A Way Out for Illegal Immigration
Norman Roberts
April 11, 2009
What is it about illegal aliens? It´s a subject that brings out a mean streak in people. Some of the kindest, gentlest, most generous people I know become absolute Scrooges when it comes to illegal immigrants. They would deny them access to work, housing or health care. They would close our schools to their children. They would deport them, millions of them, without a thought to the humanitarian catastrophe that would produce. And a catastrophe it would be. Mass deportations always are. Ask a Cherokee about the Trail of Tears. Ask Greek or a Turk about the mutual expulsions of the 1920s. Ask a Bosnian, a Serb, a Croat, or an Albanian about ethnic cleansing.

We aren´t going to deport these people, not in large numbers, and it is in no one´s best interest to keep them among us as an oppressed sub-culture. We have to find a better way. When someone has an infectious disease we have to give them treatment lest it spread, no matter who they are. We are all better off when everyone has a decent place to live and a job that pays a living wage, one that will support a family, and that means all of us. We recognized long ago that we need to educate our children, all of them, and make no mistake, these are our children. Many of them were born here and regardless of the status of their parents they enjoy constitutional rights of citizenship. Citizens or not we are poorly served if they are not in school.

One argument is that illegal immigrants are free loaders. They consume public services but don´t pay taxes. It isn´t true. If they buy anything they pay sales taxes. If they live in a rented room somebody is paying real estate taxes. If they work using a phony social security number they pay payroll taxes without much hope of future benefit and it is we who are the freeloaders. If their employers are at all honest they also pay income taxes and when they overpay they can´t file for refunds they are entitled to under the law. Since they have violated one law they are denied protection under another.



Church teaching on this is clear. As Christians we have a special responsibility toward the needy and vulnerable. We get that message over and over again and we respond in many ways. We support emergency aid programs with enthusiasm, especially when they are temporary and designed to get people back to work. We give generously to all sorts of charities. We applaud when our government spends billions responding to natural disasters, even when they are halfway around the world. But many of us draw a line when those in need are here illegally. It isn´t a very Christian attitude. Nowhere in scripture does it suggest only the law abiding are entitled to our compassion.

There is one thing we could do and the church tells us we should do but doesn´t get much attention. We could address the reasons so many people endure such hardships to emigrate in the first place. We could do something about the economic stress prevalent across our southern border, and it wouldn´t have to cost us anything. We could further open our trade policies. The Mexican economy has been growing at a remarkable rate for most of the past century, 5% or more annually for much of that period, and income per capita is now the highest in Latin America. It´s still low in comparison to ours, underemployment and income distribution are still serious issues, and that´s what´s driving the emigration. A few more years of 5% growth could work wonders though. NAFTA was a big boost for the US, Mexico, and Canada. Expanding it could do more. We could suggest that to our congressmen and women. Renegotiating NAFTA wouldn´t be such a bad idea if it means more trade. New restrictions could be a disaster all around.

Norman Roberts

Living in Plano, Texas
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