Immigration should be enforced in a proportional and humane manner.

We should embrace our immigrant roots and recognize that newcomers to our land are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution.

Canon law itself says for one case of guilt, a priest can be dismissed from the clerical state. One.

It is unacceptable that immigrants, including children, are shackled and detained in deplorable conditions. And it is unacceptable that already this year immigrants have died by the dozens in the California desert or in other parts of the Southwest.

I personally believe, as church law sets out, that sanctions are an absolute last resort, particularly penal sanctions of depriving people of the sacraments.

Most analysts would agree that if all the undocumented immigrants in California were deported in one day, our state would experience a severe economic downturn. This does not even consider the many cultural and spiritual gifts these immigrants bring to our state and nation.

It's hard to determine where lies culpability.