Border Cross
http://www.allenwestfoundation.org/1988
The Catholic bishops of the United States are urging the House to enact the Senate immigration bill in the name of “justice for immigrants.” Parishioners are being asked to send congressmen postcards that call for “a path to citizenship for undocumented persons,” “legal paths for low-skilled immigrant workers to come and work in the United States,” and “due process protections [in] our immigration enforcement policies.” The postcards, notably, say nothing about increasing enforcement, even though that is one of the main advertisements that politicians make for the bill that the bishops advocate — and even though the bishops’ conference has elsewhere grudgingly acknowledged “the legitimate role of the U.S. government in intercepting unauthorized migrants.”
The bishops are not thinking straight on this issue, and no Catholic — or well-meaning citizen — should have the slightest qualm about rejecting their policy prescriptions.
There is ample support in the Bible, in the history of Catholic social thought, and in the Catechism — and some support in common moral reasoning — for some of the bishops’ premises. We are indeed obligated to “welcome the stranger,” and to treat all people with justice and compassion. That does not mean we are obligated to offer legal status to people who came here illegally, or to double existing immigration levels.
Read more from the National Review Online here.