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Bishop GeraldKicanas on Wednesday urged Congress to work for immigration reform, but not through the path it is currently seeking with increased border enforcement, tougher criteria for immigrant families seeking asylum and a quicker return of immigrant children to their homelands.

"These bills would not fix our immigration system. Rather, they would make it less just and would undermine our moral authority domestically and globally," said the bishop, who heads the diocese of Tucson, Ariz.

He spoke at a hearing on immigration enforcement held by the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.

The bishop, one of four witnesses at the hearing, was the only one who spoke against the proposed immigration enforcement bills.

The witnesses supporting the measures were a North Carolina sheriff who said law enforcement agencies need more direction in enforcing immigration laws; an immigration reform group official who argued that immigrants are taking away American jobs; and a senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies who said that the U.S.-Mexico border has become a "de facto go-free zone" where those who cross face no "consequence for their action."

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Kicanas, in his lone opposition to these bills, said they would "adversely impact immigrant and refugee children, perhaps the most vulnerable population impacted by our nation's immigration laws."

An aspect of the proposed legislation would repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, and according to the bishop, would "keep children in detention for long periods of time and would weaken protections for abandoned, neglected, and abused children."

He said another proposed legislation, the Secure and Fortify Enforcement Act, or SAFE, would "criminalize" those without documents and those who transport them.

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Arizona bishop: US needs immigration reform, not more enforcement