Cardinal Puts Church in Fight for Immigration Rights

One day, Roger Mahony, then about 12, was working in his father's poultry processing plant in the San Fernando Valley when law enforcement agents searching for illegal immigrants raided the facility.

"I will never forget them bursting through the doors," Mahony recalled. "I was terrified by it. And I thought, 'These poor people; they're here making a living supporting their families.' . . . It had a very deep impact on me throughout the years." One of his father's workers was taken away.

Now Cardinal Roger Mahony, he leads the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It is the largest Roman Catholic diocese in the country, and Mahony has recently placed himself and the church in the middle of the national debate on immigration.

On March 1, during Ash Wednesday Mass, the Hollywood-born clergyman attacked a House bill that would turn most people and institutions that aid illegal immigrants into felons. Calling it "blameful, vicious" legislation, Mahony vowed a campaign of civil disobedience in the archdiocese's 288 parishes if it becomes law.

Protest organizers and participants credited Mahony's fire from the pulpit -- and the educational campaign he initiated in January throughout his archdiocese -- with playing a critical role in organizing opposition. They say his efforts helped prompt half a million people, including many illegal immigrants, to feel safe enough participate in one of the biggest demonstrations ever in downtown Los Angeles on March 25, calling for a more liberal immigration bill.

There are immoral laws... and these immoral laws should be resisted and disobeyed. The key to this issue is balance... creating a set of immigration polices, laws and procedures that are fair, protective of our borders, effective in keeping our nation secure, and doesn't harm people in the process. Let's stop walking in the streets and start talking to the congress critters about a fair solution.