Cardinal Tobin: Human dignity and the need for comprehensive immigration reform
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
My brother bishop, Bernard A. Hebda, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, has written an urgent appeal for comprehensive immigration reform, which the Wall Street Journal published on January 20, 2026, as a Free Expression Commentary. (See below.) Having witnessed first-hand the recent chaos and violence in Minnesota, Archbishop Hebda has concluded that “we can no longer put off the hard work of immigration reform” because “the chaos benefits no one.”
The Catholic Church in the United States is an immigrant Church with a long history of embracing diverse newcomers and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people on the move. For many decades, the bishops of the United States have advocated for substantive change to our country’s immigration laws and policies. As Archbishop Hebda notes, the immigration reform we desire needs to be based on the reality of our situation rather than in any particular ideology.
For example, in 2003, the Bishops of the United States, together with the Bishops of Mexico, in the pastoral statement, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope” acknowledged that the current immigration system is badly in need of reform and offered a comprehensive set of recommendations for changing U.S. laws and policies to bring about a more humane and just immigration system in the United States.
As Archbishop Hebda notes, “we had a chance in 2013, when a bipartisan bill passed the Senate. It was a strong bill that provided billions for border security and a 12-year path to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented immigrants. The House never took it up.” Sadly, the Archbishop says, “each year of inaction has made the debate louder, angrier and less humane.”
Our Church is passionate about the dignity and human rights of everyone without exception. As Pope Leo XIV pointed out in his address to members of the Vatican’s diplomatic corps earlier this year (see below):
In its international relations and actions, the Holy See consistently takes a stand in defense of the inalienable dignity of every person. It cannot be overlooked, for example, that every migrant is a person and, as such, has inalienable rights that must be respected in every situation. Not all migrants move by choice, but many are forced to flee because of violence, persecution, conflict and even the effects of climate change, as in various parts of Africa and Asia. In this year, which also marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the International Organization for Migration, I renew the Holy See’s hope that the actions taken by States against criminality and human trafficking will not become a pretext for undermining the dignity of migrants and refugees.
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