The Menu “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the

the blind, and you will be blessed.

Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:13-14

Newsletter of the UCC Social Justice Team Issue 5, April 15, 2007

Chef’s Special: Strangers No Longer

Catholic Social Teaching: The Bishops on Migration What does scripture say?
•

•
All persons have the right to find in their own countries the economic, political, and
social opportunities to live in dignity and achieve a full life through the use of their God-
given gifts. In this context, work that provides a just, living wage is a basic human need.
The Church recognizes the right of sovereign nations to control their territories but
“
When an stranger resides with
you in your land, do not molest
him. You shall treat the
stranger who resides with you
no differently than the natives
rejects such control when it is exerted merely for the purpose of acquiring additional born among you; have the
wealth. More powerful economic nations, which have the ability to protect and feed their same love for him as for
residents, have a stronger obligation to accommodate migration flows. yourself; for you too were once
• The Church recognizes that all goods of the earth belong to all people. When persons strangers in the land of Egypt.

•
cannot find employment in their country of origin to support themselves and their
families, they have a right to find work elsewhere in order to survive. Sovereign nations
should provide ways to accommodate this right.
Those who flee wars and persecution should be protected by the global community. This
Leviticus 19: 33, 34
”
requires, at a minimum, that migrants have a right to claim refugee status without
incarceration and to have their claims fully considered by a competent authority.
• Regardless of their legal status, migrants, like all persons, possess inherent human dignity
which should be respected. Government policies that respect the basic human rights of
the undocumented are necessary.
Source: Excerpts from: Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope, A Pastoral Letter Concerning
Migration from the Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States, www.usccb.org/mrs/stranger.shtml

How can I speak out in solidarity? Support Immigration Reform!

One year ago this week,
12,000 Austinites marched to
protest legislation that would
be harmful to immigrants and
immigrant supporters. A
solution has still not been
enacted, and as the faithful
we are called to use our
voices to ask justice for
immigrants. This is our
opportunity, and now is the
time to be faithful witnesses.
Congress is in the process of
considering comprehensive
immigration reform
legislation. The U.S. Senate is
currently considering
immigration legislation, and
the House will take up a bill a path to citizenship root causes of migration
during the summer months. • A future worker program • Any future worker program
Now is the time to (i.e. “temporary” worker must contain worker
communicate with legislators program) which includes protections, adequat e
about what elements are protections for both U.S. wages, and a path to
required in a comprehensive and foreign-born workers citizenship for participants.
immigration b i l l . with an option for a path to
The U.S. Catholic bishops citizenship
have called for a Go to http://capwiz.com/
comprehensive overhaul of • Family-based immigration justiceforimmigrants/issues/
the U.S. immigration system reform which reduces a l e r t / ?
which would include the family backlogs and waiting alertid=9348936&type=CO
following elements: t i m e s f o r f a m i l y to send an email to or call
reunification your legislators.
• An earned legalization • The restoration of due
program for undocumented process protections for
Source: The USCCB website: for
immigrants, regardless of immigrants
immigration reform
nationality, which includes • Policies which address the
www.justiceforimmigrants.org
The Menu Newsletter of the UCC Social Justice Team
“ B U T W H E N Y O U G I V E A B A N Q U E T , I N V I T E T H E P O O R , T H E C R I P P L E D , T H E L A M E , T H E B L I N D ,
A N D Y O U W I L L B E B L E S S E D . A L T H O U G H T H E Y C A N N O T R E P A Y Y O U , Y O U W I L L B E R E P A I D A T
T H E R E S U R R E C T I O N O F T H E R I G H T E O U S . ” L U K E 1 4 : 1 3 - 1 4

