Does the Church have a position on immigration?

[Aimee_Lynne]

What is the view of the Church regarding the United States/Mexico border fence and why?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The Church, as a universal institution, does not have a view on U.S./Mexico border policy. American bishops have given informed opinions on the general issue of the treatment of immigrants, and the Church has given guidance on this issue in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but there is no “official stand.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens (CCC 2241).

Notice that the emphasis here is on the right of the migrant to move to a country rather than on the possible need of a country to exclude him. It would seem to follow then that the Church is far more concerned about vulnerable individuals who are seeking to make better lives for themselves and their families than on the need of a country to close its doors. Although the Church does not exclude the possibility that a host country may need to set legal procedures to handle an influx of immigrants, and indeed expects immigrants to follow the host country’s laws, the Church’s emphasis is on the responsibility of countries to be generous with their resources to foreigners within their borders.

Remember Matthew 25 in which the nations are judged in part on how well they welcome the stranger (Matt. 25:34-35)? In so doing, they welcome Christ, who was himself a stranger in a strange land (Matt. 2:13-15).