hi alwayspuzzled - touché.

Of course, modern Catholic Social Teaching dates back only to Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum in the 1890's - well past the centuries of colonization (and which dealt with workers' rights and dignity). So far as I know, the U.S. bishops didn't begin weighing in on the issue of undocumented immigrants until it became a big issue in this country. About 10 years ago the bishops of Maryland (at the time O'Brien in Baltimore, Wuerl in DC and Saltarelli in Wilmington) issued "Where All Find a Home." It's a wonderful read if you want to look it up.