Illegal Immigration Cannot be Rationally Discussed Anymore

But first We must speak of man’s rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. (encyclical letter Pacem in Terris, §11)

By July 1990, then [three months before I accepted Catholic teaching and wished to be received], I believed Catholicism had the best moral theology of any Christian body, and greatly respected its sense of community, devotion, and contemplation.

Moral theology and intangible mystical elements began the ball of conversion rolling for me, and increasingly rang true deep within my soul; . . .

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2241) provides a brief summary as to what the Church thinks of illegal immigration:

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• Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.

One can be compassionate regarding the plight of an illegal immigrant who is looking for a better life, but that doesn’t mean that they should be encouraged to break existing laws or to avoid all the usual penalties for same. If there is a law passed granting amnesty (such as with those who avoided the draft in the Vietnam era) then that would be a matter of new law. But that is the way to go about it: by the rule of law, not by non-enforcement of existing laws, and confused, contradictory, and (merely) politically-soaked policy, as we have today.

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The 2003 document, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope” — from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, states:

39. The Church recognizes the right of a sovereign state to control its borders in furtherance of the common good. It also recognizes the right of human persons to migrate so that they can realize their God-given rights. These teachings complement each other. While the sovereign state may impose reasonable limits on immigration, the common good is not served when the basic human rights of the individual are violated. . . .

78. As explained above, the Catholic Church recognizes the right and responsibility of sovereign nations to control their borders and to ensure the security interests of their citizens. Therefore, we accept the legitimate role of the U.S. and Mexican governments in intercepting undocumented migrants who attempt to travel through or cross into one of the two countries. We do not accept, however, some of the policies and tactics that our governments have employed to meet this shared responsibility.

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The consistent theme in Catholic documents is compassion for the immigrant (legal or illegal), while acknowledging the validity of immigration laws. Hence, Pope [St.] John Paul II, in his message, “Undocumented Migrants” (7-25-95), stated:

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Migration is assuming the features of a social emergency, above all because of the increase in illegal migrants which, despite the current restrictions, it seems impossible to halt. . . . Illegal immigration should be prevented, but it is also essential to combat vigorously the criminal activities which exploit illegal immigrants. . . . Thus it is important to help illegal migrants to complete the necessary administrative papers to obtain a residence permit. Social and charitable institutions can make contact with the authorities in order to seek appropriate, lawful solutions to various cases.

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I think that the Church has shown great wisdom in this issue, as always. The sublime moral theology of the Church was the first thing that drew me in, back in 1990. I’ve never seen anyone or any other institution with the consistently thoughtful, deep, wise reasoning that the Church always provides on socio-political issues such as this one.

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See also:

Pope John Paul II, message for World Migration Day, 2000.

Holy See Press Office: World Day for Migrants and Refugees (collection)

Address of the Holy Father Pope John Paul II to Congress on Pastoral Care of Migrants (9 October 1998)

(Catholic Priest) Cites Church Stand Against Illegal Immigration (Dexter Duggan, The Wanderer, 04/22/2010)

Solving illegal immigration requires fixing economic causes, stresses Bishop Wester (Catholic News Agency, 6-4-10)

Migration laws must respect national sovereignty and individual rights, Pope urges (Catholic News Agency, 5-28-10)

Immigration reform is not amnesty, Bishop Wester says about bishops’ position (Catholic News Agency, 5-9-10)

Arizona immigration law shows need for reform, Archbishop Chaput writes (Catholic News Agency, 5-4-10)

Archbishop Dolan calls Arizona illegal immigrant law ‘harmful’ (Catholic News Agency, 4-28-10)

US bishops oppose ‘draconian’ Arizona immigration law (Catholic News Agency, 4-28-10)

U.S. Bishops begin push for ‘humane and comprehensive’ solution to immigration issues (Catholic News Agency, 1-7-10)

Illegal Immigration and Catholic Social Teaching, Fr. Thomas Berg (Catholic News Agency, 5-18-10)

[see also other related articles mentioned as further links in the sidebars of all these CNA articles]

I reiterate that all of this expressed opinion has been on my blog for almost nine years now. But that idealistically presupposes (heaven help me to stop being an idealist in such a cynical world) that a person who claims to be accurately conveying my opinions (as opposed to inventing fantasy short stories having no relation whatever to my true views) would spend five minutes reading a relevant paper of mine.