Upcoming Executions Apathy or Action: The Struggle for Human A Prayer for
by the State of Texas Rights Symposium April 16 - 19 Immigrant Justice
April 26 Ryan Dixon The White Rose Society is a UT student organization Blessed
dedicated to holocaust and genocide awareness and activism. are You,
Governor Perry has now
In their campaign to end genocide in Darfur they have raised L o r d
completed 152 executions
and donated thousands of dollars, sent thousands of letters to G o d ,
while in office, tying Bush's
politicians, raised awareness about genocide issues and King of
previous record.
lobbied the Texas Senate to divest from Sudan. The all creation. Through Your
Peaceful vigils are held every symposium events will include a Holocaust and Genocide goodness, we live in this
evening of an execution at the Commemoration, Film Festival, Speaker Series, and a Social land that You have so
Governor's Mansion at 12 & Justice Activism Fair. Visit www.thewhiterosesociety.org for richly blessed. Help us
Lavaca, 5:30-6:30 pm. more information. always to recognize our
Blessings come from You
and remind us to share
Benefit Concert for St. Louise House them with others,
Thurs. April 26 7:30 pm especially those who come
John Michael Talbot, Catholic music’s number one recording artist, will play a benefit to us today from other
concert for St. Louise House, a transitional living facility for women and children, at St. lands. Help us to be
Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church on 4800 Convict Hill Rd. For more information, gener ou s , j ust , a n d
welcoming, as You have
go to www.stcatherine-austin.org.
been and are generous to
us. Amen.
Immigration Mythbusting Source:
www.justiceforimmigrants.org

Immigrants don’t pay taxes
•Immigrants pay taxes, in
the form of income,
property, sales, and taxes at
the federal and state
level. A range of studies
find that immigrants pay
$90-$140 billion a year in
taxes. Undocumented
immigrants pay income
taxes as well, which grew
by $20 billion 1990-1998.
Immigrants come here to
take welfare
•Immigrants come to work
and reunite with
family. Immigrant labor
force participation is
consistently higher than
native-born and immigrant
workers make up a larger
share of the U.S. labor
force (12.4%) than they do
t he U.S. populat ion
(11.5%). Moreover,
immigrant tax payments
total $20-$30 billion more
than the government
services they use.
Immigrants take jobs
• The largest wave of
immigration since the early
1900s coincided with our
lowest national
unemployment rate and
fastest economic
gr owt h. I mm igr ant
entrepreneurs, and foreign-
born students allow many
U.S. graduate programs to
keep their doors open.
• The net benefit of
immigration to the U.S. is
nearly $10 billion annually.
70% of immigrants arrive in
prime working age, so we
haven’t spent a penny on
their education, yet they are
transplanted into our
workforce and will
contribute $500 billion
toward our social security
system in the next 20 years
Most immigrants cross the
border illegally
• Around 75% of today’s
immigrants have legal
permanent visas; of the
25% that are
undocumented, 40%
overstayed temporary visas.
Weak U.S. border
enforcement has lead to
high undocumented
immigration
• From 1986-1998, the
Border Patrol’s budget
increased six-fold and the
number of agents stationed
on our southwest border
doubled to 8,500. The
Border Patrol also
toughened its enforcement
strategy, heavily fortifying
typical urban entry points
and pushing migrants into
dangerous desert areas, in
hopes of deterring
crossings. Instead, the
undocumented immigrant
population doubled in that
timeframe, to 8 million.
Insufficient legal avenues
for immigrants to enter the
U.S. has contributed to this
current conundrum.
Source: justiceforimmigrants.org
SJ Team Mission statement:
The UCC Social Justice Team
seeks to connect what we
experience at Mass on Sunday
to how we live the rest of the
week by focusing on the
tenets of charity and justice.
We serve the common good
through works of mercy for
the poor and vulnerable and
advocate for just social policy.
Like what you see?
Want to become a part
of it?
A small group of students
and adults committed to
promoting justice around the
UCC and the community
produces this bi-weekly
news let t er , looks for
opportunities to do charity
and justice, leads workshops
and hosts other events. If you
would like to help with
planning, or would like to
submit to the newsletter,
email sjteam@utcatholic.org.