I appreciate what you are saying about being true to language.  That is why I believe calling people “illegals” to be very misleading.  A crime is illegal, not a human.  An immigrant can be undocumented.  An immigrant can be a criminal.  An immigrant can even be here illegally.  But I believe labeling people with the name “illegal” leads the average American to start to view those people as less deserving of their basic human rights.  It is not the only problem in the immigration reform debate, but it is one of them.

I did not refer to them merely as “illegals” but as illegal immigrants.  They are.  My point is that disingenuous euphemisms do nothing to foster respect for the illegal immigrant and may very well delay needed reforms.

You do not dispense truth as a first step toward compassion.

have “prominent Christian leaders” done the things you say they have done?

Richardson:

Are you familiar with an individual named Roger Cardinal Mahoney?
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6079

Australia’s government calls them “unlawful non-citizens”, and I think that is a fair description.  They have not followed the immigration law and thus they are not legal citizens of Australia.  As for what God says on the matter (remembering however, there is a separation of church and state):

Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that God expects us to obey the laws of the government. The ONLY exception to this is when a law of the government forces you to disobey a command of God (Acts 5:29). Illegal immigration is the breaking of a governmental law. There is nothing in Scripture that would prohibit obeying immigration laws. Therefore, it is a sin, rebellion against God, to illegally enter into another country. Romans 13:1-7 also gives the government the authority to punish lawbreakers, whether by deportation or imprisonment (in the cases of illegal immigration), or more severe penalties for greater crimes.

The difference between “illegal-immigrant” and “undocumented worker” is the same thing with “anti-abortion” and “pro-life”. One says, there are laws in place that someone wants to change, and the other says there is a human element here that isn’t being considered by the law. You do the math.

Undocumented worker is a clearer understanding of for whose rights we fight for. People who have already made contributions to the economy by labor. The people that “work” who are here to support themselves and their family which doesn’t include people here to “game” the system through welfare or criminal living. Bucketing them all under one umbrella as “illegal immigrants” seems rather unfair.

Steele says, “Illegal immigration is the breaking of a governmental law.” So is stealing and in fact it’s one of the 10 commandments. But when a hungry man steels food to feed himself and his family is the activity as criminal as when he steels it for gain? The vast majority of these people are here to support their families from with whatever little money they can make. You should have a little more compassion for these people, because the way the economy is going it could be your or me in the very near future.

Frederick,
Where do you get off telling me to have more compassion?  How do you know how much compassion I have?  Anybody who doesn’t agree with you on word choices does not have the same degree of compassion as you? 

Poppycock.

Anyone who immigrates here illegally is an illegal immigrant.  To acknowledge the obvious is not in-compassionate.  Lies and obfuscation do not help a single person in need.

Pat I mean no disrespect man. I think your articles are great… as you say, “I don’t like it when people abuse words in order to deceive or obfuscate.” The term “illegal-immigrant” which granted, covers “undocumented worker,” but “undocumented worker” is the narrower more precise definition. You could say “illegal undocumented worker immigrant” if you like but it seems rather redundant. No one is here to protect the rights of illegal aliens to deal drugs or live off welfare.

Hey Pat, here’s an exercise for you. Get a clear reading of the recent bill in contention Arizona’s SB 1070 (it’s only 16 pages) and you tell me the percentage of the bill that deals with “undocumented workers” versus other illegal immigrant activity. Then come back and let me know who is “obfuscating” here.

Steele wrote: “Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that God expects us to obey the laws of the government. The ONLY exception to this is when a law of the government forces you to disobey a command of God (Acts 5:29).”

