Letter to the Editor from Peachtree City

Published: February 22, 2007

To the Editor:

After reading “How The Church Arrived At Its Immigration Positions” in the Jan. 11 edition of The Georgia Bulletin, I believe the key immigration issue is not being given its proper share of articles, time, effort, etc. That issue is the core reason why this terrible and tragic situation exists in the first place: the plight of these poor and oppressed people in their home country of Mexico, which is causing them to flee Mexico and try to get into the United States.

I strongly agree with the following statements, made in the referenced article, that “‘Anyone having a human face has human dignity and a human destiny.’ For the Church, there is no neutrality on this question. It impregnates and illuminates all Christian understanding of social life. Protecting that human value stands at the heart of the Church’s role in society.”

The deplorable poverty and crime in Mexico is causing misery and hopelessness for many of its people, which in turn is fueling mass emigration out of Mexico and illegal immigration into the United States. This situation is causing serious societal, cultural and political ramifications for both the United States and Mexico. The people of Mexico have a right to live in their own country with human dignity, where their human rights are not trampled on and brutalized by criminals and degraded by corruption and poverty.

The Catholic Church’s teachings about the common good and a dignified human destiny compel us to work for an environment where the Mexican people can live decent lives with dignity, justice and economic well being in their own country.

What then, is the Church’s position on eliminating the core of this impoverishment and crime-ridden environment in Mexico? This position by the Catholic Church needs to be as strong, if not stronger, as her position is around how the United States deals with this illegal immigration issue which is caused by this deplorable corruption within Mexico in the first place. This position should be as well known and publicized as is the Catholic Church’s immigration position concerning the United States.

Unless and until Mexico’s core problem of corruption is addressed and resolved, the impoverishment and crime-ridden environment for many of Mexico’s people will not end and their common good and a dignified human destiny will not be achieved. They will continue to live in a desperate condition, which will compel them to embark on a perilous journey in order to leave their country and try to illegally enter the United States in the hope of a better life. Ending Mexico’s corruption, which will provide for the common good and a dignified human destiny for all of Mexico’s people, needs to be resolutely and continuously addressed by the Catholic Church, the episcopate and the laity. I encourage us to do this now.

S. Allen, Peachtree City