IN THEORY:Compassion and immigration

Roman Catholic leaders began the Lenten season with a plea to parishioners to commit to immigration reform. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said he will go to Washington this month to lobby Congress to consider immigration reform legislation. Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim acknowledged on Ash Wednesday that Orange County is “ground zero” for immigration reform opponents but was “hopeful that even people who have trouble with the church’s position on immigration might dedicate a day to fasting and come to a new understanding that this can be beneficial for all.” Jim Gilchrist, a Catholic who is founder of the Minuteman Project that opposes illegal immigration, slammed the Ash Wednesday messages. “The church should stay out of government business unless it wants to lose its tax-exempt status,” he said.

Do you think immigration reform is important, and have you encouraged your followers to get involved in the issue?

The Catholic church regards comprehensive immigration reform as vital and continues to articulate the moral issues that underlie this reform, a task that ultimately belongs to our president and Congress.

As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recalled in its document “Welcoming Christ in the Migrant,” our nation was “founded by refugees fleeing religious persecution and has been inhabited since then largely by immigrants.”

My Irish ancestors were among those Irish, Polish and Italian immigrants who arrived on these shores a century and a half ago, fleeing economic despair.

Both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are replete with compelling stories of migrants with Abraham and Sarah called by God to migrate from the land of Ur to the promised land of Canaan; the exodus account of Moses leading the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt and living for 40 years as wanderers with no homeland; St. Matthew’s gospel story of Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt because their own land was not safe.

Now, as in biblical times, the root causes of migration are often economic and political both in our republic and the country of the migrant’s origin. Consequently, the solution must be shared by governments on both sides of the border.

Catholic social teaching on migration elucidates three basic principles:

The correlative issues surrounding immigration reform such as disrespect for law, solvency of public institutions, and controlling national borders will be resolved if we approach these valid concerns together with wisdom, compassion, and commitment.

MSGR. LAWRENCE J. BAIRD

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church

Newport Beach

I support immigration reform: Our policy should be reformed so that it deals aggressively and comprehensively with the millions who enter America through invasion and who remain in America through stealth. How can a nation, built on a foundation of equal justice under the law, countenance flouting of those very rules? Sneaking across our borders is a crime that contravenes the very foundation of our republic.

I favor positioning and expanding every resource — human, legal and technological — to protect our country from an invasion that has become an inundation. In addition to the many wars we have declared — the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on terrorism — we should declare war on illegal immigration. Why we are treated to images of presidents of the United States bending and bowing, if not surrendering, to the will of the president of Mexico is beyond my understanding.

We might consider how millions of trespassers strain our resources, illustrated by vast outlays for medical care, food, schooling and housing; the costs of drug-related crimes and need for increased law enforcement; as well as the threats to homeland security that are consequences of this tsunami of humanity that has encroached on our borders.

But the salient point is that our feckless immigration policy exposes a spineless failure to commit to the rule of law. By tolerating the influx of millions of illegal immigrants, and overlooking the many others who have overstayed their visas, we assault the principle of law through benign neglect, and we undermine America’s governing values.

Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, “Improper Entry by Alien,” any citizen of any country other than the United States who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact has committed a federal crime.

What is it about “federal crime” that we fail to understand? Many American citizens are incarcerated for crimes that are far less egregious than invading our country. As a great sage, Frank Zappa, said, “The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.”

The Jewish experience has much to teach about being oppressed, about yearning for freedom, about, “Let my people go.” The Jewish people have journeyed from place to place in search of a safe haven and new opportunities. The Jewish religion instructs us to be sensitive to the needs of the stranger, the downtrodden, the dispossessed and the disadvantaged. But God’s Word also teaches, “Justice, justice, shall you pursue.”

We do not need a day of fasting and introspection, as suggested by Roman Catholic leaders. We need a comprehensive policy of preventing invaders from slipping under the radar at our borders and of dealing with those who live illegally under the radar within our borders.

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

Immigration reform is certainly one of the most important issues facing the nation and our lawmakers. I think it is a good thing that Cardinal Roger Mahony and Bishop Jaime Soto are raising awareness during this Lenten season.

One of the Buddhist chants we regularly use during our retreats says, “Twenty-four labors brought us this food, we should know how it comes to us.” Are we really aware of the contributions of undocumented workers as we eat our cheap chicken fritters, California oranges and grapes, and restaurant meals from inexpensive to luxurious? Do we sleep well in our clean hotel rooms and work at ease in our clean office buildings? Do we really know how all of this comes to us or would we rather not know?

