Oklahoma Bishops Call For Dignity In Immigration Laws

[gatewood1988]

Oklahoma immigration law should respect the fundamental dignity of all human beings, the state’s two Catholic bishops said in a joint statement.

The Most Revs. Edward J. Slattery, of the Diocese of Tulsa, and Paul S. Coakley, of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, issued the statement in response to tougher immigration laws being considered by the Oklahoma Legislature.

“What we’re trying to do is create an attitude of kindness and justice,” Slattery said Tuesday. “There’s a sentiment here of harshness in the law and in the rhetoric. It’s not Christian. We felt compelled to say something.”

The statement said the bishops were concerned that the immigration bills “will have the intentional or unintentional effect of instilling fear in an already vulnerable population.”

“No legislation can undo the reality that every human being is our brother and the duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged,” the bishops said.

Read More: tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=18&articleid=20110330_18_A1_CUTLIN987338

 

[gatewood1988]

I cannot believe how much flack I am getting on the comments section for this article on the Tulsa World. People are genuinely convinced that the Church only wants to help immigrants because of money

 

[Sherry_G]

The accuser never sleeps, does he? I have responded on several threads started here on CAF after a bishop has done some teaching on this subject of immigration reform in light of church teaching as spelled out in the CCC. Some of the responses are uncharitable to put it mildly.
I put myself in the their places as they come from abject poverty and suffering looking only for a way to feed and support their families for the most part. I would do the same thing myself and get here any way I could for the betterment of life for my family. People who live their whole lives in the jungles in thatched huts, dirt floors, no medical care, trying to scratch out a place to grow a few vegetables in poor soil and cocina rock, watching their loved one die for lack of a simple antibiotic for an abcessed wound, or rotten teeth, living without hope of ever improving their situation due to the corrupt government are literally dying to get here. Pray for a humane solution to this problem for all of us. We need these humble and beautiful people. They are the replacement players for all the murdered unborn children we have killed in this country over the past 38 years and all those who were never conceived at all due to birth control.

 

[PaulinVA]

Well, I live in a major metropolitan area and the illegal aliens are a real problem. Two recent instances of drunk illegals killing people in collisions, numerous instances of illegals involved in traffic accidents that flee the scene because they don’t have driver’s licenses or insurance.

Yes, we must treat everyone with compassion. I agree. But, as the Bishop’s acknowledged, we have a right to protect ourselves as a sovereign nation. As an example, Latin American immigrants (legal and illegal) transfer $30 billion dollars a year out of our country. That’s $30 billion dollars paid in wages here that isn’t spent here. That would surely help our economy, wouldn’t it?

So, what is dignity in immigration laws? How do you treat someone with respect as a person when they are a threat to your country, both as individuals and as a group?

 

[Chris_Rendall]

This has always been a difficult issue for me. On one hand we have our call as followers of Christ to treat every person as ourselves. On the other hand, as Paulin said, we have to protect ourselves and our nation. I do not agree with the anti-immigrant bigotry that I often hear living in a rural area, but I also do not agree with turning a blind eye to illegal immigration.

I have not personally had any trouble with illegal immigrants, but I know many people who have been hit by immigrants with no documentation while driving. Without fail they have sped away and the police will not pursue them because it is not worth their time. They won’t make any money from a ticket because they have no address and won’t pay, and putting them in jail means nothing.

What bothers me most is that I don’t know what I would do if I were in their shoes. Honestly, if I saw my family starving, I might be pushed to extreme measures. But sitting in the shoes I’m in now, I have to say that while we should treat them humanely, there has to be laws and regulations for legal immigration that are enforced, and those who want to live here need to follow them and stop living in the shadows. I cannot endorse the breaking of my own country’s laws. If there is something unjust in our laws that keeps them in hiding, we should address it, but if not, they have no reason to stay in their current situation other than enjoying their stay tax free.

But I do totally agree with Sherry’s comment about us needing them here. Immigrants from Mexico have been some of the most humble people I have met and their stories are usually quite inspiring.

 

[Havard]

If the right thing to do is admit more immigrants, then why aren’t these bishops arguing for a change our legal immigrant admission policies, rather than a relaxation of illegal immigrant deportation and enforcement policies.

It strikes me as a very short-sighted and backward solution to be approaching it from the latter end.

 

[Not_Sure_1]

No one has the right to immigrate into a country. That is a privilege granted by the government of the country you are trying to immigrate into. A country has the right to restrict immigration, stop immigration, pass laws on who can immigrate and has the right to enforce these laws and punish those that disobey those laws.

-(Second Generation Immigrant to the United States (my dad came here, and I was born here)

 

[Sherry_G]

Yes, everyone who has responded makes valid points. The major question we al need to ask our politicians in DC is WHY they have refused to take action over all these decades. We do have laws that are not enforced, and it appears they are not enforceable now due to the staggering magnitude of illegal immigrants. When everyone above the age of reason agrees, we need to get this straightened out, why is absolutely nothing changing? We are all being vicitmized by those we have elected to serve us, aren’t we? Individually, we can not make a change, and collectively politicians are so worried about saving their own jobs they refuse to do anything at all on the off chance that it will upset some of their supporters.

We need to treat every human person humanely, from conception until natural death, including those who are here now by illegal means. But I do agree that politians and even activist judges who undermine existing laws need to be ousted from power. Let’s get back to government OF the people, By the people and FOR the people while there is still time.