”

I’ll tell you one thing [“rule of law”] doesn’t mean: It doesn’t mean that the law can’t change. It doesn’t mean just law and order, or rigorous enforcement of the law, no matter what the law is. “That’s ‘rule by law,’ that’s what that is. … And there’s rule by law in every repressive country in the world.

The U.S. immigration system, while strong and while just in many respects, likewise fails to meet this standard in important ways. Congress wants to restore the rule of law through enforcement alone. It can’t be done. The bishops and you all want to restore the law by also reforming the legal immigration system and by legalizing deserving U.S. residents. That can be done.

Donald Kerwin, director for the Center for Migration Studies and former executive director of CLINIC as quoted by the National Catholic Reporter in “Immigration conference deals with the tough questions”