Knights Helping Refugees at the Border

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PJH_74 said:
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CatholicSooner:
Big difference between helping those that are here legally and helping those that are here illegally
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Those that are asking for asylum are not here illegally, they’re following a legitimate, legal process. They are not coming up here on some asylum tour bus that heads straight to a legal boarder crossing. They are poor people giving up everything to travel around 1000 miles traveling on foot, hopping dangerous freight trains, and the like to be here. A huge percentage of the women end up being raped on the way and all often being taken advantage of. Not all Mexicans are kind and I’m sure they have an accent that makes them stand out. There are places on the boarder where a legal crossing point is a few days walk away, they also probably don’t have good maps and almost certainly no GPS. I ask you what you would do if you had no real idea of where to cross legally but had finally found the boarder?

The most telling thing is that all refugees are being presented as “illegals” by some talking heads when you know there plenty who have crossed the boarder legally and are still being treated the same way. Wanting to escape persecution is not illegal and hiding behind this idea that they inherently have crossed in violation of Federal Law is thinly disguised xenophobia and nationalism.
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I agree. But I haven’t seen any details from the Knights on how htey are helping and who they are targeting.

And the post you quoted was in reference to saying Father McGiveny and the Knights were helping immigrants from day one and using that as justification to helping refugees. I felt McGiveny was being used to justify helping illegals. I don’t think that is honest.
 
CatholicSooner said:
Big difference between helping those that are here legally and helping those that are here illegally
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I still do not see how the people in the refugee centers have don anything illegal to this point. They have arrived at our border and requestd asylum. Is that illegal?

Having said that, the legal status should make no difference with regards to our charity towards them.
 
LeafByNiggle said:
If you must know, there is another way they can help. With the “stay in Mexico” policy the US has adopted, there are many migrants stuck on the other side of the border with no place to stay, no food, etc. The Diocese of El Paso is also helping in this regard, sending supplies over the border to help those who are staying there, awaiting their hearing in the US.
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My preference would be to ask the UN to set up a proper refugee camp at the border, as is done every where else in the world with a similar problem. They know what they are doing and it opens the door for NGO’s to also provide assistance.
 
When Irish and Italians came, they crossed the Atlantic on ships. Then they landed at harbors like Boston and New York , were processed and then let in. That’s it.
 
pnewton said:
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CatholicSooner:
And I think the Knights of Columbus, as representatives of Catholics, should follow the laws of the country they are in
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There is no law against charity, and no obligation to cooperate with immigration enforcement. So the KC is following the laws of the land. Should that change, as one state tried to do, such a law would be unjust. Catholic doctrine allows for defiance against unjust laws. I hope our nation never goes down the path of others though, as history shows where such laws end.
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Actually, helping illegal immigrants is against the law of the land.

And the US does not have unjust laws…even the US bishops state that the US has the natural right to limit immigration.
 
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Immigrants weren’t “illegal” then. There wasn’t that category.
 
pnewton said:
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CatholicSooner:
Big difference between helping those that are here legally and helping those that are here illegally
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Not in the eyes of God. Are you aware the Catholic Church even has prison ministries and helps all kinds of serious criminals. I think even Jesus mentioned this as one of the things considered at the final judgement. I do not see Jesus giving a pass for those who refused to help Him, as he was with one of these here illegally.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
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Yep, nothing in there about the legal status. It looks to me like the leadership in the Knights have a clear of the gospel. Remember, they are Catholic, not Republican.
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I would suggest you read the statements from the Bishops and statements in the Catechism.

And I’m not sure why you brought up prison ministries. That is a different topic and not related.

A nation has the right to limit immigration and protect its borders. This is Church teaching and has been for the history of the Church.

Shoot, even the Vatican has guards, walls, and limits entrance.
 
tafan2 said:
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CatholicSooner:
Big difference between helping those that are here legally and helping those that are here illegally
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I still do not see how the people in the refugee centers have don anything illegal to this point. They have arrived at our border and requestd asylum. Is that illegal?

Having said that, the legal status should make no difference with regards to our charity towards them.
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I never said it was wrong to help those that requested asylum. We should help them.
 
If there are laws prohibiting giving good and water to human beings, yes they are unjust.
 
F_Marturana said:
When Irish and Italians came, they crossed the Atlantic on ships. Then they landed at harbors like Boston and New York , were processed and then let in. That’s it.
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Right…and that wasn’t illegal
 
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You can walk right into the Vatican from Rome. One side of the street is Rome, the other side is the Vatican.
 
Than please explain your statement “Big difference between helping those that are here legally and helping those that are here illegally” which was made in response to @pnewtons claim “Helping those new to this country has been something the Knights have done since day one”.
 
Loud-living-dogma said:
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LeafByNiggle:
JimmyTolder:
I refused to become a Knight when asked for reasons like this, and if this is what they are then I am glad to report that I have heard many say they will age out soon and go away.
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Many of Jesus’ disciples turned away from him when he announced that his followers must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus turned to his closest friends and asked “will you also leave me?” and Peter said “Lord, to whom could we go?”
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Well there are plenty of other Catholic (or any other organizations) that JimmyTolder can join! 😆 This isn’t exactly a basic point of Catholic dogma!
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True. That was an exaggerated analogy on my part. 😔
 
F_Marturana said:
You can walk right into the Vatican from Rome. One side of the street is Rome, the other side is the Vatican.
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Not all of the time. I have friends who have gone and tried to get into the square and they had guards up limiting entrance during certain times of the day.
 
So why bring up that the Irish were helped because they were legal? There was no way to be illegal.

They were helped because it was the right thing to do.

Helping the migrants now is the right thing to do.
 
tafan2 said:
Than please explain your statement “Big difference between helping those that are here legally and helping those that are here illegally” which was made in response to @pnewtons claim “Helping those new to this country has been something the Knights have done since day one”.
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I feel like I have already twice. The Knights since day 1 have not helped ILLEGAL immigrants.
 
You all are using the word “help” in a lot of different ways.

“Help” maybe means giving desperate people food / water / basic humanitarian assistance.

Yet other are using “help” as “assistance in circumventing our laws”, etc.
 
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