The funny thing about using Scripture is that you need to be careful to use the whole of Scripture.  For example, Exodus 22:21 tells us “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.”  This comes directly from the Torah, or Law, of the Hebrews which as we know, are the first people to receive the revelation of God.  Jesus himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:25).  While your point about following the laws of a nation is valid, I think the higher calling is to fulfill Christ’s commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (paraphrasing John 13:34)

I think that as Christians we are called to love, and to remember that we are all aliens.  None of us belongs to this world, or to the things of this world.  We are exiles on your way to our true home, which is with God.  When we get more hung up on securing our ‘homes’ here, then we are not focusing on uniting ourselves to God, which can only be done if we love others more than ourselves, if we love them as Christ loves them.  While I agree that using “words in order to deceive or obfuscate” is wrong, I think that the real issue is that we are looking out for ourselves first and therefore have decided that we do not want to ‘illegal’ immigrants in our country.  I believe the true Christian response is to love them, and welcome them as best we can in Christ’s name.

As someone who immigrated to the U.S. legally , I find it very offensive that illegal immigrants are even able to stay here or even demand any rights from the government.  My family waited our turn and followed all the steps needed before we even stepped foot in the U.S.  I still have 90% of my family overseas and would love it if they would live here, however, it should be done the legal way. 

As a Church, we need to meet the pastoral needs of all Catholics, regardless of legal status.  However, she should not be in the business of condoning illegal activities.  It has gotten so out of hand.  The Church in the U.S. is so liberal on this issue.  For example, my diocese has two different policies for volunteers who want to work with kids—one for citizens and one for illegals.  For those who are citizens, they must be fingerprinted.  For those who are illegal, they don’t have to as long as someone vouches for them.  What a joke.  Instead of protecting our children, we are protecting those who broke the law in the first place by sneaking over our borders. 

The way I see it, we need to enforce our immigration laws and not relax them.  Let stop worry about semantics and enforce our laws.  I’m glad Arizona is stepping up to the plate.

I find your condesending tone offensive. I find that funny in a post about language.
This is part of the reason why I tried following your blog and found myself getting sick. Many of you North Eastern, white, and middle class Catholics are so wrapped up in your own perspective that you forget what the true universality of the Church means. This issue is far more complicated than can be summed up by your words and limited experience.

Yes, Truth should be spoken.
Just remember, it should be spoken with the Love of Christ, or you will counter the mission you intended to take.
I pray that the Lord and our Blessed Mother be with you.

To be frank, I am a pretty open borders guy, as far as economically. I simply do not care about letting people come here to work.

However, values matter. Borders, whether they are of a home or of a country, while they are arbitrary, they matter, to defend our values, lives and families. This is an act of defense against people who are very literally “strangers” as the Latin Vulgate describes them in Exodus 22:21. It uses the word advena, advenae for stranger.

Before that in Exodus 12:45-48 actually says that they must live by our (and by that I mean Christian) values as we are the new Israel and the new law.

So being for people being allowed to come, but we need to be sure that they are conforming to societal standards (the same standards we hold everyone else to). Mexico and the other hispanic countries are not the same as the US. In some ways they are better (some very faithful catholics there). But having an open border leaves us open to criminals as well as people of good will. And the people of good will are only questionably of good will if they do not grant us the right to defend ourselves from the criminals who are in their midst. And yes, the criminals are very much in their midst, as they cross the same way and in groups that are very much heterogeneous.

Close down the borders. Literally build a wall. And then welcome people who do not threaten our families and the stability of our nation. Namely, people who want to be Americans, benefits and responsibilities included.

And btw Cris A, I’m not a White Middle Class North Eastern Catholic, I am a Black “Lower Class” Mid atlantic coast Catholic, of Guyanese, Puerto Rican, and who knows what else descent. Why his race makes any difference would be wonderful for you to explain.

Your comment to Pat was uncharitable, presumptive in the extreme, and rude, considering all Pat is asking for is people to stop lying about the nature of the crime. And he strikes me as a person who desires a very charitable solution, but he instead you imply that he is condescending just because he wishes for people to be straight up and call a violation of the law a violation of the law.

If you disagree with the law, fine. Say so. (It would be hard to say we shouldn’t attempt to stop at least criminals people from coming in, but I digress). But stop lying with your words, an illegal immigrant is an illegal immigrant, not an ‘undocumented worker’.

