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Church and the Illegal Alien State
By Jon E. Dougherty
2 March 2006
| Voices Magazine | Earlier this week the Los Angeles Times quoted Cardinal Mahoney, head of the Archdiocese of L.A., as saying that, if restrictive immigration reforms currently under consideration in Congress would become law, he would encourage all 288 parishes in his charge to defy any new federal laws seeking to crack down on illegal immigration. With all due respect to His Eminence, it is precisely this kind of attitude that has allowed the problem of illegal immigration to fester into the boil it has become on the behind of the American scene.

In denouncing what he labeled "hysterical" anti-immigrant sentiment both in his state and across the nation, the cardinal deigned to claim that natives who want the kind of reforms – tighter border control; punishment of American employers who hire illegals; high-tech dual fencing along the border – passed by the House last December are "un-American," unsympathetic, and uncompassionate.

"The whole concept of punishing people who serve immigrants is un-American," he said. "If you take this to its logical, ludicrous extreme, every single person who comes up to receive Holy Communion, you have to ask them to show papers. It becomes absurd and the church is not about to get into that. The church is here to serve people…. We're not about to become immigration agents. It just throws more gasoline on the discussion and inflames people."

Talk about hysterics.

For beginners, the cardinal's claim about Holy Communion is flat-out ludicrous. I've reviewed the tough new immigration reform measures, and there is nothing in them that would require priests to say, "The body and blood of Christ – but only if you're in this country legally." Come on.

What the provisions do call for, however, is a requirement that all charities – including those run by the Catholic Church – refrain from providing organized assistance to known illegal aliens. As with the tougher employer provisions, the point of this restraint not to transform priests and employers into "immigration agents," but to eliminate another of the many incentives currently in place for foreigners to cross illegally.

Regarding the good cardinal's accusation that anyone opposed to these reforms is "un-American," well, that's like saying any Catholic (including myself) opposed to his point of view regarding immigration reform is a heathen.

I have heard a lot of criticism over the years from the left-wing hierarchy of the American Catholic church regarding efforts to tighten our borders, impede illegal immigration and curb the social, political and cultural costs it causes. And most of that criticism generally focuses on one thing – that Americans who favor serious immigration reform are not compassionate enough. That's bunk.

I understand well the church's message of compassion, but compassion is a two-way street and, so far regarding immigration, it's been one-way all the way in favor of the non-citizens. Illegal aliens are provided with jobs, free health care, free education, and welfare benefits for their children. Some states have reduced college tuition for illegal aliens and others are considering giving them driver's licenses. In fact, practically every immigration-related policy in the U.S. is geared towards accommodating illegal immigrants in one way or another. Meanwhile, there is little empathy among left-wing church and secular leaders for the beleaguered American taxpayers and property owners on the hook for all of this mandated compassion.

Then there is the other side of the border, so to speak. Who among Cardinal Mahoney and his allies have called for a little compassion from the government of Mexico which, for decades, has exported its poverty to the United States? What would Jesus do to Mexican President Vicente Fox, Mexican legislators and their predecessors, for their repeated inability or refusal to provide sustainable infrastructure, gainful employment, and a safe, corruption-free civic and social environment for his own people? Canada is no haven of personal liberty and freedom, but at least Canadians have built a successful economic and social model which alleviates the need for average north-of-the-border citizens to sneak into America for work and benefits.

There is also the fact that the U.S. is waging a global war on terror. But even were it not for that threat, Americans have every right for their government to know who is coming into our country, why they are hear, where they are going, and when the plan to leave. The very concept of sovereignty hinges on that fact.

Cardinal Mahoney, or any religious, civic or government official, can work for any reform measures they prefer. But they have no right or moral authority to call for open defiance of the law of the land, simply because they don't agree with it. That's un-American.
Jon E. Dougherty is author of Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border, and founder/editor-in-chief of Voices Magazine.