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WASHINGTON - Observing how recent responses to migrants demonstrate the troubling convergence of our broken immigration system and the political divisions of our time, Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Migration, issued a reflection on the Catholic Churchs enduring commitment to comprehensive immigration reform and welcoming the stranger as part of its unwavering defense of human life in all its forms. This coincides with the ongoing celebration of Respect Life Month, during which the Catholic Church in the United States invites the faithful to consider more deeply why every human life is valuable and to reflect on how to build a culture that protects life from conception to natural death.

We simply cannot allow partisan division to continue to impede the needed interventions of government, Bishop Dorsonville stated. And while there are no easy solutions to the challenges we face, there is a just path forward that is waiting to be paved by those who are committed to the future of our country, he added, alluding to this years theme for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees.

Bishop Dorsonville expressed the need for a just immigration reform that provides for the full integration of long-time residents, promotes family unity, honors due process, respects the rule of law, expands legal pathways, preserves and strengthens humanitarian protections, prioritizes dignified alternatives to detention, recognizes the contributions of foreign-born workers, protects the vulnerable, and addresses the root causes of migration.

Before concluding his reflection, the bishop affirmed: Whether Afghan, Ukrainian, or Venezuelan, Dreamer or undocumented farmworker, asylum seeker, migrant, or refugee, all are imbued by God with an inviolable dignity.

Bishop Dorsonvilles full reflection, Migration and the Judgement of the Nations, is available here.

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Media Contact:Chieko Noguchi202-541-3200

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U.S. Bishops' Migration Chairman Calls for Immigration Reform that Recognizes the 'Inviolable Dignity' of All Newcomers - USCCB

A solid majority of Americans believe that the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border is a crisis.Some of them, to be sure, decry family separation and violations of the rights of asylum seekers, while others emphasize threats to national security.

That said, many Americans are drawing the wrong conclusions from the crisis. Stigmatizing individuals and families who enter the country legally as well as illegally and denying or downplaying the contributions of undocumented people who have lived and worked here for decades, they do not recognize that increased immigration is essential to addressing inflation and the great and growing labor shortage in the United States.

Drawing on xenophobia, which is deeply embedded in American political culture, and espoused most fervently by white Christian nationalists, Donald Trump has framed the issue of immigration for his MAGA base. He has used the terms invasion, criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists, hundreds of times.As he announced his candidacy for president in 2015, Trump declared that Mexico is not sending their best. In July 2016, he maintained, without evidence, that decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens. In 2018, Trump said When somebody comes in, we must immediately, without judges or court cases, bring them back from where they came. And, of course, building a wall became the Trump administrations actual and metaphorical solution to Americas problems.

Not surprisingly, then, a majority of Americans see the surge of migrants as an invasion, and 24 percent(39 percent of Republicans) believe, incorrectly, that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes than individuals born in the United States; 38 percent (56 percent of Republicans) believe that immigrants are more likely to use public assistance, and 39 percent (60 percent of Republicans) blame immigrants for smuggling most of the fentanyl into the United States.

Although more than two-thirds of Americans say that legal immigration is a benefit to the country, 31 percent (42 percent of Republicans) claim it is a national problem; 38 percent (two-thirds of Republicans) want to decrease the number of immigrants permitted to enter the country; 79 percent of Republicans think its important to deport a large number of the immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. More than half of Republicans agree that native-born Americans are being systematically replaced by immigrants.

While they blame the Biden administration for the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border that President Trumps draconian policies did not solve, Congressional Republicans continue to oppose employment-based as well as comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

Xenophobes are drowning out supporters of immigrants from around the world, including asylum seekers, who have been trapped in a Kafkaesque bureaucratic logjam, exacerbated by Trump administration caps on refugees, reductions in temporary employment visas, and cuts in programs and personnel at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

And nativists have made it more difficult to consider compelling evidence that adding immigrants to the labor force will produce a stronger and more competitive American economy.

Between 2010 and 2020, labor economists point out, population growth was the second lowest in U.S. history. In about 12 years, adults 65 or older will outnumber children under 18 for the first time. For every person on Social Security, there will be 2.1 workers paying into a system that needs 2.8 to remain solvent.

This July, employers advertised 11.2 million jobs, but only 5.7 million workers sought employment, the biggest gap in American history.To reduce inflation, the gap should be less than 2.5 million.

COVID-related withdrawals from full-time jobs, most pronounced among seniors, and a dramatic reduction in annual immigration, which by 2021 was one-quarter of what it had been in 2016, have deprived the labor market of about 1.6 million workers.

