I got hit over the head on Monday with the Mass reading from Deuteronomy 10 because it speaks so eloquently about the immigration issue.
Here is is in case you missed it.
For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods,
the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;
who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.
So you too must befriend the alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
That couldn’t be clearer. We have not only a human, but a spiritual responsibility to welcome the stranger, befriend the alien and assist the needy and homeless.
What I love about this is that the responsibility to do so is linked with the Hebrews’ own status as refugees, nomads and foreigners in the land.
How crucial and original of God to reveal himself to a tribe of nomads in the desert! The symbolism and irony is rich and profound for all of us who are followers of the Lord Jesus are pilgrims here. We are strangers in a strange land, longing for our true home, our promised land–the city who’s maker and architect is God.
I remember the old gospel song putting it so well.
“This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s golden shore,
and I can’t be at home in this world anymore.”
We are to welcome the stranger and the refugee, and I can’t figure out why so many Americans–so many Catholics for that matter–are so upset about the immigration issue. This country was built on immigrants. Most of us came from somewhere else. As far as we know, even the Native Americans were immigrants if you go back far enough.
The Catholic bishops have given clear teaching on this matter. Immigrants are to be welcomed and assisted. However, the bishops also teach that countries have the right to define and defend their sovereign borders.
What I don’t get is why this is so difficult and controversial. I realize the problem is immense and I also realize I am not an expert. I’m just another American with an opinion, but why does this need to be such a threat?
Why is it so hard to both defend our borders while also welcoming the people who wish to come here and be part of our great nation? If Trump wants to build a wall I’m of the opinion that he should do so, but instead of calling it a wall, why not say it is a boundary with gateways in order to welcome and process immigrants efficiently and successfully?
Why can’t this boundary barrier be designed with entry points at key locations complete with processing centers, where refugees and potential immigrants can have their papers validated, receive a health check and get lined up in programs for full citizenship? Why can’t a program be set up which would direct them to communities where we actually need people? The depressed cities of the North and the increasingly empty towns of the Midwest are full of housing opportunities, and if cheap labor is available companies would soon re-locate, and with local government assistance there would be jobs, language courses and eventually full citizenship.
Nobody could object to such a program. It would be positive and welcoming to the people who really want to come here for a better life. If there is a path to citizenship, then they would take part, pay taxes and contribute to our country. Furthermore, whatever political party put such a program in place would immediately garner a huge loyal group of voters loyal to them. It seems a no brainer.
At the same time, the welcome gates would have in place the necessary screening so criminals and those who have no right to be here would be filtered out and returned to their own countries.
Americans are a can do people. We are so smart, so optimistic, so welcoming and so entrepreneurial. We have big hearts and sharp brains. We’re hard working and creative, so why is it so hard to get this right?
Father,
I believe that much of the opposition to the human waves entering at the US southern border is, ironically, related to Israeli opposition to the “one state” and/or “right of return” proposals. The issue is one of loss of a nation’s key identity – its culture, if you will – as it is swamped by immigrants who have no concept of this identity and who (under current immigration philosophy) have no incentive to try to assimilate or at least “fit in” with the existing culture.
Not to say the US culture (or modern Western culture in general) is perfect, but it is at least coherent and does provide a venue for growth and change.
My great grandparents were all immigrants, and grateful (with reservations) to be in the US and to become citizens (eventually). Certainly I’ve benefited greatly from their decision and sacrifices. But they also came here legally, following the rules at the time, and did not demand special access just because they were Irish or German (or, in today’s example, happened to have direct access to the US border).
I support legal immigration – even large immigration – but I’m turned off by those who, no matter how desperate, feel they have some inherent right to cross the border and announce “I’m here. Deal with it.”
Fr. Dwight,
I couldn’t agree with Michael’s comment more. My grandparents were also Italian immigrants who were subjected to a most stringent screening process, displayed a trade to support themselves, and were never-the-less, subjected to vicious discrimination. It is not widely publicised, but a number of Italian immigrants wereyou actually lynched in New Orleans, they were put into detention camps during WWII, under Roosevelt’s tyrannical regime. Their possessions and homes were seized and they were never afforded the reparations given to Japanese Americans as a result of the suspension of their Constitutional rights. Still, they were proud to be Americans, their sons and grandsons served and died defending this country. Their goal was always to make things better for the next generation. In doing so, their heirs would honor the previous generation.
Fast forward to previous Administrations and Immigration policy and we find only politically motivated, voter stacking (even non-citizen voters while officials either facilitate it or look the other way). As I go to stores and out in public, I rarely hear parents or children speaking in English. Large pockets of people fail to assimilate or even want to adopt the culture. The dissatisfaction is characterized by the phrase, “press 1 for English”. We seem to have the cart pushing the horse.
We aren’t doing enough to stem thereservation flow of drugs, criminals or just deadbeats from pouring into our country. 90% of Fentynal laced heroin comes through our southern border. We now have Islamic terrorist cells concentrated in parts of the US, thanks to suspension of ardent screenings and a seemingly willful previous President who labeled us as no longer being a Christian nation.
I am all for following God’s Word regarding the alien but believe this is aimed at the individual citizen and not at governments coercing funds through taxation. There are also the words of St. Paul that referenced people not willing to work, not being given things to eat. I would challenge the open borders crowd to take in a family or two. Feed and clothe them out of their personal resources. We need an impassable barrier on themoon border but with a really big door for those willing to follow the laws of our country.
And I wager you who are so proud of your Italian heritage can’t speak Italian because assimilation to you means quietly ignoring your heritage. And it’s just fine when the illegal aliens are the thousands of Israeli’s or Canadians who have overstayed their six month tourist visa’s by years. And I laugh at all the “good” Catholics around me who bristle at the idea of Mass being said in Spanish or Creole or Vietnamese but whose children and grandchildren haven’t seen an altar in a Catholic Church in decades. Sir, the Methodist’s near me are building a brand new Spanish Church at a time when Methodist Churches here are closing or hold services on a rotating basis. Lutherans are adding Spanish services because they have active congregations of less that 30. The Community Churches and Evangelicals hold special welcoming dinners and open houses along with free Spanish VBS because they seek every person they can get. There has never been any period, any period in the history of the United States when immigration has not been a political issue used by Politicians to predict the collapse of our society while the opposition sought the support of those very immigrants. Of the last six Masses I have attended two were said by Indians, one each by a Peruvian, a Vietnamese, a Ukrainian and one, just one by a native born American who is actually from our diocese.
As. Father wrote: a boundary with gateways to process immigrants efficiently and successfully. Most people enjoy the surf at an ocean beach, but not tsunami or a series of tsunamis.
We seldom read about proper immigration. How many each year? Cost, federal , state, ngo charities?
What are the costs of illegal immigration each year? We ignore proper immigration and think any number of illegal immigrants is surely absorbable so kids in detention centers is horrible, unAmerican, unChristian. How much tsunami can we handle? Congress refuses to write good laws and fund the true costs. So we argue incessantly.
I think America does a lot of good and has for decades. But I also think there is a limit to what we can do. Fix the process. Obey the law.
One reason it’s so hard to get this issue right is unfortunate articles like this one that confuse the issue. You make no distinction between legal and illegal immigration.
The issue is about the “rule of law” not immigration. How hard is this to understand?
Is there not a difference between the stranger who breaks into our home and one that we welcome in through the front door?
I spoke clearly about the need for “Welcome centers” that screen potential immigrants. This is where the illegals would be sorted out.
“At the same time, the welcome gates would have in place the necessary screening so criminals and those who have no right to be here would be filtered out and returned to their own countries.”