Illegal Immigration

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Very possibly part of your family folklore, but doubtful if true.
According to my Grandma (who is 82 years old), my Great-Grandfather had to have a sponsor who would ensure that my Great-Grandfather had job. So, are you implying that my family is composed of liars?

I suggest doing some research on Ellis Island.
 
According to my Grandma (who is 82 years old), my Great-Grandfather had to have a sponsor who would ensure that my Great-Grandfather had job. So, are you implying that my family is composed of liars?

I suggest doing some research on Ellis Island.
It actually is true. Our family sponsored people from Germany. My dad had his own business and he would give them jobs. This was in the late '50’s and early '60’s. It’s not done that way anymore.
 
Look-----There is a limit to the number of immigrants that a nation can absorb. Common sense tells you this: No nation can absorb an unlimited number of immigrants.
Is there? I always worry about assumption, even common ones, presented as axioms without evidence. This same fear of too many people is what drives China’s birth control policy, something I also do not agree with. People are a resource, if properly managed. They need not be a drain or burden.
The laity **are not served in this task by individuals **who speak as if Catholic teaching requires an open border policy that does not recognize that there is a limit to the number of immigrants that a country can reasonably absorb or the responsibility of the laity in making the practical determination of what this number is.
Is someone had actually said this, I would agree with you. Catholic teaching does not require an open border policy. My quote of the Catechism did not say it did, nor do I think many Catholics deem it prudent. My objection was an immigration policy that is prejudicial against the poor. I am 100% in favor of tight border security and knowing who passes in and out. I am in favor of allowing anyone that is not a criminal in or out, as long as they enter legally. I am also totally in favor of a resident tax on those living here for social services. Where I part company with many conservatives is that I think all should be allowed to come here that want. I think this country can easily absorb the tens of millions that would want to be here. In fact, in case no one has notices the obvious, we already have.
Discussion of this subject is not served by those who speak as if this were not the case.
As I said, I do not think anyone has and you have misrepresented the opinions of others. Rather I think discussion is not served by loaded rhetoric (like calling immigration an invasion) and varrying the font size. I have never understood that. In posting, it is considered to be shouting and it looks like the poster is loosing it.
 
According to my Grandma (who is 82 years old), my Great-Grandfather had to have a sponsor who would ensure that my Great-Grandfather had job. So, are you implying that my family is composed of liars?

I suggest doing some research on Ellis Island.
not at all, stories get started in families all the time and expounded on while telling. No one is lying. Perhaps that was the requirement by 1927, in earlier times, say the 19th century, it certainly was not. I apologize.
 
Great post Elizabeth. I think some here are quick to label those who favor strict immigration laws as incompassionate, not knowing how much private charitable hours and dollars they donate to help the unfortunate on a local level.
From my experience on this forum, it is certainly not the simple fact that they favor strict immigration laws which makes me question certain specific contributors’ compasssion. It is the fact that they have stood by while Mexicans have been called “dirt” and said many other statements which reek of lack of compassion.
 
Your betters? What makes a priest or even a bishop necessarily more knowledgeable about the intricacies of immigration policy than your next door neighbor?
I did not say more knowledgable. I said my betters. They do have the authority and the charism to guide the faithful in matters of faith and morals. Yes, I have to know when they cross over to personal opinion, but I can not let my own politics color my judgment of when this is the case.
And what will you say to him when he asks why you were so quick to uncharitably judge those who disagreed with you on the solution to practical problems? Your claim here is not merely that you want to help the poor but that I and all the others who reject your position, do not. I did not say that. I did not claim that. If I did, you have the responsibility to report it, not make a baseless accusation. I am only presenting my position, not commenting on the morality of other individuals. I did say I thought the law immoral. A little basic logic can show the distinction between believing that a law is immoral and believing everyone who supports that law is immoral. As has been said many times before, by me included, there is a large range of prudence where good Catholics may disagree. We should *all *avoid rash judgement.

I know on this forum there is a predominance of opinion that is rather conservative when it comes to illegal immigration. I never for a second thought that because others are present what they thought was right, that some how it means I am a bad person. Come on.
 
Great post Elizabeth. I think some here are quick to label those who favor strict immigration laws as incompassionate, not knowing how much private charitable hours and dollars they donate to help the unfortunate on a local level.
No, no, no, no, no. The labeling of laws as uncharitable does not translate to labeling people as uncharitable. Can we at least get past this strawman before he is beat to death? It is not that difficult of a mental concept. We have social compassion that we can work through as a society. We also have charity that we exercise through the Church. Finally we have our own personal charity that we show to those around us. Prudence in one area does not translate to an accusation in another. We can beat this horse until it is dead, but a little thought would be preferable.

