Letter to the Editor from Marietta
Published: June 15, 2006
To the Editor:
In the June 1, 2006, issue of The Georgia Bulletin, in the (News Briefs) section (page 26), there appeared a picture with the following caption: “The USS Kakring sails past the Statue of Liberty to kick off Fleet Week in New York harbor May 24. The senior vice president for social policy for Catholic Charities USA recently criticized the idea of a wall being built to prevent people from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico illegally. … Candy Hill said, ‘If we build that wall, we’ll have to tear down the Statue of Liberty. We can’t have the lady in the harbor welcoming people, and a wall in the desert keeping them out.’”
Reviewing the other headlines in that same section, it is quite evident that The Georgia Bulletin attempts to promote “good Catholic thoughts” via the information that is highlighted there. However, in my opinion, the idea exposed by the Catholic Charities administrator quoted above is not only a sophomoric and uninformed comparison, it is exactly the wrong idea for the Catholic Church in the U.S. to be promoting. How does the legal immigration of millions of people from around the world, who passed by the Statue of Liberty and who became the building-blocks in establishing the strong, multicultural society we find in the U.S. today compare in any way to the illegal invasion of millions of people who sneak across a legal border in order to take advantage of self-serving economic benefits (or who come here to do harm)? Instead of confusing and clouding the issue promoting ideas such as the above in its various media outlets and publications, the Catholic Church in the U.S. should be promoting an honest and just dialogue among all people in order to arrive at a resolution to illegal immigration that is fair and just to all U.S. and Mexican citizens (as well as immigrants from around the world). Specifically, the Church needs to focus on the following:
- What is the Catholic Church in the U.S. doing to remind all about the rights of U.S. citizens not to have their sovereign country invaded by people who refuse to follow our laws regarding the legal process of immigration?
- What is the Catholic Church in the U.S. doing to remind the world that the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, and that the U.S. has the right to defend itself against threats made possible by current problems with its immigration process?
- What is the Catholic Church in the U.S. doing in conjunction with the Mexican government and the Catholic Church in Mexico to provide for the poor and unfortunate in Mexico and discourage them from entering another sovereign country illegally and under very dangerous circumstances and situations?
- What is the Catholic Church in the U.S. doing to support the Catholic Church in Mexico in reminding the Mexican government to treat its own illegal immigrants from other parts of the Americas humanely and with compassion?
So what should we Catholics in the U.S. support and what should the Church promote in its media outlets? An honest and fair dialogue about the real issues regarding immigration.
Should we build a wall in the desert? By ignoring the gravity of the situation of illegal immigration for so many decades, we may be forced to do so just to establish a legal and safe process for immigration via Mexico. Should we tear down the Statue of Liberty? No—because she still symbolizes what the majority of U.S. citizens believe about immigration: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore . . .” legally.
David J. Shook, Marietta
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