Bishop Testifies Immigration Reform 'Crucial'

Orlando's Bishop Wenski, from the Orlado Sentinel:

Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, representing the U.S. Catholic Church and its immigrant tradition, testified to a House committee today that reform of the system is crucial.

Wenski appeared before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration as the topic gathered momentum and the Senate debated a compromise bill negotiated in part by Sen. Mel Martinez, R- Fla.

"As providers of pastoral and social services to immigrants throughout the nation, we in the Catholic Church witness the human consequences of a broken immigrant system every day in our parishes, social services programs, hospitals and schools," Wenski said in written testimony. "Families are divided, migrant workers are exploited and abused, and human beings unnecessarily die in the American desert."