Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body.
– Hebrews 13:1-3
This video exposes the absolute hypocrisy behind the anti-immigrant movement. Below are some comments that I left at the LifeSiteNews website on this subject. (That was before I had seen this video.) How is it that farmers have the nerve to even speak up about their labor shortage problems? Shouldn't they be immediately arrested? They were the ones that were knowingly hiring undocumented worker for years and paying them miserable wages. But no one seems to be angry at them, they were all too happy to buy cheap fruit and vegetables from them in the past. Now what are they going to do?
I started out as a Michele Bachmann supporter. But Rick Perry has won me over with his compassion for the Hispanic immigrants that are only here trying to support their families. If we are pro-Life and pro-Family we should feel some compassion for those who have fled poverty in their homelands.+ + +
Bachmann’s goal to build a wall between the US and Mexico seems to me to indicate a lack of vision on the issues. It’s easy to build a wall, but it doesn’t solve the problem. Many immigrants arrive legally with tourist visas and then just overstay their visas. Building a wall and demanding identification documents restricts the freedom and rights of everyone.
Part of the culture of death is the decline of Christian morality. If business people stopped exploiting immigrants out of greed, then that would reduce the attraction for many people to come here in the first place.
I wonder what solutions people propose who are so anti-immigrant. Should we just abort hundreds of thousands back to the countries where they came from? Or imprison them in concentration camps? Should we also promote “population control” in those countries to solve the problem?
Most immigrants come here to work. They clean your dishes after you have had a relaxing dinner at a restaurant. They change the sheets of your bed at a hotel that you enjoyed your last vacation at. They maintain your lawns so that you can spend more time with your wife and children on the weekends.
Yes, there is an immigration problem, but let’s not pretend that we aren’t part of that problem.
If the pro-Life community wants to be taken seriously then it must respect the personhood of people that are unwanted at all stages of life. Most of these "unwanted immigrants" have committed no crime other than to be in the country without going through the proper paperwork. Most of them have taxes automatically deducted from their paychecks -- including Social Security taxes.
In the past the doors have been wide open to massive numbers of European immigrants, but the doors have never been open to our neighbors from Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
If not for the immigrants, US population would be declining and we would be facing a much more severe economic crisis -- similar to what Europe is currently facing. I don't think most people realize the positive benefits for the economy of immigration. It stimulates housing and retail. Why do you think corporations engage in so much Spanish language advertising? They aren't stupid. If it didn't help their bottom line, they wouldn't be spending so much money.
We all benefit through lower prices for goods and services. We may not like to admit that inflation is kept in check by cheap immigrant labor at home and even cheaper labor under slave-like conditions abroad, but it's the truth.
Certainly we need to control our borders and control immigration, but we have a leaky border by design because it has certain benefits for the economy. Now that the world is going through tough economic times everyone looks for a scapegoat and immigrants have historically been easy targets because they can't speak up and defend themselves. Sound familiar?
"As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.... as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me." (Mt. 25:40,45)
The root of the problem is “illegal business practices” not “illegal immigrants”. By the way, you don't call someone speeding on the highway -- which most of us have done -- an "illegal motorist". He or she is a person who happens to be doing something illegal at the time. Keep in mind that these are real people who are trying to do the best for their families and are faced with tough decisions. Most people would prefer to remain living in the country where they were born with their family and friends.
My main point is, how do you take somewhere between 10 and 20 million people -- men, women and children -- and remove them from their homes and ship them off like cattle to the countries of their origin without a massive police and military operation which would most certainly involve a high level of brutality. And this would also require massive detention centers. What kind of militaristic state bureaucracy would need to be created to accomplish such a task and how do we know that this organization would not turn its sights to other unwanted elements in society once it was created? Once this sort of thing is established it inevitably becomes a permanent element of society. And you and I will be required to constantly prove that we are legitimate citizens. Think of the impact this will have on our freedoms and rights.
Imagine the impact, not just directly on the families, but also on the communities. There would be severe social and economic impacts in instituting such a policy. And what about the impact on the countries to which these people would be displaced?
The pro-Life community rightfully laments the loss of about 52 million children through abortion since Roe v. Wade in 1973. Why not think of the undocumented workers as those who have been called by God to help fill the void for those who never had the chance to breathe their first breaths?
I hope this helps.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment