Thread: Bishops decry U.S. federal feast-day raid as ‘heartlessly’

The Catholic Church needs to spend more time helping these people in their own homelands, and quit aiding and abetting criminals here in the U.S. And do a little Bible Preaching to them about obeying the Law!

http://www.catholic.org/national/nation ... p?id=22514

Bishops decry U.S. federal feast-day raid as ‘heartlessly’ targeting illegal immigrants
12/28/2006

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Catholic Online) – U.S. federal immigration raids in a southern Minnesota city and other sites in six states served to heartlessly divide families, disrupt a community and undermine efforts made to bridge racial and cultural divisions, according to the state’s Catholic bishops, who called for an end of such actions.



In a strongly worded Dec. 21 statement concerning the Dec. 12 raids on Swift & Co. meat plants in six states involving about 1,000 federal agents, the seven bishops of Minnesota said that they were “distressed and disheartened” by the law-enforcement effort that targeted illegal immigrants, especially as it took place on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas.

In Washington on Dec. 13, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie L. Myers, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras and Cache County (Utah) Attorney N. George Daines announced that an estimated 1,282 persons were arrested as part of an ongoing worksite enforcement investigation into immigration violations and an identity theft scheme.

Swift facilities in Greeley, Colo., Grand Island, Neb., Cactus, Texas, Hyrum, Utah, and Marshalltown, Iowa, were also raided, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), the largest investigative arm of the U.S. federal Department of Homeland Security.

Of the almost 1,300 illegal alien workers arrested at the six plants, 65 were also charged with criminal violations related to identity theft or other violations, such as re-entry after deportation, the ICE said in a statement. Countries of origin of those arrested, according to the ICE, in the ongoing investigation that began in February included: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Laos, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The Minnesota bishops questioned the value of the raids in combating identity theft. “In fact,” they said, “few of the workers arrested at the Swift plant in Worthington were charged as perpetrators of the identity theft scheme.”

“To add insult to injury, immigration officials chose the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” they said, “as the day to target these workers and their families.”

But according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Tim Counts said "the date was chosen only because, logistically, everything came together that day," reported the St. Paul-based daily Pioneer Press.

The bishops in their statement said that the raids "heartlessly divided families, disrupted the whole community of Worthington and undermined progress that that city had made toward bridging racial and cultural differences."

"We call for an end of such raids which violate the rights of workers and the dignity of work,” the Minnesota bishops said.

“These men and women are our brothers and sisters; as workers, they provide our food; as residents, they support our local businesses and communities."

“We must always remember that their dignity as human beings must be foremost in our thinking as we address the critical issues surrounding immigration,” the bishops said. “Our faith calls us to overcome all forms of discrimination and violence so that we may build relationships that are just and loving.”

Noting that “the raids did nothing to advance needed reform,” the seven Catholic prelates pointed to “criteria for reform” in overhauling the U.S. immigration system, proposed by the U.S. and Mexican bishops’ conferences, that includes:

- An “earned legalization program” toward permanent residency for the undocumented.

- Allowance for family members to be reunited with loved ones in the United States.

- Establishment of “legal pathways for migrants to come and work in a safe, humane and orderly manner.”

- Restoration of due-process protections for immigrants.

”Comprehensive immigration reform, including a broad legalization program, should be a policy priority when Congress meets in the new year,” the bishops said.

Bishop Bernard Harrington of the Diocese of Winona, in which Worthington is located, was joined in signing the statement by Archbishop Harry Flynn and Auxiliary Bishop Richard Pates of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Bishops Victor Balke of Crookston, Dennis Schnurr of Duluth, John Nienstedt of New Ulm and John Kinney of St. Cloud.

“We must always remember that their dignity as human beings must be foremost in our thinking as we address the critical issues surrounding immigration,” the bishops said. “Our faith calls us to overcome all forms of discrimination and violence so that we may build relationships that are just and loving.”

Wow! I guess they have not noticed that we are trying to overcome HUGE discrimation,crime and violence that has been brought into our country by the immigration of Illegal Aliens. These Illegals have no love in their hearts for us as they trample and spit on our American Laws, Flag and Patriotism. These "holy men" need to pick an issue that God can back them on.

Bingo April!!!!!!!BINGO!!!!!

There is a feast day in the Catholic church everyday of the year. It was not done to insult Mexicans. The Federal Government was finally doing it's job!

There is a feast day in the Catholic church everyday of the year. It was not done to insult Mexicans. The Federal Government was finally doing it's job!

.....and it made me very proud to an American.

People generally start having children when they think that they can fford to do so with the same quality of life that hey were. This creates a disadvantage for Americans and a tremendous advantage for the Third World immigrants. The presence of the immigrants in a labor market can result in the inflation adjusted pay going down for jobs at the skill level that an American family had in their last generation. It also takes a lot of lo wage decline before a Third World immigrant faces the pay that their famiy had when they worked in their home country.

Richardwrote:

The presence of the immigrants in a labor market can result in the inflation adjusted pay going down for jobs at the skill level that an American family had in their last generation.

Vey true and this is just another crisis for the American people caused by this illegal invasion along with the lost jobs, crimes and violence. No good has come or is going to come out of illegal immigration. How can illegal immigration ever be considered a good thing when its very beginning is in breaking the law?