Oh, and Elizabeth, it was a very good post. Thank you.
 
Knowing that one day I will be judged for how I treat the poor, I will always support immigration reform that will end the barriers for the poor to come to America.

My opinion is grounded in the teachings of Christ and the teachings of the Church, specifically Populorum Progressio and Veritas in Veritate.
In our need to help the poor, are we to turn a blind eye to the injustices caused to the rest of society specifically by this problem? What about the gross overload of bankrupted medical facilities, the increased crime, the billions spent on bi-lingual education, the expanded government welfare programs adding to a deficit and taxpayer burden that can never be relieved? What about the anti-American sentiment we are witnessing from hostile foreign students with no desire to assimilate or have a common language and flag? How does this serve the cohesiveness of society and cause a unity of one people of God?

It seems so simplistic to me to tell someone you must help the poor, love your neighbor and welcome the stranger as it applies to illegal migrants. You may as well put a period behind that statement because the bishops seem to offer no further solutions to this complex problem, except to push for a sort of amnesty under the term “comprehensive immigration reform.”

Charity demands we give immediate help to those basic and urgent situations which, regardless of reason, will occur. In our charity, however, I wonder if we haven’t forgotten the entire concept of the common good which, hand in hand with justice, ensures the benefit of all.

And the political aspect of this cannot be denied.
In the next century, nations as we know [them] will be obsolete; **all states will recognize a single, global authority. **
~ Strobe Talbot ~
President Clinton’s deputy secretary of state, as quoted in Time, July 20, l992
 
From my experience on this forum, it is certainly not the simple fact that they favor strict immigration laws which makes me question certain specific contributors’ compasssion. ** It is the fact that they have stood by while Mexicans have been called “dirt” and said many other statements which reek of lack of compassion.**
Please provide an example. This is against forum rules.

You don’t know what is in anybody’s heart for you to make such a blanket statement.
 
No, no, no, no, no. The labeling of laws as uncharitable does not translate to labeling people as uncharitable. Can we at least get past this strawman before he is beat to death? It is not that difficult of a mental concept. We have social compassion that we can work through as a society. We also have charity that we exercise through the Church. Finally we have our own personal charity that we show to those around us. Prudence in one area does not translate to an accusation in another. We can beat this horse until it is dead, but a little thought would be preferable.

Oh, and Elizabeth, it was a very good post. Thank you.
I have never seen you label people as uncharitable but the below poster is what I’m talking about.
From my experience on this forum, it is certainly not the simple fact that they favor strict immigration laws which makes me question certain specific contributors’ compasssion. It is the fact that they have stood by while Mexicans have been called “dirt” and said many other statements which reek of lack of compassion.
 
Bumping your post for the understanding and wisdom it shows :
Jesus’ own consciousness of poverty, and exhortation about it, was local. His orientation was to the poverty among us, already there. No need to look for it globally. There is nothing either in his preaching, or in the CCC, which would imply that He would ever approve of neglecting the local poor in preference to the foreign poor. Perhaps there are some, even many, Americans, whose only acquaintance with poverty is that of our neighbors to the South. But others of us have worked in public settings for years, with entrenched poverty that is unspeakable – among those who are native to this country. Most of these are black; some are white Anglo. Their communities have been disproportionately affected by illegal immigration. It has put these local poor even more at risk than previously, with respect to social services, with respect to public education.

The localities and the concentrations are everything. Nationally, a relatively wealthy nation such as ours can absorb a larger quotient of poverty (and rehabilitate it) than can smaller and less wealthy countries. But locally it is a different story, even in a “wealthy” nation. **The disproportionate concentrations of illegal residents have resulted in mini-Third Worlds in certain areas of the U.S., with equally poor citizens – residents & non-residents, competing for scarce resources in regions & States overwhelmingly affected. ** Recent local and national recessions have exacerbated these economic realities. Resources, even in a “wealthy” nation, are finite. Certainly this is true of publicly available resources, on which our currently legally residing poor citizens depend.

When legal residents whose only language is English are deprived of an English education due to their classes being conducted in Spanish, justice and charity are not being served.
Nor, speaking of the poor, can I ever recall that Jesus preferred *one race *of people over another.
 
Please provide an example. This is against forum rules.