For some time now I have felt that this untenable system — whereby migrants from all over the world travel to the U.S. through great hardship, are then criminalized by not having papers or status, are unprotected by labor laws, and live in constant fear of deportation — is the new slavery. If this is not the new slavery, I think most Americans would agree that this is not a fair or just system.

We cannot be at ease until comprehensive immigration reform brings integrity to our laws and our economy.

This will take citizen action, like the day of fasting that Mahony is proposing, to show solidarity with the undocumented as we urge Congress to take steps forward. It may take some time for a system of comprehensive reform is in place, but once fair and just reform laws are enacted, across-the-board implementation and enforcement is imperative. For example, agencies patrolling the border must be well-trained and funded, and corporations that depend on undocumented workers to make their high profits must be penalized appropriately.

Although I think immigration reform should be a high priority for this Congress and a central platform issue as we move into the 2008 election, I would not actively encourage those in our Zen community to be involved. What we always encourage is for each person, through their own meditation and awareness practice, to decide where he or she can best be of service. There are many issues and needs, not least of which is the protection of children, whether they be American citizens or migrants.

REV. CAROL AGUILAR

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

It’s nice that the Roman Catholic Church is trying to do something to make it easier for all the unfortunate ones, from Mexico and elsewhere, to legally get into the U.S. and seek better lives. That is considerate. And it is understandable since most of those wanting in — at least from our southern border — are Roman Catholics.

But it would be even nicer if the church would acknowledge the ultimate reason that those people are in such dire straits that they would leave their families and their homeland — for an unknown future — is all part of the world’s overpopulation problem. And that without somehow controlling that problem, the worldwide situation will only get worse, no matter how much we relax our immigration rules. And it would be nicer yet if the church would admit to the fact that its policies against any kind of birth control are a major cause of the entire problem.

In spite of a slight decline of the so-called white race in Europe and the U.S., the overall world population — which is currently about 6.8 billion, according to Population Connection of Washington, D.C. — is expected to reach 8.9 billion by 2050. There are about 300 million of us in the U.S.; by 2050 that figure is expected to be 420 million. The economy probably cannot grow fast enough to provide jobs for that many, and the earth would be overtaxed to even provide sufficient food and potable water for that many since even at our current world population we are clearly overstressing the planet.

At best, relaxing the immigration laws would be a temporary stopgap solution that would only lead to requests for further relaxation of the laws. If we opened up the borders to all who want in, we could end up full of people unable to make living wages and having to resort to petty crime in order to survive.

For a civilized society we need to control the number of immigrants according to how our economy is growing and how we could usefully employ such people. We need to be able to welcome immigrants when we can use their work for the benefit of all, not simply let them come in when we have nothing to offer them but a bleak existence in a foreign land.

JERRY PARKS

Member

Humanist Assn. of Orange County

Immigration is not as simple as closing borders and people staying on “their side.” Life would be easy if it were. Immigration policies must see the human faces of the 11 million considered “illegal” or “undocumented.” Yes, many of them are here and up to no good, but most of them are good people trying to make a living and support their families. Many of them are brought here illegally against their will and forced to work as slaves and prostitutes. They fear being caught more than they fear their work, so they stay quiet.

We have many business owners in our congregation and we constantly discuss the need to hire legal immigrants and respect the law. On the other hand, we also know that those left outside of the law are being abused by people who don’t want to pay them a legal wage and benefits, or provide them with medical care, not realizing that if they don’t pay it in insurance now, they will pay it through the cost increases in overall healthcare to the rest of us later.

This way we all get burned. Immigrants get burned by not getting the healthcare they need, and we get burned by higher healthcare costs.

These people are human. They cry, they laugh, they have children, and they need Jesus as much as anyone. We have worked with organizations like Mika Community Development Corp. and others to reach out to them. Last summer, Harbor Trinity Church worked with Mika to repair homes and fences on Costa Mesa’s Westside.

