California Catholic Conference Announces Support for SB 54, the California Values Act
A Statement from Bishop Jaime Soto, Bishop of Sacramento and President of the California Catholic Conference.
The California Catholic Conference of Bishops supports Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act. In our country today, some people are replacing trust and cooperation with fear and hatred. We believe that the majority of Californians, like the country, would rather build a society where there is liberty and justice for all.
SB 54 attempts to address this situation directly by confronting the injustice of indiscriminate deportations while ensuring public safety for all families and neighborhoods.
A Moral Imperative to Protect Human Dignity
As Pope Francis states, “It is important to see immigrants not only on the basis of their legal status… but above all as persons whose dignity must be protected and who are capable of contributing to progress and general well-being.”
Many of us know someone—a vulnerable family member, a neighbor, or even a parent or child—who has been deported after living in and contributing to our communities for years. Aggressive directives are breaking up our families and neighborhoods.
Why SB 54 is Necessary: Protecting Families and Public Safety
- Ensuring Public Safety for All: We know people who have been victims of violent crime, particularly related to drugs and gangs. All community members should be able to turn to law enforcement when their safety is threatened, so that the harm they have suffered is not compounded and so that those responsible for crimes do not escape the consequences of their actions.
- Focusing Local Resources: Local law enforcement agencies should be able to use their limited resources to be good neighbors and attentive protectors of the communities entrusted to their care. They should not collude with harsh, ill-conceived federal tactics.
- Healing a Broken System: The unjust and fragmented immigration system is deficient and represents a threat to the public good. In this last year, fear and resentment have been sown in many homes, schools, and neighborhoods.
Rejecting a Politics of Fear
Immigrant families are not a threat. Their health and well-being should not be put at risk. Too many hardworking immigrants suffer the double scourge of a broken immigration system and inadequate policing. Because of this, they are lost and marginalized, left more exposed to crimes of exploitation because some in our political community do not value their lives.
SB 54 follows the most prudent path between respecting human dignity and sensible policing, while rejecting the cruel nationalist rhetoric heard in some quarters.
A Prudent Path Forward for California
Crafting solutions of liberty and justice for all is not an easy task in the current climate, but California has taken on this task with the ongoing debate around SB 54. This is a daunting process, but as Californians and people of good will, we must remember the timely wisdom of our country: E pluribus unum—Out of many, one.