Legal immigrants constitute 17 percent of the civilian labor force. Including the 7.6 million illegals, immigrants fill a large proportion of so-called unskilled jobs in agriculture, hotels, restaurants, gardening, housekeeping, and health care that are shunned by many native-born workers. Contrary to the stereotype, immigrants are also well represented in computer science, mathematics, and an array of STEM fields, where job openings now outnumber qualified applicants by about 3 million.

Congress should address the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border and the status of the 11 million illegal immigrants who live in this country. But inflammatory rhetoric and partisan stunts are not constructive.

Nor should we allow xenophobia to trump a fundamental tenet of the American Creed, represented by the lady with the lamp who resides near Ellis Island, that welcomes immigrants who can help ensure a more prosperous future for themselves and their fellow Americans.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author (with Stuart Blumin) of Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.

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The immigration crisis isnt what you think it is - The Hill

U.S. Rep. William "Bill" Keating, a Democrat from Bourne, will face Republican challenger Jesse Brown, of Plymouth, this November, as the congressman tries for a seventh term representing the Cape and Islands in Congress.

The 9th District includes 46 municipalities that stretch from Norwell to New Bedford and encompasses Cape Cod and the Islands.

More: State election is coming up. Everything you need about voting this fall

Elected for two-year terms, representatives serve within the U.S. House of Representatives that creates federal laws. They typically introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendmentsand serve on committees.

The general election is Nov. 8.

The Cape Cod Times asked both candidates about their stance onimmigration, abortionand healthcare.

Brown pointed to the opioid crisis when asked how the lack of immigration reform has hurt Cape Cod and the Islands. Opioid deaths have risen 9% in Massachusetts, he said.

"Itallows the drugs to flow over that southwest border where the majority of the Fentanyl and heroin comes from," he said.

Brown called himself a strong supporter of securing the southern border, saying "they're undermanned" and need more funding to provide more personnel patrolling the border.

A broken immigration system leaves Cape and Islands' restaurants, hotelsand other businesses without adequate staffing, Keating said, noting hospitality is the region's leading industry.

More: Brown faces Keating in congressional race this November. What to expect

We need workers. Everywhere Ive gone in our region, its always in the top-three topics of discussion: We dont have workers, he said. We had to fight tooth and nail it shouldnt be a partisan issue, but it has been with H2B and J1 workers, making sure they are there for the season.

The House passed a bill that would create a path to permanent status for DACA recipients and other undocumented immigrants, such as young people who came to the U.S. as children after 2007, Keating said, but the Senate has yet to act on it.

On both sides, there are people who will not be satisfied, but we can forge common sense changes that improve the system and allow for a quicker legal immigration system to work and make sure at the border were processing people faster, dealing with issues and making sure its more secure. We can do these things together, Keating said.

As a congressman, Keating said he voted in support of a bill protecting abortion rights in July, but noted the Senate did not move to act on the bill. The move followed the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in late June.

The watershed Dobbs v.Jackson Women's Health Organizationdecision overturned Roe v. Wade and eraseda reproductive right the high court established nearly five decades ago.

"People believe that those choices have to remain with a woman and her doctor," Keating said.

He also pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion, which said the Supreme Court "should reconsider" past rulings that codified rights to contraception, same-sex relationshipsand same-sex marriage.

What to know: Candidates to represent Cape & Islands in Congress answer questions

"This is something where not only is the government in the doctor's office they're in the bedroom, too, with this decision," Keating said.

Brown said the overturning of Roe v. Wade brought the power back to the states and "it's completed."

"I mean, that's in a completely different branch of government that I'm going to be in. What I've always said is Keating, my opponent, has been in that office long enough," Brown said. "There was always a chance that the Supreme Court could have overturned it and maybe he should have been working on that, so we wouldn't be in this situation."

Brown said he would not back a federal ban on abortion.

"One of my platforms is bringing the power back to the states," Brown said. "There's a lot of things that we need to bring power back to the states and power back to the people, not at the federal level."

Keating touted his support of the Inflation Reduction Act, which will allow for competitive pricing into Medicare and caps out-of-pocket expenses for individuals in Medicare to $2,000 a year.

These were budget busters for families and individuals highest inflationary factor in healthcare, Keating said.

Brown said he would like to see all Americans gain from the Veteran Administrations ability to negotiate lower prices for drugs.

More: Midterm election: Candidate profiles, voter information and more.

"We need to do that at a level that everybody in America can benefit from," Brown said.

He said he did not support the Inflation Reduction Act, saying his opposition stems from additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service.

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

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Congressional race: Brown, Keating on immigration, abortion, healthcare - Cape Cod Times

Increased input costs for farmers and rising grocery prices for consumers are just some of the consequences of recent turns in the global commodity markets and rising costs of food processing, transportation and labor.

The Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Kansas City hosted a virtual forum on Oct. 7 to highlight ag and food inflation and the financial implications that come from it. The event was also meant as an opportunity to hear from industry leaders in the Midwest about how inflationary pressures are affecting supply chains.

Agriculture is more than just an economic driver for the seven-state region covered by the Kansas City Fed, as well as the Midwest states covered by the Ninth District Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said Nathan Kauffman an economist and vice president of the Kansas City Fed, whose role is to lead banking efforts in regards to research and outreach in agriculture.

The industry also serves as an important foundation to our nation's food supply, said Kauffman.

With farm production costs estimated to be about 25% higher this year than they were in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and fertilizer costs anticipated to be on average about 50% higher than they were the last year what's causing the surge?

Kauffman said it's a combination of both supply and demand, but there are other factors such as labor shortages and transportation disruptions that have been key drivers of rising costs, he said.

Rising costs and the implications

Kaufmann explained how prices of agricultural products remained low and stable in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices increased less than a percent from 2016-20, according to USDA data. But with the pandemic came a surge by more than 50% in the last year and a half, he said.

However, the increase in prices across the board has led to a dramatic rebound in the U.S. agricultural economy, said Kauffman, with farm income expected to be one of the highest on record this year.

Supported by higher prices and increased profits, the value of farm real estate throughout the Midwest, just as one example, is more than 25% higher than before the pandemic, he said.

Economic conditions before the pandemic were leading to what Kauffman called gradual increases in financial stress in the ag industry. Many financial institutions are now reporting a sharp turnaround in the strength of their lending portfolios.

It is important to recognize that the U.S. farm economy is in a much stronger position than what it was before the pandemic, when there had been growing concerns about the industry's financial health, he said.

Consumers are feeling inflationary pressure on their grocery budgets, and the same factors driving up agricultural prices have also influenced the price customers pay for food.

Similar to production costs, from 2010 to 2020 food prices increased on average of nearly 2% per year, said Kauffman. Currently, food prices are more than 10% higher than a year ago, and have continued to rise in recent months.

A surge in commodity prices is only partly to blame for that, he said.

Less than 10% of the cost of food is determined by the cost of farm production, said Kauffman.

Costs associated with things like packaging, transportation and energy account for 10%, he explained, while processing accounts for about 17%, and wholesale and retail distribution costs comprise about 26%. Food service accounts for just shy of 30% of the total cost of food, according to Kauffman.

So while agricultural commodity prices are linked to food prices, especially on a global scale and perhaps for some food products in particular changes in ag prices have only a limited effect on the prices consumers pay for food, said Kaufmann.

Even once production costs begin to ease, Kauffman said that food prices may not decrease as quickly.

Given the importance of other factors that also affect the cost of food, he said.

Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land OLakes, shared how inflationary pressures impact the supply chain of the Fortune 200 food production company that is also a 100-year-old farmer-owned cooperative.

We see the whole value chain, from processing, farm level, all the way until retail, said Ford.

Ford urged Congress to move ahead with immigration reform during the Oct. 7 forum, which she said could relieve some of the labor problems putting the squeeze on the cooperative and industry as a whole. She said that labor is the biggest concern for Land O Lakes members and is the issue she hears most about from them.

Ford called on the U.S. Senate to take immediate action to finish work on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Do it this season, she said of the window before midterm elections, after which any reform legislation would have to start over.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act which would allow some annual permanent visas for agricultural guest workers and would make farm workers now in the country illegally able to be here legally was passed by the House in March 2021 but the bill and negotiations have stalled in the Senate.

We're a couple million workers short, so what will it take? said Ford.

She said what holds up immigration reform is a larger debate around border security, but the focus should instead be on U.S. farmers and ag workers.

I look at it obviously right at the farm level, for labor, and it has been a mainstay of our economy and economic growth, said Ford of U.S. labor You recognize the number of acres that don't get planted or harvested because there is no labor. We have a global food supply challenge, and we need to move past this and get to a pragmatic solution.

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Navigating ag and food inflation includes calls for immigration reform, speakers at Fed presentation say - Agweek

Keren Carrin / KERA News

Hispanics are now the largest ethnic demographic in Texas, comprising some 40 percent of the population. And candidates vying for seats in November have noticed.

Republicans have invested heavily in courting Latino voters. The Republican National Committee created several so-called Hispanic Community Centers across the state, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke recently visited the Rio Grande Valley with civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

But what do Latino voters want?

