As Congress conducts field hearings in various locations around the country on federal immigration legislation, parish efforts throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are emphasizing education, conversation, advocacy and prayer to keep the issue moving forward.

In a letter to all Catholic parishes, Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Solis noted that the summer hearings sponsored by the House have effectively "stalled" the process of reaching bi-partisan agreement on comprehensive immigration reform by focusing on enforcement-only legislation.

The bishop opined that Congress most likely would not agree on a bill to send to the president before the November elections

"That is not acceptable when millions of our immigrant brothers and sisters continue to suffer because of a broken immigration system," said Bishop Solis, who chairs the archdiocesan Justice for Immigrants Steering Committee.

He reiterated the U.S. bishops' endorsement of legislation that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented workers; a temporary worker program for future flow of workers; and reductions in waiting times for family reunification.

"An earned path to citizenship is not amnesty," said Bishop Solis in his statement. "It is a critical part of a comprehensive reform bill that would enable our nation to secure its borders humanely, while legalizing a much needed immigrant workforce and keeping families together."

The bishop asked Catholics to keep calling or e-mailing legislators and urging them to return to the negotiating table. Through continued prayer and days of fasting, added the bishop, the nation's people "may learn to put into action God's call to love, especially the poor and needy."

Parish dialogue
Catholic parishes are continuing to host immigration workshops to encourage dialogue among parishioners about the hotly debated issue.

Sponsored by One LA-IAF, the educational workshops include information on the history of immigration in the U.S., and the economics of immigration, both positive and negative. The workshops also address current legislation and advocacy efforts from the perspective of faith values.

Most importantly, said one organizer, is the opportunity for people to share their family's immigration story in small groups and to dialogue about how conflicted many people feel about this issue.

"This is a safe place for people to have a conversation about a very polarized and contentious issue," said Anna Eng, an organizer with One LA.

Several dozen immigration workshops have taken place since the beginning of the year. Upcoming workshops include the following:

---July 24: 6 p.m. at Fernangeles Elementary School, 12001 Art St., Sun Valley (in association with Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church).

---July 28: 6:30 p.m. at Mary Immaculate Church, 10390 Remick Ave., Pacoima.

---Sept. 14: 7 p.m. at Santa Rosa Church, 668 S. Workman St., San Fernando.

Colorado legislation
Elsewhere in the country, as Colorado's Legislature considered immigration-related bills in a special session, the heads of two of the state's three Catholic dioceses warned against allowing alarmism to color the debate in the state or in the nation.

In a commentary published July 6 in The Denver Post daily newspaper, Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and Colorado Springs Bishop Michael J. Sheridan warned that "if the Legislature gets into a contest over which political party can be tougher on 'illegals,' we'll undermine our own best interests and miss an opportunity to help frame the national immigration discussion with common sense and justice."

The church's role is not to draft legislation, they said. "But Catholics and other people of faith do have a common set of principles that should inform all our thinking. Immigration reform is not merely a policy debate. It's a profoundly moral issue. The measure of a just society is how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members."

In Colorado, the bishops continued, "the common good requires legislation that enables both employers and workers to earn an adequate living without deceit or fear."

"We need to resist proposals that emphasize enforcement at the expense of real reform," they said. "Punishing criminals is justice. That's a good thing. But turning poor people who seek a dignified existence for their families into criminals in order to punish them is not justice. It's both foolish and wrong.

"We fully support security policies that target real threats to our peace," Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Sheridan continued. "But that should not require that we push further into the shadows some of the very workers who are strengthening and building our country."

They noted that more than a century ago Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants faced the kind of hostility directed at Latino immigrants today.

The bill Colorado legislators approved July 10 will require applicants for a wide range of benefits to prove their legal residency in the state.

Gov. Bill Owens, who said he would sign the bill, estimated that new identification requirements could cut off as many as 50,000 people from benefits, including retirement funds, health care, unemployment, food assistance, public housing or welfare. It also would prohibit grants, contracts, loans and professional or commercial licenses issued by state or local governments for people who do not provide approved identification.

Archbishop Chaput also announced plans for public town hall meetings to discuss immigration in light of Catholic social teaching.

Editor's note: Catholic News Service contributed to this report. For more information on the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, see www.justiceforimmigrants.org.