Our current immigration policies are an outgrowth of previous policies that are undeniably racist.
I don’t think that we need any “artificial” cures like a Guest Worker program, they remind me of past policies, they didn’t cure the problem. The world is changing. Globalizartion is the reality and it does not appear to be reversible. The face of the Nation will change, it’s just a matter of time. We either light the way through our example and show newcomers that our way of life is worth preserving or they’ll change it according to the “Good ol’ boy” sentiments that have seemingly saturated these threads.
:banghead: Just deal with the reality of the current policies, not some “undeniaby racist” policies of the past. It doesn’t help your argument. If you want something changed, challenge it on its merits. Don’t play the race card.
So, you don’t care about these people, until they want to come into our country. If they are mistreated in Mexico, you don’t care…that’s their problem I guess. Well, some people who want to protect our own borders would agree with you. By your very reasoning, we shouldn’t care about these immigrants at all - they aren’t Americans, after all, so it’s Mexico’s problem to deal with.
Americans aren’t trying to immigrate to the US. 
However, I agree with you that Enforcement Only is not a tenable solution to our problems.:banghead: Just deal with the reality of the current policies, not some “undeniaby racist” policies of the past. It doesn’t help your argument. If you want something changed, challenge it on its merits. Don’t play the race card.
The reality is that there has been no justification provided herein for the Enforcement Only proposals offered here! Yet, the argument still persists and those proposals are undeniably racist in function as they target a non-White group that is no different from our racist history.
That’s not entirely true. You see about 2 to 3 million of those that are being ignored by Enforcement Only proposals are American citizen children.
But, I get your point. And, it’s a fine point on which to end my day. Thanks!
I certainly deny that our immigration policies are racist. They are everything but.
First of all Constitutionality is not a function of the Church. Morality and Justice are the basis on which the Church judges Human Rights. Abortion for example is Constitutional and the Church does NOT make a judgement based on the legal aspects. It’s based on the foundations of Christ’s teaching which has led to the development of the Social Justice Teachings of the Church. Both Abortion and Immigrant’s Rights are Pro-Life issues. When our laws serve a proper need and function there can be a legitimate argument for enforcing them. However, as it pertains to our current laws, they have failed to work as intended for a number of reasons that have rendered ineffective. At this point, the Bishops and others have proposed options that are fair as judged by Church Teachings. They have also declared that they will not obey certain draconian measures. Enforcement Only laws against the 11 million aren’t justifiable because the vast majority of these people have become a part of the American Fabric and contribute positively to our communities and economy. The reality is that even if we wanted to we cannot deport them all. We have a sufficiently difficult time in deporting those that have violated serious crimes and are known to our government. We also know by experience that Enforcement Only measures such as the quadrupled efforts in fencing and patroling of the border have failed. To try to enforce these laws retroactively after we have looked the other way and these people have established themselves here serves no purpose other than “punishment”. Punishment by deportation will not alleviate the problem and is inconsistent with the American view of Justice. It will not serve to rehabilitate them in any way, it’s Punishment for Punishment’s sake only. Those that would have normally qualified under the guidelines for entry should be accommodated as admission was systematically denied through no fault or control of their own. A process which allows them to qualify as orginally intended as well as submits them to fines, fees, back taxes and health screenings protects our interests while Enforcement Only measures fail those goals. A fence for example will not stop them from coming and it will not cause even one person to undergo a health screening. Furthermore you have consistently targeted only ONE group of people and cry foul when what you propose fails objective scrutiny.
Some of what you say is true. However, no matter what the number of Mexicans is currently allowed, it’s clearly insufficient to meet our requirements as evidenced by the 11 million people who have been incorporated into the American Fabric.
I don’t know the validity of this statement however I don’t think we should judge our policies against the meausres of others. We measure them by our views of justice and fairness.
Clearly our Immigration laws have undergone periods of Eugenics and racism that targeted specific groups of people. The laws have softened but it is difficult to deny that our recent laws have not targeted Hispanics and other non-White populations. To me those are racists policies in that they are designed to TARGET a specific group of people. Whether the people behind them are Racists I cannot judge. It is also ABUNDANTLY clear that the current focus for Enforcement Only has specifically TARGETED Hispanics. The thing is that THEY are not the problem. THEY have no control over our demographics and economy, or theirs. They, in general terms, are victims of their circumstances and intend no one harm and in fact have caused no real harm when considered as a whole. And, aside from a few fanatics, any person in their situation would do the same thing which is no different in “action” than what any of our ancestors have done.
You are right; Constitutionality in the US is not a function of the Church.
The point is that US immigration laws do not deny entry to anyone based on race, skin color, ethnic background, religion or gender.
I’ve heard this argument a hundred times before. It didn’t hold water then and it doesn’t hold water now. Available data indicates that when you consider all the costs related to “Illegal” immigration and consider the economic growth that they provide, we end up with a net gain, no loss and no harm to others when considered as a whole. In fact the “Illegal” actually under utilize services for which they pay from sales taxes, property taxes and Federal taxes because many have Social Security taken from their checks too. If they rent or buy homes they pay their fair share of costs for education as well. And, if all these things were of true concern the logical thing would be for a process to legallize them so that they have no more privileged status.
The point is that your claims that our immigration laws are racist are not true; they are false.
Fremont,
And, the truth is that these laws put a bulls-eye on their backs and is aimed directly at them when we could have just as easily allowed them to come “legally”.
I hardly think so and there is no one who is wll versed with the issue that the “illegal” currently here can logistically be deported and there is no reason to even suggest such a thing.
There is no confusion! None at all! There is no reason for this type of approach at this junction of our history. The market forces are what they are and the influx to and fro has always been subject to those demands. Well we did put a wrench in the mechanism through laws that made it difficult for them to return to Mexico on their own. Now we have people who have made their lives here and there is no good legitimate reason to ask them to leave.
This again is totally untrue. Our immigration policy was infested with Eugenics, racism and Nativists views. It favored White Anglo immigration and was against other caucasians and even against Catholics. We tried to keep the Japanese, Chinese, Catholics, Blacks and from becoming citizens. Heck it even denied that Blacks are people. I recall we even had a project called “Operation Wetback”. We ignored treaties with Mexico upon which they relied which were not respected by us. And, finally they are a group of “indigenous” peoples who have already suffered enough through our policies.
And, those best interests have often revolved around “color”.
We have lotteries to entice others to come but we don’t need to reduce immigration at all. These people are here and have become an integral part of our country. How many Europeans were told, ‘Sorry but another illegal just crossed so we can’t let you in’ ?
You mean you don’t think they can pick up a history book, look online for the history of our immigration policies, find how we have sought to exclude others and how we’ve made laws specifically designed, post IRCA 1986. to keep THEM out? Some people may just read the Bible and compare the merits of my arguments to yours. But, most people have in all probability already made up their minds. So, what we say probably doesn’t matter much.
If we wish to look at our Bible let’s review the Gospel from last week.