My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Beginning on the Feast of the Epiphany, the Church in the United States celebrates National Migration Week. At the same time, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has issued the annual message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2008. The theme of his address and message is “Young Migrants,” and that of National Migration Week is “From Many, One Family of God.” Both messages center on the family and young people in migrant families.

Certainly in our own Diocese, we have ready witness of the opportunities and challenges that confront migrant families every day. When we look particularly to the young people in families, we recognize that, as Pope Benedict XVI has put it, “for the young migrants, the problems of the so-called ‘difficulty of dual belonging’ seem to be felt in a particular way: on the one hand, they feel a strong need to not lose their culture of origin, while on the other, the understandable desire emerges in them to be inserted organically into the society that receives them, but without this implying a complete assimilation and the resulting loss of their ancestral traditions.”

Clearly, this is verified in our own experience here in Brooklyn and Queens. The young people in immigrant families are torn between conflicting values. This is not a new occurrence in the United States. There has always been the experience of immigrants who seem to have one foot in their country of origin and one foot in their new homeland. This is particularly facilitated today as we live in the global village, where communication and travel are so much easier than they were in the past. This only seems to accentuate the problems experienced by young people.

Other problems inherent to migration seem to fall heavily upon young people. In our own experience, it is that of trafficking of young people in many types of sexual exploitation that becomes a problem within our own society. Estimates of the real numbers of these children are hard to obtain, but the fact is we see both male and female children exploited and daily rescued from a new type of slavery. Our own Catholic Charities organization has participated in the trafficking rescue program that has aided many adults and children in escaping virtual bondage.

Other young people enter this country as so-called unaccompanied minors, most of whom are in undocumented status and, if detected, are placed in foster care programs and repatriated to their own countries. An even more prevalent problem is that of children who have come to this country with their families in an undocumented status and have grown up here. Many of them have never been back to their countries of origin.

Last year, Congress failed to pass what is called the Dream Act, which was aimed particularly at this vulnerable group of young people who are more than inculturated into our society, but who reach what one might call a glass ceiling when they graduate high school and wish to go to college. It seems that they can obtain an education, in both public and private schools in our country, without a Social Security number. Then, when they apply for college, these children, many of whom are good students, are blocked from continuing their education. The Dream Act would have given a special status to these young people so that they could continue their education and become an asset to our society.

There was a wide range of estimates of how many children could have benefited from this Dream Act, from 300,000 to 900,000. Much of it depended on the point of view one had toward this quasi-legalization program. Political considerations doomed the Dream Act to become an ongoing nightmare for those who are caught in an undocumented situation, especially through no fault of their own.

I continually take every opportunity I can to speak about the situation today of immigrants in our society, especially those who are undocumented. Many people have written to me about my use of the term undocumented, since I prefer not to use the word illegal. Although the word legal does not appear in our immigration law, as neither does the word undocumented, it seems that particular points of view use the terms most favorable to their position. Many immigration restrictions constantly bring up the point that these immigrants have broken the law, must be deported and cannot be given amnesty or legalization. What these persons fail to realize is that the law broken is a civil one. Unfortunately, the need for workers in our economy and the lack of a workable immigration law have attracted these workers to our country. At the present time, they are participating in and propping up our economy. It is hard to find any realistic economist who would admit the immigrants are bad for our economy, or even that they displace a large number of American-born workers.

National Migration Week gives us an opportunity to recognize that From Many, One Family of God is certainly the situation in our country. From many nations, the Diocese of Brooklyn has formed one family of God, celebrating the Eucharist in over 28 different languages each Sunday. Truly, we are one Church.

The prayer card printed in The Tablet today shows, in a stylistic fashion, Jesus on the mount, multiplying the fish and loaves for the many great crowds. The mountain is populated by peoples of the world which is very close to our own experience in Brooklyn and Queens. As Bishop John Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City and current chairman of the Migration Committee, said in his Migration Week cover letter, “Jesus’ disciples wanted to send away the crowd of 5,000 when the multitude came to hear Him out of fear that they did not have enough to feed them. In the same way, we are tempted to turn away migrants fearing that our nation does not have enough resources – jobs, schools, housing, medical care, and other necessities, to accommodate those who have made their way to this abundant land. The miracle of the loaves and fishes is God’s promise not only to the disciples but to us as well. If we fail to minister to the needs of these newcomers, we fail Our Lord Himself for as He taught us in the Gospel: ‘Lord, when did we see you a stranger – and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me’” (Mt. 25:44-45).

Each time I speak and write about migration in our country, and in other countries, I truly feel that I am “putting out into the deep” where the stormy seas of contrary opinions, many of which are based on restrictions and even racist attitudes, prevail. I certainly feel buffeted by negative attitudes toward those who are our brothers and sisters. The Church has always taught that our country must protect its borders and has the right to admit into its society those who can contribute based on the common good, not only for our country but for all countries. These principles guide our moral teaching on immigration and are contrary to public opinion today, which has been formed by a media which seem to exploit the issue. Pray with me that the truth will prevail and the needs of many will be attended to by the one family of God.