No one does that anymore, when it comes to these hot-button topics like illegal immigration. And not only this; I have also written a great deal on the topic, and have debated it with those of a more liberal or leftish bent (one of them a fairly well-known “new pro-life” figure):

Moreover, the so-called “cages” we always hear about were built during Obama’s regime, in fiscal year 2015. Tear gas was used once a month on average by the Obama administration. Even Jeh Johnson, Obama’s DHS Secretary admits separating families was necessary at the time, and still stands by the policy today. According to an article on 6-18-19 from The Washington Post (no conservative outlet), the Obama administration deported far more illegal immigrants than Trump has:

As John Adams said, “facts are stubborn things.” They sure are.

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But to wrap up, I go back to the meme that was brought up. First of all (it should be unnecessary to note, but here goes): memes are not philosophical or moral treatises. Most are proverbial in nature. If we study this sort of literature in the Bible, we learn that proverbs are not absolute. They allow of exceptions. They are general statements. My favorite couplet in Proverbs seems to be a contradiction. But it really isn’t. One proverb holds in one type of situation, and the other, in a different situation. One must exercise prudence to know when to apply which:

I myself, faced with one such fool, had to grapple with this prudential matter of which verse to apply, in determining whether to write this very paper.  At first, I was inclined to apply verse 4 in this situation. But at length (floating in my little pool under the hot sun, thinking about this), I concluded that application of verse 5 was the wiser course. Admittedly (being a writer and a straight shooter at that and unafraid to render “controversial” opinions), I usually choose speaking out over injustices, rather than saying nothing, so perhaps no one is surprised by my preference for Proverbs 26:5 in this instance.

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So let’s consider briefly a Catholic’s (and American’s) responsibility to an unhealthy or dehydrated illegal immigrant who has crossed into our country. Do we medically treat him or her? Of course we do: this is Catholic (and broadly Christian ) teaching, and in fact, this is what routinely happens in fact. It’s US policy now, and has been all along, regardless of who holds power in Washington.

But do we have a moral obligation to offer free health care to this person the rest of his or her life (and at taxpayers’ expense)? No. This is a very different question (and, I submit, what the meme was driving at). The person has entered illegally, and as we have seen, the Catholic Church agrees that countries can enforce immigration laws; so the first thing to be dealt with (after necessary medical care) is determining legality, and possibly deporting the person.

In summary, then, no one (who is compassionate — even including us wicked, cruel, heartless conservatives) is wishing for anyone to die or suffer: least of all because of no medical care on this side of the border. We have to do two things: treat sick people and prevent illegal immigration, including deporting those here now. So we treat the sick illegal immigrant and then (if we follow the rule of law) we send them out of the country with instructions on how to enter legally. But as to the DACA dreamers (yet another and distinct sub-issue), I (along with 69% of Republicans) am in favor of letting them stay, as I wrote about in September 2017.

Perfect consistency (despite what my calumnious detractor “thinks” he “knows” about my views): compassion and the rule of law . . . One without the other is immoral and unacceptable. It’s not either/or. It’s both/and. This is Catholic (and biblical) teaching and it makes perfect sense. Bearing false witness against another (especially fellow Christians: “let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith”: Galatians 6:10, RSV) is not Catholic or biblical teaching.

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Photo credit: Arizona – Air agents from the Office of Air and Marine’s Tucson Air Branch prepare from a Blackhawk helicopter to began a rescue mission of an illegal alien stranded on a ledge of the Cerro Colorado Mountains near Arivaca, Arizona (8-14-12) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

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