By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (HR 1) passed in the House and is now in the Senate.  The senators have a chance to reshape or alter some of the provisions of the bill before moving it forward. 

Doing so is imperative because in the bill passed by the House there are real and substantial harms to the promotion of the common good and the protection of human life and dignity.

Many, of course, on both sides of the aisle, object that the bill ultimately increases spending and adds to our unsustainable national debt.  Doubling down on an unsustainable, enforcement-only approach to immigration needlessly adds to this debt. 

This sweeping piece of legislation would allocate 24 billion for immigration enforcement efforts, 45 billion for detention, including family detention.  This is a 400% increase compared to the current funding level.  Another 100 million would be allocated to facilitate the expedited removal of unaccompanied children. 

Additionally, the bill would impose prohibitive fees on families seeking to reunite with their unaccompanied child ($8,500), a $1,000 fee to request asylum, $550 to apply for a work permit (renewable every six months), etc.  Such draconian measures are against the common good.

The administration has effectively achieved control of the border.  And it is aggressively moving to remove and deport “bad actors”, those who have entered the country and committed serious felonies.  But, as employers in the agricultural or services sectors of our economy could tell you, most of the immigrants are hardworking and honest and only want to build a future of hope for themselves and their families. 

The majority, while not having permanent legal status, do enjoy some type of status such as TPS (temporary protective status), a parole or an asylum application. Some (Haitians, Cuban, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans came with special humanitarian visas good for two years – but conditions in their countries of origin have yet to improve. Others came legally as students, or visitors, and fell out of status.  The DREAMERS were brought by their parents and, while the government has afforded them “deferred departure”, they have no path to legal permanent residence.

Rather than spend billions to deport these people who are already contributing positively to our nation’s well-being, it would be more reasonable financially and more morally acceptable for Congress to legislate a halt to “enforcement-only” policies and expand legal pathways for non-criminal migrants to adjust to a permanent legal status. 

The US is facing labor shortages in many industries, including health-care, service, and agriculture.  Removing immigrant workers will only exacerbate these shortages.

The administration is charged with enforcing the laws, but Congress makes the laws and can change them.

Congress could make this “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” less expensive, more advantageous economically, and beneficial to the entire community by REMOVING the increased spending on the enforcement-only approach to immigration and moving the bill forward with a STAY on deportations of non-criminal immigrants.

Otherwise, a mass deportation campaign, which this legislation funds, will prove detrimental to the future of our nation, as long-term residents with US-citizen children who work hard and contribute to our economy and culture will be removed.  This does not serve the long-term interests and the values of our country.