“I find your condesending tone offensive.”

I find that funny in a comment dripping with condescension. 

I am impressed that many of the commentators have validated Patrick’s original post.  Rather than addressing the issues, they have decided to rely on sweeping generalizations and mischaracterizations.  Typical.

I’m not trying to be funny but curious…what do you call an ‘undocumented worker’ without a job?...an illegal immigrant?  It seems silly to come up new labels just to be more pc.

Molly says, “what do you call an ‘undocumented worker’ without a job?”

a hungry human being.. ba-DA-bum! I’ll be here all night!

Frederick, I see a lot of people hungry in other countries too, Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia.  Should we just open the gates and make them all Americans?

Fredrick:

What do you call an illegal immigrant that is a child?  An “undocumented child” or a “undocumented elementary school student?”

How about those who come here to actually commit crimes?  Undocumented criminals,”  or “undocumented future prisoners?”

I call the illegal immigrants plain old thieves who are stealing from local, state and Federal governments.  They are bankrupting institutions all over the country.  Locally here, I know of an inner city hospital that was closed because it was losing so much money that it was threatening their whole system of other hospitals.  That’s the fruit of their thievery.

You defend people who steal and your words insult those who do follow the law and are lawfully here and are welcomed by my fellow citizens.

Hey Molly, just as long as they’re able to find work. You know why? Because I’m open to life. Because I didn’t buy into the overpopulation theory. Despite all the fear mongering that JFK here is trying to say, economies are not a closed loop systems. People create economies. If economies were so closed, then having more than 2.1 babies would be a crime. If institutions are going bankrupt then there is something wrong with the institution. I mean last I checked Hospitals weren’t boundless charities. If a hospital has some reasonable expectation that it isn’t going to receive payment, then by all means, you’d expect them to be able to refuse service. Hey JFK what makes these people “illegal” in the first place? Oh right it’s the law. Yah, that argument never won me over either. Because you know what, civil disobedience is also against the law but it’s also an inalienable right.

Frederick;

So you’re a real jerk.  You’ve made that clear. 

Since you’re the one who wants to come up with clever names, can you answer my questions listed above?  You seem to think you have ALL of the answers and anyone who disagrees with you is “fear mongering.”

Why don’t you define what YOU think is the appropriate solution to this problem and it is a problem whether or not you want to admit it? How many people can come to the USA or any other country at one time?  Is it totally open?  Or just when you say there’s enough?

You do realize this is a prudential judgment of elected public officials and not the USCCB or the Church, at least according to the CCC.  “2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged 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.”

Catholics are free to disagree to the degree of what is enough “for the common good” in good consciousness and what are the “juridical conditions.”  I and many other Catholics disagree with your opinion.

Perhaps the correct solution to the cry “immigration reform” is no new immigration to this country, if the “political authorities” decide we are no longer able to do so. But right now we allow many, many people to come to our country.  They must come legally and through the front door and they are welcomed with open arms.

MAYBE THIS WILL HELP!!!

Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that God expects us to obey the laws of the government. The ONLY exception to this is when a law of the government forces you to disobey a command of God (Acts 5:29). Illegal immigration is the breaking of a governmental law. There is nothing in Scripture that would prohibit obeying immigration laws. Therefore, it is a sin, rebellion against God, to illegally enter into another country. Romans 13:1-7 also gives the government the authority to punish lawbreakers, whether by deportation or imprisonment (in the cases of illegal immigration), or more severe penalties for greater crimes.

The vast majority of illegal immigrants in the United States have come for the purpose of having a better life, providing for their families, and escaping from poverty. These are good goals and motivations. However, these reasons do not give a person the right to break a law. Those seeking to immigrate to another country should obey the immigration laws of that country. While this may cause delays and frustrations, these reasons do not give a person the right to break a law.

BWAHAHAHAHA!! You are the one calling me names, and I’m the jerk. BWAHAHAHAHA!! Your a funny guy! Pat Archibald is that you? As far as “undocumented child” .. Well technically, children don’t choose to immigrate, so I think it’d be better to call them children of “undocumented workers” or “illegal” immigrants if you prefer.  And as for CCC 2241 I say Amen! Amen! I think the keyword there is “obliged”. Pretty straightforward word if you ask me. It doesn’t really mean “encouraged” there now does it? Which brings us to the next point “to the extent that they are able”. And “undocumented workers” demonstrate that by the nature of being “workers.” If there weren’t enough work to go around then they’d be burdens. But that’s what they’re not. I don’t put a lot of stock in “political authorities” to determine that unless it’s backed up by facts. In California in 2004, 94 percent of undocumented men ages 18 to 64 were in the workforce, compared with 82 percent of native-born men. In 2007 California had a third of its adult foreign born population yet only a 5% unemployment rate. And California is the 8th largest economy in the world. So ya, I’ll wait for you to get back to me with stats about how illegal immigrants are stealing from us. But I’ll make it easy for you and let you know it doesn’t exist. Any model that you come up with would also necessarily have to address legal 12 child families stealing from the 1 child family i.e. it’s about overpopulation. And the answer is simple. If you don’t want them to be “undocumented” then document them.

Frederick Nacino- It costs 6,200 dollars to educate a child in LA.  That is one child.  We understand that most illegal aliens have 8-10 children. So if the illegals have 9 children that is 55,800 dollars per year.  Now you tell me one illegal alien family that pays anywhere near that much in taxes?  Most illegal aliens live 20-30 people in a small house which means the property tax you would get from say 5-6 houses you are now only getting with one.

I have not even touched crime, healthcare, wages and so many other things.  Illegal aliens do not have a right to be here this is a nation!

Wow Doug R, I don’t know if I can believe some of those numbers. Out of 11 million illegal immigrants, 9 million of them are children? Okay, whatever. So you’re basically saying that people with more children are criminal. The legal 14 household family with two working parents are criminally negligent for having an over burden of kids than the legal 3 household family with 1 kid. And the 14 household family will probably pay less taxes too! Awesome. If you are asserting that 11 million illegal immigrants have 99 million U.S. Citizen children. Then those children will eventually pay their own education when they enter the work force as adults several fold. If you think of it as a scholarship, paying for education doesn’t bother me.

Frederick, you wrote “BWAHAHAHAHA!! You are the one calling me names, and I’m the jerk. BWAHAHAHAHA!! Your a funny guy! Pat Archibald is that you?”

Such ridiculous accusations say more about you than they do about me.

It would be nice, if the Catholic Leadership followed their own Catechism with regards to immigration, as stated here - http://www.oneoldvet.com/?p=15372

For all of you on the they take ‘jobs we don’t want’...

First off.. I’m a college student, getting back during the summer. As we are in the recession, there are no jobs for me to work at. I have no problem working at a Mcdonalds, or a Burger King, or a Wendy’s, but the only workers these places hire are ILLEGAL immigrants. Why don’t Americans want to work there? We won’t except the low pay, and why should we have to work with illegal criminals who only speak spanish?  Don’t believe the hype, college kids used to work these jobs, why don’t you think we’d do it again? If you go to small towns without illegals, who do you think takes these jobs?

God specifically has rules for aliens in the Land.  Here are a few scriptures, several repeat the exact command regarding aliens.  However, God tells us to not mistreat them either.Exodus 12: Passover Restrictions 43 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover:  “No foreigner is to eat of it. 44 Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, 45 but a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it. 48 “An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. 49 The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.” Leviticus 24:22 You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.’ “Numbers 15:16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.’ “Exodus 12:49 The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.” James 4:11 “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it.  When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.”

The comments posted by those who disagree with Pat are proving his point. The level of vitriol in those comments went up rather quickly with accusations of being uncompassionate, etc.

