There has been a nerved touched on both sides of the immigration debate, related to Pope Benedict’s statements on ensuring immigrants are treated humanely and respectfully, and that the well-being of families of immigrants be protected. To be sure, there are many who think the Pope was saying we should just throw open our borders and let people do what they will. Their take is the Holy Father was saying we should not have immigration laws, let alone enforce them. You’ll be hearing a lot on those things.
Don’t get caught up in the rhetoric generated by a very simple statement made by the Holy Father.
I hear that Tom Tancredo took offense to the Pope’s words. He should not have. The Holy Father is not telling America to stop prosecuting illegal immigrants. Neither is the pontiff suggesting amnesty for those who have families in the US - maybe members of which are considered citizens under the eyes of the law. Do not assume we can’t ensforce our laws in such a way as to maintain the dignity of those who are impacted by the enforcement.
There are things we can do much better in the way we handle immigration enforcement. Welfare checks at a person’s home if they are detained. Let’s make sure we don’t have children getting home from school without someone there to protect them. Let us also ensure we make every effort to contact someone in the detainee’s family so they know what is going on - give these folks their phone call, like anyone else gets who is detained for an alleged crime.
The issue is not really about immigration - it is about how we handle enforcement.
Non-Catholics will get confused (actually, so will many Catholics) by the weight of the Holy Father’s words. He is infallible with respect to Catholic doctrine - and that applies to the dignity of human life. It is part of the gospel - in this sense, his words about protecting the dignity of others and stopping violence is directly related to our doctrine. However, you cannot spin this theme as a call upon Catholics to support illegal immigration. It is not violent to enforce immigration law, any more than it is violent to enforce drug laws. The manner in which people are treated during the enforcement of laws is the issue at hand.