The Texas Newsroom a collaboration between NPR and public radio stations across Texas wants to find out. Reporters from across the state have been asking Latino voters what they hope candidates know about them and their community, along with what they think elected officials should prioritize. Reporters have spoken to people at Astros games in Houston, the Barbacoa and Big Red Festival in San Antonio, and the gubernatorial debate in the Valley. Those interviews have been featured in stories around the state, and we'll continue to roll them out ahead of Election Day.

What voters have told us so far.

Like other voting blocs, Latinos in Texas are not single-issue voters. While campaigns often focus on immigration, especially on the state's southern border, it's not the only issue at the forefront of some voters' minds. Recent polling from the Pew Research Center shows that immigration is one of the key issues for Latinos but so are education, gun control, reproductive rights and the economy.

On a recent afternoon visiting the Bishops Arts District in Dallas, Vicente Reynoso and his partner Ofelia Gonzalez said gun rights, housing and immigration reform top their list of concerns heading into the November elections.

Gonzalez said it's time Texans stop embracing the attitude that nothing can be done on gun reform.

"It's not an excuse anymore to just be like, Oh, we can't do anything about it' or for us to be like Texas is Texas. We're going to keep on being us," she said. "We got to get it under control. I just think it's pretty ridiculous the way we're going about things right now."

Reynoso, who described himself as a centrist gun owner who supports the Second Amendment, thinks lawmakers search for an easy fix instead of addressing gun reform proposals

"There needs to be common sense gun laws. There is no reason I should be able to walk in (to a store) at 18, wait 15 minutes for a background check and walk out that same day with a firearm (and) unlimited amounts of ammo," he said. "I think we keep trying to put band-aids on these very deep issues that we just keep painting over and painting over every few years. I think we need to get to the root of these causes."

On immigration, Reynoso said he'd like candidates to go beyond the broad argument for immigration reform with realistic policy solutions.

"They never really make it clear exactly what they're going to do, they just say immigration reform," he said. "Give a clear plan, don't just throw it in peoples' faces and expect us to eat it up because it happens every four years."

Gonzalez added that she'd like to see fewer people priced out of their current housing due to increasing costs.

"The amount of people that are being left without places to live because of the skyrocketing rent, people that have been in their apartments forever that now can't afford to live where they have always lived," she said. "I don't know what can be done about that necessarily, but I just think it's gotten out of control."

For Patricia Mares, 44, a project manager from Spring, Texas, reproductive rights and school safety top her list of priorities.

"We need to be talking about the safety of our kids in schools, and I think we need to be talking about equal rights for women," she said.

Mares said there is a long list of issues to choose from but she has school-aged children and believes in a woman's right to choose. She'd also like candidates to be honest about their plans instead of offering quick fixes that don't necessarily address an issue.

"We need to focus on, how do we fix things at their core, versus maybe telling people what they want to hear," she said.

Camila Turrubiartes said her stance on abortion solidifies her support for Gov. Greg Abbott. Turrubiartes is originally from Mexico but has been in the United States for 30 years, she said. The Texas Newsroom spoke to her at Dallas' Plaza Latina.

"I am pro-life, and I am in favor of abolishing abortion completely. Right now I support Gov. Greg Abbott and in reality I think he's doing a good job," she said in Spanish.

Turrubiartes said Texas is right to secure its border.

"We are all welcome, but also if President Biden is the one creating all this then there should be a little more help for Texas. Abbott can't do everything," she said.

Turrubiartes aligns with moderates and with Democrats on guns.

"There are a lot of guns, and I am against guns. In reality, there are a lot of assaults" occurring, she said.

For Anjel Perez, who spoke to the Texas Newsroom at Plaza Latina, the state's power grid is on the top of his list of important issues. In 2021 more than 200 people died during a days-long storm that crippled the state's ability to supply most of Texas with heat and electricity. Democrat Beto O'Rourke has made the issue a hallmark of his campaign, and voters like Perez agree more needs to be done.

"There were a bunch of deaths that could have been avoided if our power grid had been better," he said. "A bunch of people died because of the cold, and others died because they had their generators inside and they died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Little kids died, and it is just horrible to see."

Perez also thinks immigration is a key issue, but he isn't worried about border security. He said instead that the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who are fleeing violence or oppression in their home countries need more resources once they get to the United States.

"They are just here waiting and they are not getting their (needs met). These immigrants, they come here seeking asylum, but they don't get fair representation," he said.

What do you want candidates to consider between now and Election Day? Let us know! Click here to tell us what you would like elected officials to now.

Sergio Martnez-Beltrn and Andrew Schneider contributed reporting to this story.

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Everybody wants the Latino vote in Texas. But what do Latino voters want? - Houston Public Media