Reform this
“The war on terror isn’t going to be won through immigration restrictions.”
- Cardinal Mahoney
The quote is from a CSMonitor article on a House bill for immigration reform.
“The House measure includes reforms that have raised the ire of religious leaders. Specifically, it expands “alien smuggling” to include those who help an immigrant remain in the US when they know that person is in the country unlawfully - and imposes criminal penalties, ranging from prison time to fines, for those who provide such help.This definition, say faith leaders, makes no distinction between smuggling operations, on one hand, and social-service organizations, refugee and aid groups, and churches, on the other. Moreover, they say, it will make church officials into unwilling enforcers of policies with which they disagree.
The House measure would also create a new federal crime of “unlawful presence” and broaden the definition of immigrant violations, as well as grant state and local law-enforcement agencies more authority to investigate, apprehend, arrest, and detain immigrants they find.”
March 16th, 2006 at 11:25 am
The Los Angeles times recently reported on the discovery that remains recently unearthed at an MTA excavation site in Boyle Heights were actually those of Chinese immigrants from the turn of the century who had been denied the opportunity to be buried in the adjacent Evergreen cemetary. Described as a reminder of a dark past for the city of Los Angeles, these Chinese immigrants were brought to this country to work, and yet, facing strong anti-immigrant sentiment, were prevented from even the most basic social and civil rights. This recent discovery can not help but point to a disturbing moral trend in the development of this nation. As new, tougher immigration reforms are being discussed in congress, it is clear that time and time again we as a country have nursed our fears and in turn denied hospitality to the stranger. It is apparent, from both these recent discoveries and recent developments in congress that the old addage rings true, the more things change the more they stay the same. Too long has there been a dangerous inter-mingling of unexamined politics and passive Christianity. I applaud Cardinal Mahoney for his stand on these issues and would hope that his challenge marks a turning point for both catholics and protestants, and that the light of Christlike compassion would shine bright in the midst of dark times.