Whether I call them illegal immigrants or undocumented workers (are they all working?)doesn’t increase or decrease my compassion. I to resent that my opposition to some aspects of immigration reform leads to accusations of being unChristian or our of step with the Gospel. This is an issue that deserves a more intelligent response than throwing up our hands and saying “Yup, just let ‘em in, let ‘em stay. Too hard to enforce our laws or to ask their country to get its act together. We Americans are the only ones that can run a country worth living in so yup, nothing else to do but let ‘em stay. Poor Mexicans, they can’t get anything right?” Wouldn’t it be better in the long run to work smarter with our neighbors to the south to get their economy on track? Is there no hope for Mexico and others to stand on their own? That would seem to be the attitude behind the current proposals for amnesty. How condescending is THAT?

I have noticed lately that the quality of the comments at this site has become decidely less kind, intelligent and open to helpful discussion. And I hate to say it but the majority of the rude and impolite comments belong to those who oppose the teachings of the Catholic Church, are opposed to “conservative” viewpoints and seeem to only want to make points by being as negative and as ugly as possible. So sad.

Perfect, now please mail a copy to every Bishop. We should gently remind them that the name of the game is TRUTH, the good and the bad.

I agree with Pat. I can’t believe all this fuss about two letters i&l. Il-means not, therefore illegal means not legal. There definitely is nothing wrong with the word illegal—it is what it is.  My immigrant parents came here by boat LEGALLY. After being here 2 yrs and getting things settled, my grandfather sent for his wife and 5 children, ages 12 down to 3 yrs of age. Grandmother and kids were in steerage (the bottom of the boat) for weeks to get here in 1895, with people vomiting all over the place and getting sick. YET THEY CAME HERE LEGALLY. They became citizens, spoke English, and we are all 100% American.  In a family you have rules and regulations, otherwise there is chaos. In a church you have rules and regulations, otherwise there is chaos (like the problem our church has today), States have rules and regulations as do Countries.  So come here legally and all will be fine.  If I went to Mexico, I would not be allowed to fly an American flag and the Mexicans should not come here and fly their flag, that simple.  Remember, when you become a citizen of this country you denounce loyalty to your birth country and your loyalty is to the country of which you are a citizen.  Many illegals (I use the word)stay loyal to their birth country and all they want are the benefits from this country.  I know, as a fact, some stay here and do not WANT to become a citizen, just keeps getting their green card renewed and stay loyal to the country they left. Our American Bishops say we should be kind to ALL PEOPLES. I often wonder if the Bishops in Mexico tell their politicians to be kind to their own people and help their own people. This whole business is a mess and our Government has played a big part in it.  It is true that we get cheap labor and Mexico gets more money fed to their economy at the same time. Just think, after we educate all these Mexican kids, who is going to do the cheap labor? So, in the end, both Governments are USING both Mexicans and Americans. BOTH GOVERNMENTS ARE AT FAULT & SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

I believe we have a right to our sovereignty, just like any other nation.  And there is nothing in the bible, with regards to how God has interacted with us in the past or present, which would contradict that belief.  We do not have an overpopulation crisis in the US right now.  Thanks to abortion we have a depopulation crisis.  It is the economic crisis that is making it hard to find work, not illegal immigrants.  And we would benefit greatly in the long run from the economic contributions of their offspring to all these pension plans and obnoxious spending and entitlement habits.  So I would have little problem with some of them staying.  However, since we do have a right to our sovereignty, any path to citizenship for those here illegally should provide that they learn our history, our culture, and our language.  Perhaps their status can be put on hold as temporary with limited rights, especially not being able to vote, until those before them in line who came legally have gained their citizenship.  There also needs to be requirements for assimilation.  Those who wave Mexican or other foreign flags in our streets, protest our sovereignty, and calling for the takeover of our government should be weeded out and not allowed citizenship.  I understand many of them have undergone very inhuman conditions to get here, just to feed a family.  The human traffickers are some of the most heinous characters on the face of the earth.  So I don’t advocate for sending them back after what they went through to get here.  However, there does need to be some kind of weeding out process that protects those who need it while eliminating those who are not in dire straits, who are gaming the system for political reasons and who have no intention of assimilating or obeying our laws.  Just my thoughts.

