Obama pushes immigration reform

(Vatican Radio) United States President Barack Obama was scheduled to hold a series of White House meetings on Tuesday with corporate chief executives and labour leaders to garner support for immigration reform. The President and a bipartisan Senate working "group of eight" presented their proposals last week, which would be the greatest change to immigration laws in decades.

The plan would give the country’s 11 million illegal immigrants a clear path to citizenship, including the payment of fines, criminal background checks and having their applications put behind those who followed the rules.

The US-based Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) said it appreciates the formulation of the bipartisan proposal.

“I think the key question is asking who is in most urgent need. I think this arises clearly from a gospel perspective,” said Dr. Eli S. McCarthy, the Justice and Peace Director for the CMSM.

“Some of things I think would take priority would be addressing the root causes of illegal immigration,” he told Vatican Radio. “Things like a lack of living-wage jobs in countries of origin; trade policies such as NAFTA; fear of violence; the long wait many folk have in being reunited with their families.”

Listen to the interview by Charles Collins with Dr. McCarthy: