Speaking at an Immigration Rally in Flagstaff , New Mexico , I said we walked the dusty streets of a slum in the border town of Juarez , Mexico , where 200,000 people live in abject poverty. The scenes were heart-wrenching.

In Tiffin , Ohio , Sr. Paulette Schroeder told us on her Witness for Peace trip to Nicaragua she learned of a government sponsored ‘campaign of terror,' with wide-scale rape and child killing.

In a hardscrabble area of El Paso , Texas , we toured a clandestine, homeless shelter for people illegally crossing because of the dead end poverty, because of the violent political oppression. People here were desperate.

How can we turn our backs on these people? How?

I told the Sun News in Hobbs , New Mexico , that we should not look at new arrivals here (legal or illegal) as a burden, but rather a tremendous spiritual opportunity to help. And I told Phoenix , Arizona 's Channel 3 News that our administration would push for amnesty and family reunification.

What's more, we would try to inspire many more Hispanic Councils to help new arrivals with assimilation into our society. On a stop in Eunice , New Mexico , Hispanic Council co-founder Leon Navarette told us this ad-hoc citizens group is designed to help new arrivals learn about social service options, education, the job market…

And in regard to working conditions in general… After touring the San Joaquin Valley in California to look at migrant farm worker issues, I told the Lodi Sentinel that our administration would push for a living wage, optimal working conditions and full benefits for these farm workers and other immigrants entering the work force.

Finally, I said to a student group at Northern Arizona State University that many people don't want to leave their family, their towns, their country… “But their kids are hungry.” And with that in mind, our administration would also try to inspire many more projects into Mexico and Latin America to help them become as sustainable as possible.