Immigration Pt. II

My previous post on this subject was mostly a rant in an effort to call out liberally minded Catholics and their bearing false witness regarding other Catholics. It was an effort to point out the error of taking one aspect of Catholic teaching out of context in order to justify a false, romantic narrative and support actions that would actually harm both refugees and American citizens as well as continue, rather than solve, the problem.

Here I will take on some of their other arguments, hopefully in a more coherent way.

Two things that I wanted to address in the previous post but didn't are:

1. Using the claims that were made against us are inherently hateful and racist
2. That illegal immigration is beneficial to the economy

First, in criticizing fellow Catholics who use the safety arguments that were made against us coupled with the racism that has existed in this country, and that this supposed rhetoric is the return of hate, is a claim that has no evidence to support it, especially on closer examination of what's actually being said as well as the differences between historical context.

When Americans were arguing against admitting or for limiting Irish Catholics coming into the country, there was no evidence to support the claims of danger, so it actually was coming from hateful bias. But to assert that the same claim is hateful at all times is false, for there is evidence for it now.

We can start with those who've been raped and killed by illegal aliens in California, Arizona, and Oregon. We can point to shots being fired across the border and a man being stabbed multiple times by illegals hiding under a bridge during his nightly jog. We can point to the fact that despite the desire to revitalize downtown Laredo, TX, no one is going because there's not enough of a police presence.

We can point to ranchers who tell us that they can no longer trust those crossing through their land because they steal and destroy property, whereas forty years ago they would work their way to their final destinations. We can point to video surveillance of large groups of mostly men crossing in the middle of the night with AK style weapons on their backs. We can point to the infiltration of MS-13 who engage in murder, drug-trafficking, sex-trafficking, racketeering, and extortion (details found here). These facts alone are more than sufficient to prove that safety concerns are not overblown.

Second is their assertion that illegal immigrants benefit the economy, which is completely absurd.

It certainly makes for higher profit for those employing them because they are getting cheap labor, but this is a deliberate violation of the human dignity this podcast is claiming to uphold, thereby undermining their credibility.

As I pointed out in my previous post, the argument is about the difference between legal and illegal, orderly vs disorderly. If anything, the Catholics that they are denouncing as hateful are actually the ones who are more compassionate. They are the ones who want an immigration system where the current situation is avoided entirely, where those coming here for a better life can be taken care of and not left traumatized and starving. The mirror they ask these fellow Catholics they should hold up to themselves.