My unofficial translation of a document on the child migrant status. I made this hasty translation since I could not find a translation in English.
Mexico City, July 10 2014
CEM B. 142 / 2014
JOINT DECLARATION OF THE BISHOPS OF
THE UNITED STATES, MEXICO, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, AND HONDURAS ON THE CRISIS
OF CHILD MIGRANTS
Profoundly moved by the
suffering of thousands of children and adolescents who have migrated from
Central America and Mexico to the United States and who now find themselves
waiting to be deported, we, the bishops of the United States, Mexico, El
Salvador, and Honduras, moved by the love of Christ, let all of them and their
families know of our prayer, solidarity, and commitment.
These children left
their countries pushed by the misery, the violence, or the desire to be
reunited with their parents or family members who have migrated and, after
confronting every type of deprivation and danger, now are living a terrible
humanitarian crisis. This dramatic situation affects all of us and makes us
commit ourselves to “globalize solidarity,” recognizing, respecting, promoting
and defending the life, dignity, and rights of every person, independent of
their condition as migrants.
In this sense we look
hopefully on the Extraordinary
Declaration of Managua, in which the member countries of the Regional
Conference on Migration – Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the Untied
States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican
Republic – have recognized their regional co-responsibility and have committed
themselves to implement comprehensive and articulated measures to guarantee the
better interests of the child and adolescent, as well as family unity; to disseminate
precise information in regard to the “dangers of the voyage: and the non-existence
of “permit” for those who arrive in the United States; to struggle against the
organized criminal groups of illegal trafficking and trafficking of persons;
and to improve migration practices.
An important aspect of
the Declaration is the joint
commitment to eradicate the structural causes which provoke the irregular
migration of underage children, creating programs of social and economic
development in the communities of origin, as well as programs of reinsertion
and reintegration for those who return. Also, they recognize that these child
and adolescent migrants could obtain the status of refugees or a like
[complimentary] protection.
In this tenor, it is
positive that Mexico has implemented the Coordination for Comprehensive
Attention to Migration in the Southern Border and the creation of Centers of
Comprehensive Attention to Border Movement in order to facilitate the secure
admission of persons and goods, and to avoid the problems that have come to be
because of the migration disorder in the zone.
The Catholic Church,
which has for many years been advocating with the governmental authorities of
the US, Mexico, and Central America on behalf of migrants, will continue this
labor. It will also continue working in human promotion, especially of the
children, families, and the poorest, to restore the social fabric and offer
welcome, attention, and services to migrants in the numerous centers created
for them. The Church expresses its willingness to collaborate in order to make
real the agreements of the Declaration of
Managua, convinced that a policy of dissuasion without national and
international guarantees is ineffective and inhumane.
Therefore,
we support the request that Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, has formulated
to the Migration Committee of the US House of Representatives to issue a
declaration of a humanitarian crisis
to give a comprehensive response to
the problem, which create public policies which provide basic services and
protection to migrants, examining the roots of the exodus of migrants,
assigning federal resources to invest in the countries from which these
migrants come in order to avoid the need to migrate, and providing programs of
family reunification for migrants.
We bishops, your
servants, reiterate the urgency of respecting the human dignity of the
undocumented migrants; of strengthening governmental institutions so that they
may be authentically democratic, participative, and at the service of the
people; of combatting firmly the reprehensible
activity of criminal groups and of organized crime whose inhuman action we
strongly condemn; of guaranteeing the security of citizens; and of investing in
Central America. In this sense, we call
upon business owners, especially Catholics, to investing and contribute to the
promotion of justice and equity. We urge parents to not put their children in
danger of undertaking the dangerous journey to Mexico and the United Sates. And
we ask society in general to assume the role which it has in this sorrowful
problem.
In the face of the
humanitarian drama which we are suffering, we ought to listen to Pope Francis
who with a profound realism has warned: “Today in many places there is a cry
for greater security. But until the exclusion and inequality within a society
and between different peoples is not changed, it will be impossible to
eradicate violence… It is evil crystalized in unjust social structures,
starting from which a better future cannot be hoped for… Inequality is the root
of social ills.”
Imploring the
intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, we ask our
Lord Jesus Christ to protect our children and their families in this difficult
moment and to give all of us the wisdom to find workable solutions, and the
boldness and strength to act accordingly.
+Óscar A. Cardenal Rodríguez Maradiaga,S.D.B.
Archbishop of Tegucigalpa
President of the Honduran Bishops Conference
+J. Francisco Cardenal Robles Ortega
Archbishop of
Guadalajara
President of the Mexican Bishops Conference
+Romeo Tovar Astorga
Bishop of Santa Ana
General Secretary of the El Salvadoran Bishops Conference
+Eugenio Lira Rugarcía
Auxiliary Bishop of Puebla
Secretary General of the Mexican Bishops Conference
+ Domingo Buezo Leiva
Bishop Vicar of Izabal
Secretary General of the Guatemalan Bishops Conference
+ Eusebio Elizondo
Bishop of Seattle
President of the Committee on Migration and Refugees of the
US Conference of Catholic Bishops
+ Guillermo Ortíz Mondragón
Bishop of Cuautitlán
President of the Pastoral Section of the Ministry of Human
Mobility of the Mexican Bishops Conference
Original in Spanish here.
The original can also be found on the web page of the Conferencia del Episcopado Méxicano here.
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