Washington Times
By Stephen Dinan
September 24, 2015
Pope
Francis is more than head of the Catholic Church — he’s also the head
of state of the Vatican, which as a government has possibly the most
restrictive immigration
and citizenship policies of any nation in the world.
The
pope, traveling to the U.S. for the first time, has made a special
appeal to Americans to welcome immigrants, using his address to a joint
meeting of Congress Thursday
to invoke the Golden Rule in demanding generosity toward the millions
of Central and South Americans seeking to come to the country.
“Thousands
of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for
themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities.
Is this not what
we want for our own children?” he said. “We need to avoid a common
temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us
remember the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you.’”
Immigrant rights groups had eagerly anticipated the pope’s message, as had illegal immigrants themselves.
Sophie
Cruz, a five-year-old U.S. citizen whose parents are illegal immigrants
from Mexico, broke through the tight security around the pope during a
parade on the National
Mall on Wednesday to hand him a letter begging him to pressure Congress
and the White House to take steps to grant her parents legal status.
The
pontiff didn’t mention illegal immigration during his speech Thursday,
but did refer to the large numbers of people coming from Latin America.
Advocacy groups cheered
his words, saying his call for unity and acceptance should temper some
of the harsh rhetoric that’s flared recently.
“At
this moment, with many political candidates and elected officials
fanning the flames of intolerance and divisiveness, let us hope that our
leaders take the Holy Father’s
powerful message to heart,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of
America’s Voice.
But lawmakers doubted his words would break the legislative stalemate in Congress.
Sen.
Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said he took the pope’s call for compassion
to be a celebration of legal immigration — and said he welcomed that.
Rep. Michael Burgess, Texas Republican, said the U.S. is already doing its part to heed calls for compassion.
“The
thing that always strikes me when we get into these discussions is the
United States takes in more people every year legally than the rest of
the world combined,”
he said. “You start from that premise — it was 1.7 million last year,
you want to add another 400,000 to 600,000 that came in without the
benefit of doing it the right way. What is the right number? If over 2
million is not enough, would someone please tell
me what that right number is, and would other countries act
accordingly.”
The
Vatican, for its part, welcomes millions of visitors a year — but
allows only a very select few, who meet strict criteria, to be admitted
as residents or citizens.
Only
about 450 of its 800 or so residents actually hold citizenship,
according to a 2012 study by the Library of Congress. That study said
citizens are either church cardinals
who reside in the Vatican, the Holy See’s diplomats around the world,
and those who have to reside in the city because of their jobs, such as
the Swiss Guard.
Spouses
and children who live in the city because of their relationship with
citizens — including the Swiss Guard and workers such as the gardener —
have also been granted citizenship. But that means few of the Vatican’s citizens are women.
A Vatican spokesman did not return an email seeking comment on its policy.
The
strict policy has left the Vatican open to criticism in the past,
including from right-wing political leaders in Italy who want tighter
immigration controls in their
country and have rebuffed the papacy’s calls for leniency by asking how
many refugees live in the enclave.
Pope
Francis, however, has taken some steps to mitigate those attacks,
matching his call earlier this month for churches to host Syrian
refugees with a vow that the Vatican
itself would take in a couple of refugee families.
Last
week the Vatican government announced it had accepted a mother, father
and two children who are Melkite Greek Catholics, and who have asked for
asylum in Italy.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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