What are the five principles of 'Strangers No Longer' and how do they translate into policy recommendations?
Executive summary
The joint 2003 pastoral letter Strangers No Longer sets out five guiding principles on migration—rights to remain and to migrate, state sovereignty over borders, protection for refugees, and respect for the dignity of undocumented persons—and ties each to concrete policy prescriptions such as foreign aid, expanded legal pathways, humane enforcement, and legalization programs immigration-citizens-strangers/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[1] [2]. Catholic advocacy groups have translated those principles into an ongoing political strategy—lobbying for legislative reform, organizing parish-based legal assistance, and running public campaigns—while critics warn the principles can be read in competing ways that prioritize different goods like national sovereignty or social solidarity [3] [4] [1].
1. Right to find opportunities at home — translate poverty prevention into foreign-policy and development aid
The bishops assert that people have a right to find opportunities in their homelands, a principle the pastoral letter links directly to development and foreign-aid policy: donors and governments should invest in economic development, fair trade, and anti-poverty measures aimed at reducing forced migration pressures [1] [2]. Policy translations include targeted foreign assistance, bilateral labor agreements that build local capacity rather than siphon skilled workers, and trade policies that avoid creating economic dislocation—recommendations the bishops and allied groups frame as upstream remedies to migration rather than substitutes for humane border policies [2] [3].
2. Right to migrate to support family — expand legal channels and family reunification
Recognizing a moral right to migrate to support oneself and one’s family, the document recommends enlarging family- and employment-based immigration channels and designing legalization pathways for long-settled migrants [1] [5]. Practically this produces policy proposals for amnesty or phased legalization programs for those with sustained residence, easing backlogs for family visas, and creating seasonal or contract-worker programs tied to labor-market needs—mechanisms promoted by Catholic networks to reduce irregular migration and integrate workers into formal protections [1] [3].
3. Right of nations to control borders — balanced by obligations to human dignity
The bishops affirm that sovereign nations may secure borders, but explicitly reject policies that preserve economic inequality or sacrifice human dignity, urging control measures that are effective yet humane [1] [6]. Policy implications are a call for comprehensive reform marrying border management with due process: smarter enforcement that targets criminals rather than broad sweeps, investment in humane border infrastructure, and coordination to disrupt smuggling while protecting vulnerable migrants—an attempt to reconcile state prerogatives with Catholic social teaching [2] [7].
4. Protection for refugees and asylum seekers — strengthen asylum access and due process
Strangers No Longer insists refugees and asylum-seekers receive protection and procedural safeguards, translating into recommendations to expand asylum capacity, guarantee access to fair hearings, and remove administrative barriers to protection [1] [7]. The bishops call for ready access to asylum procedures and improved due-process rights, which in policy terms means funding legal representation, increasing adjudication capacity, and restraining summary expulsions—measures echoed by Catholic advocacy groups pressing Congress and administrations for humane protocols [2] [3].
5. Human dignity of undocumented migrants — humane enforcement, labor rights, and international commitments
Finally, the letter demands that undocumented migrants’ human dignity be respected, urging humane enforcement, labor-rights protections, and endorsement of international norms such as the UN migrant-workers convention; policy translations include signing relevant treaties, protecting workplace rights, ending abusive enforcement tactics, and creating legalization pathways that recognize family and community ties [2] [7]. Catholic campaigns have operationalized this through parish “circles of support,” legal aid networks, and lobbying for comprehensive reform, though critics note the Church’s advocacy also functions as a political mobilization that may prioritize particular moral readings of immigration over competing civic concerns [4] [3] [1].