Putting a human face to immigration
The funeral was very crowded since it was for one of the pillars of the community at St. Patrick Parish. The deceased was a woman, an Irish woman, who had been a member of the parish for more than 60 years. Her husband had died years ago, but this lady had continued to be an active and wellrespected member of the Church. At the funeral were a couple, a Mexican couple, who attends Spanish Mass every Sunday. They had been neighbors of this woman for at least 10 years and had helped her by cleaning her house and yard, going to the store, shoveling snow and even caring for her in her last days. They are a caring and loving couple, who were griefstricken at the death of their neighbor and friend.
A personal encounter is what makes us first get to know someone and then we begin to have confidence, trust, love and even compassion for this person. This is what Jesus teaches us when we are told to develop a trusting love and relationship with Jesus. The woman also had been a wonderful neighbor to this couple -- even caring for their children when they came home early from school early and their mother and father were working. In the Bible in Leviticus we read that “when a stranger dwells among you in your land, do not taunt him. The stranger who dwells with you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love him like yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt -- I am the Lord, your God (Lev 19:33-34).
The Catholic Church in the United States has always been an immigrant Church. Our nation, the United States, has always been a nation of immigrants who foster innovation, start new businesses and enrich our culture and arts. Immigrants are a national resource and invaluable asset to our nation.
The faces of immigration, these lives, go beyond statistics. This Mexican couple and their children, along with other families, are terrified, living in fear. They are part of an underclass in our nation of people who work for low wages in service jobs like cooking in restaurants, picking crops in fields, working in factories, building and fixing up homes and cleaning hotels and offices. They have continued to live and work in this nation -- and most pay taxes. However, we as a nation have been ineffective and indifferent to establishing a new immigration policy in this country. Our policy is merely to deport people and divide families. Deportations are not new. President Obama deported more people than any other president before him.
As Catholics we are expected to show mercy and compassion to the immigrant living among us. Jesus said, “I was a stranger,” an immigrant. These persons are our brothers and sisters in Christ, possessing a lasting dignity from their birth. Our patron saint, St. Patrick, described himself as an “unlearned refugee.” His faith was shaped by his experience of isolation and captivity in another country.
So, this immigration problem is not new. In fact, it has become increasingly worse in the United States since we have a government that has refused to act on any type of policy and businesses who continue to exploit and hire workers for low wages. Immigrants have always come to the United States looking for a better life -- fleeing violence, war, lack of jobs. We, as a nation, are called “to welcome the stranger among us” as Catholic Social Teaching instructs us.
There are three main principles of Catholic Social Teaching. First, people have a right to migrate -- to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. Everyone has a right to receive from the earth what is necessary for life — food, clothing, shelter. In addition, all people have a right to an education, medical care, religion freedom and the expression of one’s culture.
The second principle is that every nation has the right to regulate its borders and control immigration. This principle seems as a contradiction to the first, but each nation must make its decisions not out of selfinterest, but with regard to the common good of all including citizens and those without papers. More often, people migrate because they are desperate and are searching for a safe and secure environment that does not exist in their own countries. They endure terrible hardships to live and work in another nation, such as problems and barriers dealing with language, exploitation and clashes of cultures.
The third principle is that every country must regulate its borders with justice and mercy. So, the first two principles must be understood in the context of the third. Immigration policies should also take into account the right of families to live together. A merciful and just immigration policy will not permit married couples or children to live separated from their families. An immigration policy that allows people to work for years but refuses to offer them the chance to gain legal status does not serve the common good.
In the Bible we learn that the Holy Family emigrated to Egypt out of fear of Herod trying to kill Jesus at birth. Jesus also reiterates the Old Testament command to love and care for the stranger among us when he states: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35).
When it comes to justice and the law, why do we not require the undocumented to do community service? Lord knows, many of our roads, bridges, buildings, churches, schools are in need of desperate repair. Along with this we should also require them to learn English and pay taxes. In fact, we have a wonderful, free program at St. Patrick to teach English. These requirements would lead one onto a path for residency or citizenship.
The Bible states clearly that “our citizenship lies in heaven and we early await a Savior from there, Christ the Lord” (Philippians 3:20). We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and called to be compassionate, kind and charitable to each other. In Proverbs we are told to “speak out in defense of the poor.” God advises us that on the last day we will be judged by our treatment of the most vulnerable among us---widows, children and immigrants.