Archbishop: U.S. risks losing soul by ignoring immigrants’ humanity

The archbishop of Los Angeles called upon the United States to remember the humanity of men, women and children in the country illegally or risk losing its soul. Addressing the city’s Jewish community March 19, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said the time has come for the U.S. to adopt comprehensive immigration to provide undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship. He also urged U.S. officials to end the practice of breaking up families through deportation. The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration called immigration reform “the most urgent civil rights question of our time.” Archbishop Gomez, a native of Monterey, Mexico, recalled being an immigrant himself.