Harbor Trinity has hosted a Latino congregation on campus for years. We made it a policy not to ask the immigration status of those coming through the doors. How could we? Would we only do that for Latino-looking people? Talk about racial profiling! What about the illegal Chinese or Vietnamese or Arabs or Eastern Europeans? We cannot be about the business of checking the political status of someone, but must be about the business of caring for the eternal and physical status of everyone. Just as we should not have passports with a person’s religion on them, we also should not have the Lord’s Supper (a celebration of our Christian unity and Jesus’ death for us) with a political requirement on it.

It is important that people be treated humanely in the immigration process and too many people are involved in a way that makes this impossible. It is important for the Christian church — and I would hope other faith communities, like those in this column — to stand with immigrants.

Christians and Jews are constantly reminded in our scriptures that true religion is to care for the widow, the orphan and the immigrant; and that we are not to find ourselves so at home here that we forget that we too are immigrants and that our real home is in Heaven.

RIC OLSEN

Lead Pastor

The Beacon

Anaheim

For people of faith in the God of grace who is love, growth of tensions over immigration is a moral, not political, issue. It’s about health and medicine, education and mobility, labor and economics.

I think this debate is based on fear of those who differ from us and fear that what we have isn’t enough. “If we let them in, who of us will be left out?” sounds like many old human-rights debates. I wonder how hearts and minds — which don’t feel what it’s like to cross the desert in 130-degree heat — are going to be changed. I believe that we do not need to regressively act on anti-immigration prejudices and that we do need to realize new and creative shifts of the people of our world.

Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholics and Episcopalians are united in praying for comprehensive immigration reform: “God, we cry out to you to give our leaders compassion for the most vulnerable among us. We cry as your people in Egypt thousands of years ago cried out to be liberated from their slavery. You heard their cries for help. You were present. You saved them. We need you again, and always. Please listen to our cries for help now. Be present when our leaders meet to create laws that affect those newly arrived in this great land. We cry out to you, almighty and gracious God, to make us a compassionate people.”

(THE VERY REV’D CANON) PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

We encourage all of our congregants to get involved in the community. We believe service is an essential part of a spiritual life. Regarding issues such as immigration we encourage people to serve the highest good, a good that transcends politics and seeks to help people no matter what their status. Do you suppose Mother Theresa asked those she helped if they were immigrants?

One of the things I like about the Catholic Church is its willingness to reach out to those who are in need of help and acknowledge them with love. The Catholic Church takes a lot of heat because it appears political to those entrenched in their anger and frustration about immigration.

My greatest desire is for immigrants to find, within their own country, work, shelter and dignity; and for those like Jim Gilchrist, a sense of peace. Irrespective of the issues, I choose the side of love and forgiveness. It’s not about immigration. It’s about the dignity of the human soul!

PASTOR JIM TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

Costa Mesa

Despite the immigration laws, the population of California grows and new ethnic groups move into the melting pot of America. Despite the stringent immigration laws, the United States is still the chief country of immigration in the world. Coffee shops and bars and meeting places and schools and amusement parks and social communal problems are of interest only to themselves. Only when an immigrant group reaches the size of the Latinos, does it become a subject of interest, attention and concern. Legal immigrants and illegal immigrants from Mexico make headlines. It takes on the average three hours to cross the border into California from Mexico. The Border Patrol tries to do its job. However, when Bank of America extends the hand of liberty and freedom to this group, not only with economic opportunity and gives them a credit card without a Social Security number, it is time for leaders and activists to come forward and say something.

We all pay the price for those who are not responsible and who are driving without driver’s licenses and who have no intention of paying unsecured debt. This is a very cautious statement to make when Jews this weekend celebrate the holiday of Purim, when Jews 2,500 years ago were the strangers in a strange land in ancient Persia.

The Bible tells us “that there was a certain people in the land with different customs and traditions” and the head of state, a man called Haman, used this to try to exterminate the Jews simply because they were different. Therefore, one must caution himself to separate the concept of prejudice and illegal immigration of Mexicans as separate issues and act accordingly.

A further complication is this: A great number of institutions in California exist for the purpose of serving their own ethnic interests. There are Jewish organizations that protect Jews, and other ethnic groups that protect their own. All public officials recognize them, reward them, serve them and to that extent encourage them to move forward. So no one group will simply disappear. Thus, public officials walk a tightrope.

There is more than just one truth. The dilemma is that we must balance the truths from all ethnicities, and the wise man judges and moves accordingly.

RABBI MARC RUBENSTEIN

Temple Isaiah

Newport Beach