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and family-owned businesses, should be able to provide health care without
compromising their moral or religious convictions, and individuals should
be able to purchase health care that accords with their faith. The USCCB
supports measures to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid. Our conference also
advocates effective, compassionate care that reflects Catholic moral values for
those suffering from HIV/AIDS and those coping with addictions.
Migration
81. The Gospel mandate to “welcome the stranger” requires Catholics to
care for and stand with
newcomers
, authorized and unauthorized, includ-
ing unaccompanied immigrant children, refugees and asylum-seekers, those
unnecessarily detained, and victims of human trafficking. Comprehensive
reform is urgently necessary to fix a broken immigration system and should
include a broad and fair legalization program with a path to citizenship; a
work program with worker protections and just wages; family reunification
policies; access to legal protections, which include due process procedures;
refuge for those fleeing persecution and violence; and policies to address the
root causes of migration. The right and responsibility of nations to con-
trol their borders and to maintain the rule of law should be recognized but
pursued in a just and humane manner. The detention of immigrants should
be used to protect public safety and not for purposes of deterrence or pun-
ishment; alternatives to detention, including community-based programs,
should be emphasized.
As Pope Francis has said, human trafficking is a “crime against humanity”
(Address, Dec. 12, 2013, and April 10, 2014) and should be eradicated from
the earth. Trafficking victims, most especially children, should receive care
and protection, including special consideration for permanent legal status.
Additional education and mobilization efforts are needed to address the root
causes of human trafficking—poverty, conflict, and the breakdown of judicial
process in source countries.
Catholic Education
82. Parents—the first and most important educators—have a fundamental
right to choose the education
best suited to the needs of their children,
including public, private, and religious schools. Government, through such
means as tax credits and publicly funded scholarships, should help provide
resources for parents, especially those of modest means, to exercise this basic
right without discrimination. Students in all educational settings should have