Where is the Catholic outrage over recent American immigration policies?

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PoliticoIAm said:
These people are not violating the law. […] They are here not as illegal immigrants but asking for aslyum to come into our country.
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With respect, that’s just not true. If you are asking for asylum, you go to a U.S. embassy or consular office, or go to any port of entry and present yourself to customs officials there. If you do that with kids in tow, you are not separated from them (except in unusual circumstances where the parent is a wanted criminal, etc.)

If, however, you cross the border illegally by jumping the fence, swimming the river, etc. with your kids in tow, then you have broken U.S. law and, when/if captured, you go to a detention facility (i.e., a jail) and the kids go elsewhere while we figure out where to place them. That’s the same thing that happens when any other parent is detained for breaking the law and it’s not readily apparent where the children should go.

Yes, what is happening is pretty darn terrible…but the parents who are voluntarily putting their children in this position bear the majority of the responsibility for it.

We’re being put in a position where we either ignore the crime and ignore the danger these parents are putting their kids in (which is what the previous administration was doing), or we send the kids off into detention with their parents so we don’t separate them (which I think would be a far worse thing than separating them), or we do something like what we’re doing now…process the criminal and deal with the kids best we can.

There is no good solution under the laws as they exist today. These parents should be playing by the rules and requesting asylum through the proper channels (and not putting their children in danger by dragging them across deserts and wilderness into another country). Just go to the port of entry. Do it the right way.
 
catholic1seeks said:
OK, so would you be fine if your parents were seeking asylum, whether directly or indirectly, and instead had to be taken away from them?

Or what if you had a child and were seeking a better life for your child. Would you just say “Welp, that’s the law.” And gladly let your child be taken away from you?
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Like I said, it’s a bad situation, but they broke the law. I’m not saying that it’s good for the children or that it’s not tragic that they’re being separated, but the US laws on immigration are not unjust, and we are therefore subject to them, as are the people who enter our country illegally.

If I was seeking a better life for my child, I would go through the legal process necessary to move into the country.

These parents broke the law, a just law that the nation has a right to enforce, and they are suffering the consequences of their actions. That their children are also suffering is also on the parents, as it was the parent’s choices which resulted in the child’s present situation.

I don’t like it, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
 
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The outrage got lost among the swell of political fervor.

In the US, when religion goes against one’s politics, it’s usually the politics that wins out.
 
catholic1seeks said:
Or what if you had a child and were seeking a better life for your child. Would you just say “Welp, that’s the law.” And gladly let your child be taken away from you?
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Might not be glad about it, but would be informed enough to know what was going to happen before I left home.

If I decide to move to Australia or Argentina for a better life, and after I arrive the government officials over there discover my presence and decide to deport me- I wouldn’t be happy about it but I’d still accept it.
 
achmafooma said:
There is no good solution under the laws as they exist today. These parents should be playing by the rules and requesting asylum through the proper channels (and not putting their children in danger by dragging them across deserts and wilderness into another country). Just go to the port of entry. Do it the right way.
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I’m glad it’s that simple for you.

Maybe in your next life, you’ll be a third war country, with small children, and in desperate need to flee your country.
 
hese parents broke the law, a just law that the nation has a right to enforce, and they are suffering the consequences of their actions. That their children are also suffering is also on the parents, as it was the parent’s choices which resulted in the child’s present situation.
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Thankfully, as a Catholic, I have bishops to help interpret the moral situation of the day. The American bishops have been pretty clear…
 
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LOL I don’t literally believe in reincarnation. I think the point I was making is obvious.
 
Maybe in your next life,
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The only next life is eternity, Heaven of Hell. We must make the best of the situation we find ourselves in in this life.

Desperation does not give someone a free pass to break the law. I’m sorry, but that is just reality.
Thankfully, as a Catholic, I have bishops to help interpret the moral situation of the day. The American bishops have been pretty clear…
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This is a matter of prudential judgment, not of moral certitude. The Church does not dictate what is right and proper in these situations specifically because there is no clear, absolute way to handle every given situation.

I can feel bad for the children, and pray for them to be reunited with their parents and have a happy life in America, while still recognizing the rule of law and understanding that the situation they find themselves in is of the parent’s own making.
 
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Desperation does not give someone a free pass to break the law. I’m sorry, but that is just reality.
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Jesus doesn’t really go by that logic…
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2
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Thank you for this succinct and well-measured reply. A nation has a responsibility for the safety of its own citizens, and has to take that into account while still maintaining a merciful and compassionate outlook toward immigrants. May I use your response on other social media platforms?
 
Indeed 😉 I got a chuckle from Augustinian’s response though.

I admit that I do not know first-hand what it is like to be in a third-world, war-torn country that I am desperate to flee. But I think that if my plan was to request asylum in the United States, I would go straight to U.S. officials and make that request. I don’t understand the strategy of breaking in and hoping that, when/if they find me, I can ask for asylum then.

Desperate or not, it ought to be pretty obvious that the request for asylum is less likely to be granted if the first step I take toward getting it is breaking the law of the country I’m requesting asylum from.

I do want to add that I support a major liberalization of our immigration laws. Immigrating legally should be easier. Requesting asylum should be easier. But I also support a secure border (we have the right to know who’s coming in and do some reasonable vetting) and playing by the rules.
 
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Thank you for this succinct and well-measured reply. A nation has a responsibility for the safety of its own citizens, and has to take that into account while still maintaining a merciful and compassionate outlook toward immigrants.
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It’s the latter part our nation is having trouble with, I’m afraid.
 
It is really important to actually find out what is done in what circumstance.

The #fakenews media is not reliable and I hope the Bishops do not rely on it.
 
What is the story here? Was this an illegal, a felon? Tell us the back story.
 
I disagree. We are trying our best to manage the situation as best as possible. I refer to @achmafooma’s original response. Merciful and compassionate does not equal open borders.
 
That passage is dealing with the Jew’s response to Jesus healing on the Sabbath, not with desperation.

That’s pretty clear from the preceding context.
 
Merciful and compassionate does not equal separating children from their parents.
 
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