When Is Charity a Criminal Act?
The Catholic bishops of the United States, together with Lutheran and Presbyterian leaders (ELC, LIRS, and PC-USA) expressed their concerns about Arizona’s immigration law in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. They assert that some state laws could make it a criminal act to do things that these churches believe they are required to do. They say that their religious faith requires them to offer charity to all in need -- whether they are in the country legally or not.
Excerpt:
The Catholic Church’s religious faith, like that of many religious denominations including those who join the Conference in this brief, requires it to offer charity—ranging from soup kitchens to homeless shelters—to all in need, whether they are present in this country legally or not. Yet S.B. 1070 and related state immigration laws have provisions that could either criminalize this charity, criminalize those who provide or even permit it, or require the institutions that provide it to engage in costly (if not impossible) monitoring of the individuals they serve, and then to exclude from that charity all those whose presence Arizona and other states would criminalize. This in itself, as well as the proliferation of fifty different laws of this kind, would unnecessarily intrude on the Church’s religious liberty.
Link to full text:
http://www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/state-of-arizona-v-united-states-of-america.pdf
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