tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post1016094833751884559..comments2023-08-02T05:02:41.706-05:00Comments on Reasons and Opinions: Christianity and Immigration: Cardinal Mahony Or Utah Republicans?shadhuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03933715508568783990noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post-52391239750606421842007-05-13T15:22:00.000-05:002007-05-13T15:22:00.000-05:00What exactly triggered the sudden obsession last y...What exactly triggered the sudden obsession last year with illegal immigrants? Was it just Lou Dobbs drum beating, or was it part of a political strategy aimed at distracting people from other issues (Iraq) by creating a new "THEM" to rally against?<BR/><BR/>Up in arms, Everybody!!! Illegal Immigrants are the new Gays!<BR/><BR/>I don't condone breaking the law but it does seem curious that this suddenly rose to fever pitch during an election year when it's been going on forever (to the benefit of many employers).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post-17230494213114961612007-05-10T20:16:00.000-05:002007-05-10T20:16:00.000-05:00I find it quite fascinating that we, as a culture,...I find it quite fascinating that we, as a culture, espouse the free market, but in the immigration debate, we refuse to ackowledge the supply and demand equations of the job market (except to the extent that the anti-immigrant groups believe that undocumented take jobs away...at 4.5% unemployment, I don't think so).<BR/><BR/>As a Catholic and an American of Mexican descent, I see God working and present in all people. My compassion and prayers go out to all immigrants. <BR/><BR/>The bigger issue in my mind is that they are here. What's easier and better for our nation - to work on a path to citizenship, or to hunt down and deport every single undocumented person in the US, which in the process will divide families, cause hardship, illness or death?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post-60329653053241985092007-05-09T20:51:00.000-05:002007-05-09T20:51:00.000-05:00"A more orderly, legal process is to the benefit o..."A more orderly, legal process is to the benefit of both the migrant worker and the nation. It protects the former from substandard working conditions and abuse, and the latter by more firmly securing its legal borders"<BR/><BR/>I don't think Mahony would disagree with any of this. But this is not the system in place today. And there are clear injustices. Through friend who work for Catholic charities, I hear of awful cases of children being left behind when parents are deported. And the fact that the number of annual allotted work visas (H1-B) can disappear in a matter of days is a clear signal that the legal system does not work.<BR/><BR/>Also, an orderly immigration process that matches immigrant labor supply with domestic labor demand while guarding against abuse is most assuredly not the goal of the Tancredo wing of the immigration control movement. They want less "foreigners", especially those that don't speak English or share American cultural traditions. It really is about culture.Morning's Minionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11226079972555513328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post-9839957672972376602007-05-09T15:11:00.000-05:002007-05-09T15:11:00.000-05:00There are those who do deserve to be blasted for t...There are those who do deserve to be blasted for their unwelcoming attitudes and overblown rhetoric towards immigrants, but for a larger chunk of us the matter is simply one of legality. In other words, what exactly is it about the term <I>illegal</I> immigration that people don't seem to understand.<BR/><BR/>Mahoney calls our laws unjust, but what exactly is unjust about them? As the catechism clearly states, nations have the right to define and secure their own borders. And as the Catechism also states, we should be welcoming to migrants, and I do think we should reform the immigration process so as to make it less onerous for those who want to immigrate lawfully. <BR/><BR/>Mahoney doesn't quite say, but does come close to saying, that we should just open the borders and forget about our pesky laws. Look, if people would like to come here, great. Maybe they could just take a second, respect the process, and notify us that they're coming. A more orderly, legal process is to the benefit of both the migrant worker and the nation. It protects the former from substandard working conditions and abuse, and the latter by more firmly securing its legal borders,<BR/><BR/>Yeah, there are a few quasi know-nothings like Lou Dobbs and others, and I will condemn them most heartily. But I'm also a little reluctant to buy into the rhetoric from ole Roger.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post-90730987385524225062007-05-09T14:08:00.000-05:002007-05-09T14:08:00.000-05:00Yes, this is the whacko fringe, but the issue rema...Yes, this is the whacko fringe, but the issue remains that the opposition of the evangelical right to immigration stems from cultural, rather than economic, issues. 90 percent of polled Family Research Council members favor deportation of the 12 million or so undocumented workers. Tony Perkins talks about protecting the "cultural fabric". And Pew reports that 63% of white evangelicals view immigrants as a "threat to U.S. customs and values" compared to 48% of the population as a whole. Ted Haggard claims that Ango-Saxon protestants are better than Catholic Mexicans. Sadly, Catholics can join in too. Thomas Fleming, president of the Rockford Institute, said that "Whatever we may say in public, most of us do not much like Mexicans, whom we regard as too irrational, too violent, too passionate." Phyllis Schlafly talks about stopping "diseases and crimes".Morning's Minionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11226079972555513328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31210316.post-34714528492912628092007-05-09T11:58:00.000-05:002007-05-09T11:58:00.000-05:00Wow. A represenative from the local county Republ...Wow. A represenative from the local county Republican party introduces a whacko resolution, a resolution that was not passed in what was - it's safe to say - a predominantly Republican-filled room, and of course this resolution is represented to be the thought of Utah Republicans in general.<BR/><BR/>That's some hard hitting analysis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com