Migration Chairs of Mexican and U.S. Bishops’ Conferences Issue Join Statement on President Calderon’s Visit to the United States

WASHINGTON — Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz of Tijuana, Mexico, head of the Mexican Episcopal Conference Migration Commission, issued May 19, a joint statement on the occasion of President Felipe Caderón of Mexico visit to the United States.

In the statement, the bishops urged Presidents Obama and Calderón to focus their conversation on the need for reform of their respective immigration systems; the need to uphold the respect for human rights and dignity of migrants and citizens alike while protecting their nation’s borders; and the implementation of fair trade and development policies that would stem the need for people to migrate, while making sure the immigration system provides sufficient legal visas or legal status for immigrants to work in jobs that are important to the U.S. economy.

The statement was released in bilingual form. (Read it here).