Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran Jr. says his Catholic faith “carries over into everything that I do.” This was the case recently when his faith and the teaching of the U.S. bishops on immigration reform changed how he viewed this contentious issue.

Curran, who is a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish, Libertyville, shared his recent change of heart in an e-mail interview with Editor Joyce Duriga.

Catholic New World: What role does your faith play in your position as Sheriff?

Sheriff Mark Curran: I am Catholic and the hope is that this carries over into everything that I do in my life. I try not to compartmentalize my life and hence I try to do all things for the glory of God.

I am Catholic as a husband, father, friend, neighbor and sheriff. Everything I have belongs to God and when I remember that principle I am able to be a less self-consumed sheriff. A sheriff that is not putting himself first is better for the department and the citizens that I serve.

CNW: You’ve mentioned that immigration is a big issue for Lake County. At one time you questioned the U.S. bishops’ position on immigration reform. What part of this teaching did you find initially challenging?

Curran: The Lake County Jail is comprised of about 800 inmates and approximately 20 percent of those inmates are illegal immigrants. I think it is important to use the term “illegal” because it is accurate. The people that are here illegally came here illegally or stayed illegally.

I have dealt with the frustration of the more than 700,000 people in Lake County that have been victimized by illegal immigrants and I have done everything that I am able to do to enforce the law including deporting any illegal immigrants that have committed crimes and that the federal government is willing to deport. I have a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States and I will not violate my oath.

I was distressed when I heard the media clips that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was quoted as saying that we needed to work towards amnesty for the illegal immigrants that are already here.

I reacted to these news reports like a spoiled child that did not want to hear anything that was going to call into question his simple black-and-white understanding of the “illegal immigration problem.”

I had never publicly said anything one way or the other regarding a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, however, I believed that our nation had other issues to deal with as did the church.

CNW: How has Catholic teaching impacted your current views on immigration?

Curran: I am impacted by everything the church teaches from the sacraments to the sanctity of human life to social justice. I spent a voluntary week in the Lake County Jail as an elected sheriff. I did this to spotlight the question “Who is our neighbor?”

It is estimated that one in 15 Americans will be incarcerated at some point in their lives yet our criminal justice system allows for little in the way of redemption. The Catholic teachings on immigration lead me to look deeper into the situation of “Who is my neighbor?”

Catholic history leads me to the conclusion that the vast majority of bishops were appointed by two wonderful Holy Fathers, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and that the appointees of these men deserve my prayers, respect and consideration.

Would the Holy Spirit guide me and not the chosen leaders of John Paul II and Benedict XVI? I was quite prideful.

Feeling curious I went to the USCCB Web site (www.usccb.org) and read all of the documents on immigration reform. I did not agree with everything, however, I could clearly see that the USCCB positions were based on Sacred Scripture and pragmatism for the national security of this nation. I was humbled because I did not expect to see the logic in their positions.

CNW: Why should we as Catholics be concerned about immigration reform? How would reform of our present system benefit society?

Curran: Catholics should be concerned when the rights of any individual are violated not to mention our closest neighbor in a country that is significantly more Catholic than our own.

In criminal justice we assign blame to those most responsible for the situation or crime. Who is to blame for all of these illegal immigrants? We have had wide open borders for years yet we make it very difficult for people to come to this country legally. We have employers that hire illegal immigrants with false identification or pay them on a cash basis.

We have numerous cities that have declared themselves to be sanctuary cities where the local law enforcement will not cooperate with the federal government in enforcing existing immigration laws.

We have states, like Illinois, that refuse to enforce E-Verify and federal identification requirements. We deport virtually nobody on the basis of status alone and there is virtually no support to do so.

We have a broken immigration system where we have told the illegal immigrant with a wink and a nod that they can come across the border without documents and that we will allow them to provide for their families.

I am on the Homeland Security Committee for the National Sheriffs’ Association thanks to an appointment by my friend John Zaruba, DuPage County Sheriff, and in that role it has become crystal clear to me that our national security will be sacrificed by the absence of immigration reform.

We need to find out who is in this country immediately. A pathway to citizenship provides an incentive for people to come out of hiding and be accounted for. We will never be able to resurrect a rule of law unless we begin to move beyond the mistakes of our failed immigration policies of the past and allow the people that are here illegally, but have not committed any other crime than providing for their families, a pathway to citizenship.

The reforms to insure that we do not have a repeat of the Ronald Reagan 1986 Amnesty Bill are more than possible and hence we need to move on immigration reform as a nation now. We must not be so fearful of the critics that we take the easy way out and do nothing.

If we do nothing it will only insure continued lawlessness and the demise of America as a nation. Hence, it is with humility that I recognize the USCCB for having the fortitude to push for the much needed reform to an immigration system that is broken and yet they did nothing to break it.

To learn more about the U.S. bishops Justice for Immigrants Campaign and immigration reform, visit www.justiceforimmigrants.org.