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| The Storm Over Immigration |
| 2006-07-01 |
| by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, First Things Where did the storm over immigration come from? In conversations with folks who are in the thick of the battle, I am struck that everybody seems rather taken by surprise. A year ago, they say, they knew the issue was there, along with many other issues, but nobody anticipated that it would become the politically dominant question that it is today. . . . What is truly striking is the rapidity with which the public debate over immigration policy–or lack of policy–seems to be changing. At the big EWTN bash down in Philadelphia last weekend, I was asked, “What would Christ do about illegal immigrants?” This is a variation of the WWJD question that was ubiquitous a few seasons go. Anyone who asks what Jesus would do if he were president of the United States or a United States senator has a very big problem with Christology. . . . With respect to politics and everything else, the better framing of the question is, What would Christ have us do? I am not at all sure. In terms of what’s good for the American economy, I am impressed by the arguments of the Wall Street Journal and many economists that a more or less open immigration policy is, all in all, an economic plus. The Catholic bishops are also undoubtedly right in their insistence upon compassion for the twelve million or more illegal immigrants already here, and it does not detract from the moral integrity of their position that the great majority of immigrants from the South are Catholics, and therefore immigration is seen as benefiting the Church. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #7 Finally, a Catholic priest (my own faith) who gets it. Too many in our hierarchy are for open borders. I'd like to bitchslap Mahoney every time he chastises the US for not allowing open borders. Were he so morally outraged at pedophile priests in his own control, many children would've been spared a life-changing horror |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-07-01 11:26 |
| #6 If businesses want unlimited labor, I want unlimited access to products why not just go steal whatever it is you want. Isn't that the moral of the story here? Sure, we Americans work hard and give up more than 25% of our income for our own security and welfare - but don't you see, it belongs to the world. By that same train of thought - all products made belong to the world ...ie: you. Help yourself :-) |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-01 11:07 |
| #5 If businesses want unlimited labor, I want unlimited access to products. End tarriffs, quotas, and other obstructions to my access to 'cheap' goods. |
| Posted by: Uninter Whereting4376 2006-07-01 10:17 |
| #4 "The political elites seem to be indifferent to the disruption of communities resulting from unbounded illegal immigration." The political elites, yes, and some members of the business community and some economists, who are indifferent to the effects on the general American populace. The planned huge influx of guest workers who are accustomed to earning 1/6 or less of American daily wages will result a new kind of wealth redistribution, this time from the middle and lower-middle classes to the impoverished and illegal. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-07-01 09:57 |
| #3 Yes, that's one of the main reasons I lost my religion, Jesus was a "Rabble Rouser" much like the present day (And largely unchanged)Islamonuts, only the name has changed in 2000 some years, the whole place is a fester. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-07-01 09:12 |
| #2 “What would Christ do about illegal immigrants?” Considering that Christ was residing in the Roman Empire where people traveled freely, what would he indeed think. You think people would like to be part of an Empire again? That could be arranged. The last material I've reviewed covering the era certainly points that even Judeans wanted the Romans out. Part of the dynamics leading to his being tacked up on the cross, was because of fears of another uprising against the Romans. Can't we just all get along. /sarcasm. You think Jesus would have been happy for the foreigner [re:Rome] and his interference to be gone from his ancestral lands? |
| Posted by: Uninter Whereting4376 2006-07-01 09:03 |
| #1 I don't have a complete answer but I do know the fist step is to secure the border. Build and defend a fence. Stop the incursion. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2006-07-01 08:14 |