You don’t know what is in anybody’s heart for you to make such a blanket statement.
A few months ago, I kept some samples of posts people made about immigration, here they are. I have learned around here that those who favor more liberal immigration laws are kept on a much more tight leash than those who are very anti-immigration, so I will post the examples. Please forgive the lack of names and dates, I guess you will have to trust me that these came from this forum. On none of these posts, not once did anyone who was taking the anti-immigration side of the argument speak up against these statements.
I have know many many hard working Mexicans, legal or not. They do have a route to citizenship. Some are very skilled laborers. Others would give you the shirt off their back. Some however are dirt.
Where did Jesus say, “It’s OK for Latin Americans to sit at home on Sunday while Americans contribute to your care and feeding”?
Statistists prove that our Latin American “brothers” pretend to be Catholic while in the US. Over 40% of the Latinos in Chicagoland claim to be Catholic while only 1% attend Catholic schools. Somebody is giving them a free ride with American money so why be a real Catholic when that costs money?
Here is a whopper:
Where does it say make poor Americans pay for the lazy Latin Americans who can’t run their own countries and overpopulate the world.
Gotta love this one:
Good question. The first envelope was the standard one to help the parish. The second one was for maintenance on the 6 buildings in the parish. The third was for a parking lot for the parish. Now I did my duty. When will the Mexicans do theirs instead of sleeping late on Sunday.
This one could have been posted on a anti-catholic protestant web site against a lot of us catholics, if you change the type of school:
I went to 8 grades of Catholic school because my parents cared enough for me to do so. They only had 2 children. If you’re going to have 10, you better check your bank account before you do.
 
Hello Elizabeth,
Originally Posted by Elizabeth502
%between%
  • But others of us have worked in public settings for years, with entrenched poverty that is unspeakable – among those who are native to this country. Most of these are black*
You might look on these blacks as native born, but many of their ancestors were forced into America as slaves. Does that count as legal or illeglal immigration

And this is the reason many of these blacks are still living in poverty. It wasn’t too long ago when these blacks were even more of a second class citizen, not being able to eat in the same place as whites.

Take care

Eric
 
You might look on these blacks as native born, but many of their ancestors were forced into America as slaves. Does that count as legal or illeglal immigration
Um, the current generation of blacks in public schools are overwhelmingly native born – thus legally here. It makes no difference that their ancestors were forcibly brought here. Yours is frankly an off-topic comment. The issue is justice and the conditions of poverty, for legal and illegal residents. Urban blacks are legal residents, several generations removed from slavery. They are overwhelmingly (in urban areas) underserved, given spare public resources in contracted economic times.

I love the way that supporters of rampant, unchecked illegal immigration and its disastrous effects on poor populations, repeatedly change the subject and raise random red herrings to support a stand that is unsupportable from a Christian, Catholic, Gospel viewpoint.
 
A few months ago, I kept some samples of posts people made about immigration, here they are. I have learned around here that those who favor more liberal immigration laws are kept on a much more tight leash than those who are very anti-immigration, so I will post the examples. Please forgive the lack of names and dates, I guess you will have to trust me that these came from this forum. On none of these posts, not once did anyone who was taking the anti-immigration side of the argument speak up against these statements.

Here is a whopper:

Gotta love this one:

This one could have been posted on a anti-catholic protestant web site against a lot of us catholics, if you change the type of school:
Well thanks. I’ve not seen anyone on this thread post like that. Unless you can match the quote to a poster on this thread, I’d say it’s off topic.
 
Well thanks. I’ve not seen anyone on this thread post like that. Unless you can match the quote to a poster on this thread, I’d say it’s off topic.
I could, but I won’t and it is not off topic, because all I was doing was commenting on why some of us consider the anti-immigration crowd as lacking in compassion. You asked for backup, I gave it. If I did, I as you requested, I think I would get in a little trouble on this forum. These type of comments seem to go unnoticed by most on this forum when the subject of immigration arises.
 
BTW, as to forum rules:

The only forum where political discussions are allowed at CAF is in the Politics 2009 forum. Please post political discussions there.

To start a thread in Politics 2009, find a news article on the subject of interest and reference the article in the first post.

More information is posted at the top of the Politics 2009 forum.

Thank you for your cooperation.

In the past, when discussing immigration I have tried hard to abide by this, only discussing the various Bishop documents and Vatican documents on the subject. The other side, not at all. It is purely a political discussion and/or a bashing of US bishops discussion.
 
It is not the way Jesus lived and taught. I refer you to the rich man and Lazarus. Besides, the poor working class are not “vagrants.”
The story about the rich man and Lazarus is a story about the dangers of materialism, not about amnesty for illegal aliens.

We are not talking about the poor working class, we are talking about illegal aliens.
 
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