American bishops continued to press Congress to legislate comprehensive and humane immigration reform the day before their June meeting opened in Los Angeles.

"We urge congressional leaders and the president to seize this historic moment and enact a just and humane immigration measure," said Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino at a June 14 press conference held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the site of the June 15-17 meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The next day the USCCB president, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., declared that current U.S. immigration law and practice are "morally unacceptable and must be changed." He issued the statement with the approval of the gathered bishops.

Congressional conferees need to resolve differences between a Senate bill passed in May that includes many comprehensive reform provisions and a House bill passed in December that focuses only on the enforcement of immigration laws and criminalizes undocumented immigrants and those who assist them.

Bishop Barnes, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration, observed that the $25 billion spent on border enforcement in the last dozen years has resulted in double the number of undocumented immigrants and the deaths of some 3,000 in the desert. "It is clear that an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform has failed," said the bishop, urging the Senate and House to produce a bill that would address reform comprehensively.

Comprehensive legislation, added Bishop Barnes, addresses the root causes of migration so that people can stay in their homelands and support their families with dignity; includes border security measures that are targeted, proportional and humane; creates a viable earned path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million to 12 million people in the U.S. illegally; creates a temporary worker program that protects the rights of workers; and includes a family-based reunification program, among other provisions.

"The problem is not at the border. It's in the labor market," said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. "We must have a secure labor market. Then we can have a secure border."

Temporary worker programs and an earned path to citizenship would enable the government to regulate the flow of workers to meet the demand from employers, he said.

The bishops acknowledged that not all Catholics agree with them and that they had received letters in opposition to their public stand on behalf of humane immigration reform.

"The U.S. Catholic bishops acknowledge that immigration is an emotional and challenging issue which has engaged the American public, including members of the Catholic faithful," Bishop Skylstad said in his statement. "We have heard from Catholics and others of good will who both agree and disagree with us on how best to respond to the immigration crisis."

"Each day in our parishes, social service programs, hospitals and schools we witness the human consequences of an immigration system which is seriously flawed," he added. "Families are divided, migrants are exploited and abused by smugglers and human traffickers and, in some cases, men, women and children who attempt to come here in search of a better life perish in the American desert."

Bishop Skylstad said current U.S. immigration policy harms "the basic dignity and life of the human person" and "needs to be reformed urgently."

He said the bishops "will continue to work with Congress and the president to enact comprehensive immigration reform," establishing laws that are "just and humane and reflect the values -- fairness, opportunity and compassion -- upon which our nation, a nation of immigrants, was built."

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said at the press conference that he had been asked why the church had gotten so involved in this issue. "It is our Gospel mandate," said the archbishop, referring to the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus exhorts his followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and welcome the stranger.

At parishes, schools, hospitals and Catholic social service programs, the bishops are hearing many stories of how immigrants are suffering under the current system, said Cardinal Mahony. Undocumented immigrants are forced to live on the margins of society and are vulnerable to exploitation. "This suffering must end," he said.

The current immigration system, added Cardinal Mahony, "is morally unacceptable, because it accepts the labor and taxes of immigrants without offering them protections." Now immigrants are being used as scapegoats for the nation's problems, he said.

Laws and policies, added Cardinal Mahony, must "serve basic human dignity and protect human life."

Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., a member of the USCCB Committee on Migration, noted that the Catholic Church was joined by other faith traditions in a strong ecumenical effort to "articulate a moral position about a complex issue."

Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange emphasized that for a new law to be workable it would need to be efficient and simple to follow. The current Senate bill is 796 pages long. Bishop Soto, who serves on the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, also pressed the need to eliminate human trafficking -- the smuggling of men, women and children for the purpose of exploiting them in the labor market.

Bishop DiMarzio urged that immigrants be allowed to apply for a green card on their own and not be dependent on an employer. "We do not need to have indentured servants in our country," he said.

In response to a reporter's question about whether some lawmakers were hardening their positions against immigration reform, Bishop Barnes said that while some people will always oppose reform "I believe the majority of the American public wants to do the right thing."

Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., pointed to the new alliances between organizations such as labor unions and chambers of commerce.

"The constituency in favor of immigration reform is broadening," said the bishop, who chairs the U.S. bishops' international policy committee.

Contributing to this story was Jerry Filteau.