I believe that Spok has struck this nail on the head. At our final judgement, we are not going to be judged by how well we protected our borders, but how we treated Christ. Let’s not forget that Christ was a refugee in Egypt or that the early Christians lived under horrible conditions in their own country and had to leave.
No one, including the Church, says that countries do not have a right to sovereignty and freedom from invasion, crime and so forth. That’s not what the Catholic Church is calling into question. What the Catholic Church is calling into question is the moral fairness with which we treat immigrants
Is it morally fair to grant someone a visa, because they have money and deny someone else a visa, because they are peasants?
As to the job situation, I can tell you from personal experience that we have thousands of jobs that our young don’t want. I live in Florida. Last August the State of Florida was short 2,000 teachers at the beginning of the school year. My county was short 30 school bus drivers. My son and his classmates graduated from high school last May. They all went on to college and not a single one took a job cleaning or a job that interfered with their school life or their social life. My kid has been hanging around with the same group of five since he was in grade 8. When I suggested to them that they look into openings at places like the Dollar Store or fast food, they were not interested, typical middle class American boys. Like them, the average American is not interested in these and many other jobs. I don’t see American students lining up to become teachers, nurses, farmers, nannies or housekeepers. The argument that illegal immigrants take American jobs does not always work, because we have areas of critical shortage (i.e. education and nursing) where American parents don’t want their children going. The average American parent wants their child to attend Harvard and become President of the USA, not a school teacher or a nanny.
As I posted earlier in this thread, our consulates abroad are a disaster. There are too many mean people who work there. They make arbitrary decisions as to who gets a visa and who does not. The decision is usually based on money. Why aren’t Americans demanding that the State Department clean up our embassies and consulates so that more people can be legally processed at that level? This would not eliminate illegal immigration, but it would reduce it significantly. Under our current setup, our consulates turn people in need away, because they don’t have money to spend in the USA. Then we have to process them anyway when they get to this side of the border illegally.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Canada has a system where they screen immigrants based on what skills they need and what the immigrant brings to the table. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a start.
To close, I pose this question to Catholics on this thread. The Bishops have already said that the American Catholic Church will not cooperate with deportation. They have prohibited Catholic parishes and agencies from cooperating in this endeavour. It began with the Archbishop of LA and has spread across the country. What Catholic is going to turn in a parish or diocese for giving aid to illegal immigrants?
Hopefully, it will not happen too often. Once in a while we have to choose between Church and State. The Church has the right to question the law and those who make the law. This is what Catholics should be doing. We should be asking how well does our immigration system work and how do our consulates and embassies do business abroad. We should ask why is it that people with money have no problems getting a visa to enter the USA and poor people are turned away. If there is something that Americans should be proud of is the fact that the USA was built by the sweat and effort of the poor.
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