Immigration and the Rule of Law

Sunday’s readings all pertain to nature and nature’s God who created all the earth and made it fertile.   Isaiah uses the analogy of the fertility of earth compared to the fruitfulness of the Word of God, and Jesus gives us the parable of the sower and the seed.  Some of the seed falls on rocky soil or in the thorns, but it is only the seed that falls on good soil that thrives and survives.  It is interesting to note that the word ‘human’ comes from the same root word as ‘humus’ meaning earth, or soil.  Each of us has the capacity to lead productive, full lives, but it depends on whether or not we cultivate the gifts we have been granted, and develop the good habits and discipline that ultimately leads to happiness and success in life.

The same holds true for society as a whole.  If society squanders its resources and human capital, it cannot survive.  If there is one lesson we must learn from history, it is that even the most powerful society will eventually crumble unless it is rooted in culture of morality.  The Roman civilization was destroyed from within when their culture abandoned morality, and family life dissembled, no longer producing honest, productive citizens.   America became the world’s most powerful economy because people were willing to work hard, keep their promises, and obey the rule of law.  Businesses cannot manufacture hard-working, honest people to employ, nor can government create them by force of law.  They must rely on families to produce responsible citizens, assisted by their religious beliefs and taught to be honest and industrious.   For two hundred years, immigrants flooded into America with little but their honesty and willingness to work, and they “made it,” with no government aid or welfare assistance.  The economic freedom and free markets in America enabled our melting pot society to become the economic powerhouse we now take for granted.

European countries, on the other hand, have become welfare states where most immigrants end up dependent on government assistance, in part because the powerful trade unions prevent them from entering the workforce.  This same thing is happening now in California where a study done in 2012 by the Center for Immigration Studies, revealed that 82% of illegal Hispanic immigrants are receiving welfare benefits, compared to 61% of legal immigrants.  More recently, it was reported that California spends $23 Billion a year on illegal immigrants who use state-funded programs.   If California were not running a massive deficit, this expenditure alone would require over $2000/year in state taxes from every citizen, i.e., $8000/year from a tax-paying family of four!  Not only does the availability of welfare benefits attract illegal immigrants, it sets up a situation in which politicians who promote dependence on welfare create a loyal voting base, especially if proof of citizenship is not required at the voting booth.  This is exactly what Democrats are trying to do in Texas, in an effort to turn that state from red to blue.   This couldn’t be more obvious since the federal government refuses to protect the boarder and the Justice Department sued Texas for requiring a free, state-issued ID card in order to vote.

Ironically, many immigrants are attracted to America to escape their homeland where the rule of law has broken down, but they enter this country illegally because legal immigration is nearly impossible and out of their reach.  We sanitize this reality by calling people “undocumented” rather than acknowledging that they have broken the law and immigrated illegally.  Failure to obey the law contributes to lack of respect for the rule of law and strikes at the heart of the common good.  The “Rule of Law” is commonly defined by four measures: 1.) Rules are prospective, not retroactive, and not impossible to comply with; 2.) Rules are clear and coherent; 3.) Rules are stable, allowing people to be guided by their knowledge; 4.) Those charged with authority to make and enforce rules are themselves accountable for their own compliance and must administer the law consistently.   All of this is essential to the common good.  Unfortunately, the “rule of law” with regard to US immigration is practically non-existent.  In recent years, our immigration laws have become reactionary and retrospective, they are a bureaucratic mess that few can understand or comply with, and those in authority have openly refused to enforce the law consistently, even openly defying it.  In the meanwhile, we have refused to secure our boarders, giving an open invitation to illegal immigration, along with the suggestion that people will not be deported, but instead receive welfare assistance.

All of this flies in the face of common sense and Catholic doctrine which holds that every country has the duty to secure its borders and enforce its immigration laws consistently.   Human freedom demands that people be allowed to migrate for the good of their family and future, but not illegally.  Archbishop Gomez has pointed out that the rule of law has broken down with respect to immigration and this is contributing significantly to the problems we are now encountering.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church stresses that immigrants have an obligation “to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”  (CCC 2241)  When interviewed last week on Catholic TV (EWTN), the Archbishop of Honduras said that President Obama’s plan to spend $3.8 Billion is a waste of time and money.  He said that if the US really wanted to address the problem, we would close our borders, so that people will stop making the dangerous trip over and over until they get through.  What Honduras really needs, he said, is help overcoming the drug lords, violence, and government corruption that beleaguers their nation.   As Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said recently, during an interview on EWTN, “We currently have little or no fence on our border, but a very narrow gate for legal immigration.  What we really need is impenetrable border protection and a wide gate for legal immigration.”  This sums up the problem.  If we need and want immigrants to enter our country (President Obama recently quipped that they hold the future to the success of America), we should simplify the process of legal immigration and allow honest people and qualified refugees to enter legally.   By re-establishing the rule of law with respect to immigration, we would give people the right incentives to immigrate, while starting them off with respect and appreciation for our laws, and without fear of reprisal for having entered our county illegally.  Not only are they more likely to become honest, hard-working citizens, contributing to our great nation, they will become patriots.

Human life is the most precious gift imaginable, and the people risking their lives and the lives of their children to immigrate illegally, deserve better.  Our country has, until recently, welcomed immigrants and afforded them the opportunity to become full-fledged American citizens.  There’s no reason we cannot return to a policy that simplifies the process of legal immigration.  But first we must secure our borders, not just to protect our sovereignty, but for the safety of those so desperate that they would send their young children on a life-threatening journey to escape their homeland.  Let our country be the “good soil” in which immigrants can flourish and benefit from their honesty and hard work, just the way our immigrant ancestors did.