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March 28, 2006
Defends Catholic Church on Immigration Issue
A different point of view (sort of) from one of our readers, that warrants page one...this from Jeff,
"I'd like to address a few things, if I may. The Catholic Church has no doctrinal position on illegal immigration other than: 1) Catholics are obliged to obey all just laws of the state; and 2) Catholics are obliged to show mercy to anyone in genuine need. (cont)
The dilemma comes with the fact that so many illegal immigrants are apparently both lawbreakers AND persons in genuine need. The Catholic Church does, of course, minister to anyone in grave necessity, without regard to creed or legal status. At the same time the Catholic Church (at least in principle) exhorts all men to obey all just laws, including immigration laws.
Although there may be some dispute as to whether our immigration laws are just, the weight of Catholic tradition answers "yes", our immigration laws are just, when applied to anyone who is able to meet his basic material needs in his home country or elsewhere.
As a Catholic myself, it seems to me that a majority of illegals are not here because of any grave necessity. There are undoubtedly some exceptions to this. But - here's where the rubber meets the road - it isn't MY job, or the job of the Catholic Church, to figure that out. We are not the border patrol. It is the job of the state to enforce its own laws. As a citizen I have the right to assume that the state is doing its job and that my neighbors are here legally. I have friends from Mexico and I don't go around asking to see their papers. If they come to me asking for help, or even employment, I should not have to think twice about it. And the same goes for the Church as an institution. While I believe our immigration laws should be enforced, the fact is that they are not being enforced, and I don't appreciate the task of enforcement being dumped on me, or American employers, or the Catholic Church."
Posted by Post Scripts at March 28, 2006 09:21 AM
Comments
We're bascially on the same page, but being the cynic that life has made me, I feel there are likely some unstated economic reasons behind the Catholic Church activism in recruiting protestors for the recent marches in L.A. and elsewhere. No arguement about their charitable efforts and kudo's for that!
On the negative side of what you said, nobody I know is asking the Catholic Church to play "immigration police". However, church's aside, we ought to make effort to comply with the immigration laws. If you have reason to suspect the person you are about to hire is an illegal alien then as a responsible person, you ought to ask for documentation; if only to protect yourself from violating the law. It's all about common sense and doing the right thing.
To my knowledge the only controvery here stems from Catholic Church being a recruiter for activists and for challenging immigration laws in public protest. I suspect this is probably more a local diocese situation than something coming down from a higher authority.
Posted by: Jack Lee at March 28, 2006 09:32 AM
Thanks for posting this, Jack. There may be economic motives involved in some cases, but I think these are rare. The real problem in my opinion is more ideological. Unfortunately we have individual priests, bishops, and activists who have adopted an ideologiocal stance on the immigration issue, and that is understandably confusing to many observers who mistake this for an official "Catholic" position. Pat Buchanan is one Catholic in good standing who has a rather different view.
Posted by: Jeff Culbreath at March 28, 2006 10:11 AM
You make a good point about it not being the average American cotizen's job to do the work of the immigration authorities. I think, though, that the issue of immigration - and illegal immigration particularly - isn't going to go away at all easily. At the end of the day Mexican labor is cheaper than American labor, and many, many businesses now depend on that fact. Businesses know that, while a man or woman is illegal they have that person over a barrel and they want to keep it that way.
Far more dangerous, in my opinion, is the use of workers abroad, by American industries and for the purposes of internet and telephone sales and service, etc. These people are growing in number as outsourcing via internet VOiP and so on continues.
I think we have to face that we're now firmly in a global marketplace, and it means a tightening of belts for all in order to keep up.
Personally I don't think we're all that far off living in a borderless world. All that will confine us is our credit score.
Posted by: Jack Lee at March 29, 2006 12:49 PM