressmen

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake (right), chats with Rep. Jason Chaffetz during a meeting on comprehensive immigration legislation reform in the bishop's office on Feb. 18. Chaffetz is holding one of the thousands of postcards signed by Utah Catholics in his district asking that legislators address the issue.

SALT LAKE CITY - The thousands of postcards signed by Utah Catholics promoting

comprehensive immigration legislation reform were delivered by the hand of the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake, to the state's two senators and two of its three Congressional representatives during the week of Feb. 15.

"We want a system that works," said Bishop Wester, who is chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Migration. The bishops support

a humane and comprehensive solution that includes a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the country, an emphasis on family

unity and creation of a legal want for migrants to work legally and safely in the United States.

In January, the USCCB instigated a national postcard campaign, asking Catholics to sign postcards to congress members urging

comprehensive immigration legislation reform. The Salt Lake diocese's campaign was spearheaded by Dee Rowland, the government

liaison. The diocese printed 5,000 postcards, but ran out of them, so not every parish participated in the campaign, she said. "I was overwhelmed by the positive support from pastors and parish members."

Rowland joined Bishop Wester and Kevin Appleby, the USCCB's director of migration policy and public affairs, in delivering the postcards. They haven't yet scheduled the visit to Congressman Jim Matheson, but "we have an overflowing box here to deliver to Matheson when we get our appointment

there," she said. "I felt that both Rep. Bishop and then Rep. Chaffetz listened to our concerns attentively, but it's going to take continuing pressure to get Congress to act."

Appleby also addressed, on Feb. 19, a gathering of the diocese's Peace and Justice Commission and members of the Enriching Utah Coalition, a statewide organization of public, private and religious members that promotes immigration legislation reform. During that meeting, Appleby gave an overview of proposed immigration legislation that already exists, pointing out that most of them address only portions of the issue. And while the issue has taken the back seat to the debates on the national economy and health care, "There is still the opportunity to get some traction on a bigger bill this year," he said, "but I'm not saying that it's going to be easy. Even if it doesn't move it this year, we have to keep working so that we don't lose our spot in line."

Rowland hopes that Utahns who signed the postcards will continue to ask their legislators

to support comprehensive immigration legislation reform. "I want to emphasize ... that the postcards were just a start," she said.

Another step in the process is a

march on the Washington National Mall, scheduled for March 21. The march is being organized by a coalition of faith groups, including the USCCB's Justice for Immigrants.

Anyone who wasn't able to sign a postcard may do so online at www.justiceforimmigrants.

org. The website also contains information on the march and other immigration

topics.