Cardinal Timothy Dolan offered an alternative perspective on immigration in the United States, looking to opportunities for unity rather than division on one of today’s most hotly debated political topics.

“Our national conversation about this important and sensitive issue could actually be a boost to the unity and cooperation we urgently need,” Cardinal Dolan wrote Thursday in an op-ed for the Daily News.

Immigration reform was clearly an important issue in the United States’ most recent presidential election in November 2024, he wrote, and for that reform to be effective, it needs widespread, bipartisan support.

“With a few notorious exceptions, our immigrants are patriots. On Sunday afternoons in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we often welcome ethnic groups who are celebrating a feast or devotion important to the land of their birth or that of their forebearers. At the end of Mass, yes, they will sing the national anthem of their country of origin, but then bellow out ‘The Star Spangled Banner,'” Cardinal Dolan wrote, adding, “Advocacy for the immigrant is patriotic, as our newcomers become devoted patriotic citizens.” 

It’s not just about patriotism, Cardinal Dolan noted. “They’re an integral part of our nation’s economy! They are industrious, eager for work, pay taxes, and, well, what would we do without them?”

Immigration and its reform require everyone’s support, he wrote. “This is a cause, not for division, but for unity; an issue not ‘red’ or ‘blue,’ but ‘red, white, and blue.'”

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