I believe in open borders providing we know who these people are.  Day workers can come and go but cannot receive Medicaid (with phony documentation) or food stamps, and get automatic citizenship for their children who are born here.  We can welcome them but we are entitled to know who they are. They are responsible ,just as we are , to obey our laws.
The true criminal here ,in my opinion, is the Mexican government that exploits their own citizens.  I have read the Mexican immigration laws and find the Mexican presidents statements incomprehensible and reckless.
In my neighborhood, “undocumented worker without a Job” is called a gang member, drug smuggler,gun runner, among other things… but not hungry.

Words are very important. The misuse of language to make the ‘offensive’ more palatable is unhelpful and degrades the process of understanding. It only serves to muddle the issue and ultimately lowers the conversation into petty arguments.
When an activety is of an illegal nature, regardless of what it is, it weakens society. When enough of it occurs it can cripple.
When something is non-functional it is of no help to anyone. We can have all the compassion we want but we will not be in a position to help ourselves, much less those that are truly in need.
Our rage needs to be directed at our government for not having a viable ‘guest worker program’. Our government needs to tell us why they have failed to provide a safe border. We need to be told why we ignore laws about hiring those who are in this country illegally.
This is not racist. It is about economic survival.
If we are bankrupt, we are not able to provide for ourselves or allow our
compassion and charity to do the good work that needs doing.
The Orwellean practice of softening the language to make things more appealing only hinders.
FYI. I’ve know both legal and illegal alliens. One group consistently wants to embrace the culture and values of the US. The other has no desire to. They profit the most from being here illegaly. It is economics. They make more money under table. The employer benifits also. They take full advantage of our schools, health systems and social services. They drive on our roads and have accidents without insurance.
To solve this problem we have to be truthful, and that means using language that is accurate, not language that makes us feel good.

Quite simply they broke the law. What would happen if you or I broke the   law? Secondly, aiding them and signing them on for benefits! Crazy! Right now I know Americans that worked hard all their lives and have had their disability run out and Social Security is dragging out their answer to help them. Meanwhile, they are wondering where there next meal is coming from. Where will this all end?

Thanks, Pat - this was not only well written, but was an accurate reflection of my deepest concerns about the quicksand bog that at least some of our Bishops are so eager to enter.

ILLEGAL immigration is what the Arizona law addresses.  Legal immigration is not the issue.  The only real concern I have found as the basis for opposition by some of the Bishops is that this law may involve illegal profiling.  We can only see what happens when the law is implemented - but, truly, this sounds like prior restraint.  Ultimately, this issue will be resolved by the Courts because somehow our Congress has lacked the will to address the matter.

God bless - and, thanks for bringing this issue to the front.

Pat, you wrote a great article.  Frederick Nacino’s comments speak for themselves.  But it is sad to see so much mushy thinking coming out of even good people.  You can even look at Archbishop Dolan’s blog and see some pretty bad thinking on this issue.  Cardinal Mahony was lost a long time ago.

OK, so we ignore the immigration laws. And then we ignore other laws we don’t like - let’s start with the tax laws. Heck, the illegals are ahead of us on that one.

    We don’t question authority anymore, we just do our own thing regardless of who says what. So who cares what the Bishops say.

    And if you want to welcome the alien then please do so but that is not the same as violating the law. You have a plan for making the US immigration laws more “welcoming” then fine - advance that (despite the fact that the US has more immigrants each year than any other country and despite the fact that nobody should give a rip about your version of the law as you have already demonstrated that you have no concern about the law as presently written). This is not about welcoming anyone - it is about enforcing the law - if we do not then we become lawless. We loose the borders and the law, and, it seems, the language. The results of a 30 Million man invasion. This is Catholic because…? Nope, sorry, not even close.

    The law protects us and the immigrant, lawful or unlawful. Ignore the law and emperil everyone.

    In the land of mules there are no rules. - Ogden Nash.

Disobeying goverment laws is against what God wants us to do. There has to be LAWS to keep order in any country. Has anybody tried working in Mexico? Just try and you will see ALL the requirements they have and ALL the loops you have to jump in order to do so.
It’s time the U.S.A. puts its laws into effect, we need to protect all the people who are here LEGALLY.
Instead of trying to have all Catholics “accept” all these ILLEGAL staff going on, let’s talk to the Catholics in Mexico and have them “change: things, so the people over there will have what they need.

Patrick - best article I’ve seen on this subject.  One comment made by a reader about sending your article to all the bishops is a good one (especially to Archbishop Dolan of New York. Don’t bother with Mahoney of LA, he’s a lost cause, or his prototype Bishop Soto of Sacramental, CA.)!  It is sad and aggravating that our bishops have become so “lefty,” and they have taken half the Catholics along with them. 
The USCCB and their lobbying has become as much the problem in America as the pro-
abortion party has become. Except for abortion, they seem to be an extension of each other, politically.  If it wasn’t for the Catholic voters support, the pro-abortion party would have changed their position on abortion a long time ago, or would have ceased to be a viable party. 
The Church’s so-called “social justice” issues, adopted in the mid ‘80s after Chicago’s (there’s that city again) Cardinal Bernardin take over of the Office of Pro-Life Activities, (read the biography about him by his friend Eugene Kennedy) have only harmed our country, producing negative results in financial institutions and real estate i.e., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the forcing of sub-prime loans; health care (now we, the born, will have the same right to life and care as the unborn while paying more money for insurance and no say so over our care; unionization (government employee unions make twice as much in wages as workers in the private sector and can retire on full pensions at 55years of age); and this issue – immigration.  The Church doesn’t care if the “migrants” are here legally or not – they blame the immigration problem on government for not sending those countries of immigrant origin enough foreign aid for economic development (according to the USCCB’s recent letter to Congress by the chairman of the “Committee on Migration.”).
I hold the USCCB more responsible for our nation’s problems than I do the pro-abortion party, simply because the bishops are the enablers. (Where did Jesus of the New Testament direct his disciples and followers to get governments to do what he directed them to do themselves.?)

What does it say about us when we praise the USCCB when they do/say things that agree with our opinions about political issues and criticize them when they disagree with our opinions?  Just curious.

One of the fundamental responsibilities of our government is to secure our borders so that our citizens, no matter where they live in our country, can be safe and secure.  I certainly don’t condone the following, but for some perspective, let’s look at how illegal immigration is handled in other countries…

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

After reading this, it seems a little silly to wonder if just CALLING illegal immegrants what they are is “just too mean.”

Re Ricardo: As for me, the bishops deserve no praise since they turned their backs on the unborn for political reasons by adding so called “social justice” issues to the term “pro-life.”  Cardinal Bernardin, of the Archdiocese of (Democrat) Chicago, was behind that change and ushered it in when he took over the Chairmanship of the Pro-Life Committee in 1983.  His reasoning for it was clearly stated in the biography on Cardinal Bernardin by his long time friend, Eugene Kennedy, which said this about his motives to add social justice issues to the “pro-life” name:  “Not only would this gain greater support from Catholics and others but it would keep the prolife movement from falling completely under the control of the right wing conservatives who were becoming its dominant sponsors.”

That change has been disastrous for the unborn, with over 50,000,000 babies murdered so far with no end in sight, and now public monies will be used to murder even more (so effective, has the USCCB been with their 350 staffers).  And it has been disastrous for the born and living, as well, affecting everything from our retirement funds and home equities to our jobs, our health care system, and having to contend with people flooding into our country who don’t even want to learn our language or really want to stay here and become part of what use to be a great symbol of America – the “melting pot.”