I stood convicted yesterday morning during meditation. It wasn't a harsh rebuke, but I became very aware of a great sin of omission that I am clearly guilty of. I've published close to 800 posts in the last six years - most are original along with a healthy number of posts from other sources, and haven't written a word explicitly about immigration reform. For most of my priestly life I have worked with immigrants, ministering to them, advocating for them on a grass roots level. But I have remained silent here, and that needs to change.
Part of my reticence has been rooted in an innate fear of being controversial. The other is my aversion to speaking about politics in public. The first is pure cowardice on my part, a resistance to suffer for the Gospel. The other has more justification, especially as I understand the life of Don Bosco, who had to navigate the founding of the Salesian Congregation through rough political waters, while also maintaining the unity of his men. Don Bosco was a fierce advocate for young people, and did speak boldly, but he never adopted a party platform along the way. He said things that had clear political implications, without getting political. Of course my error, my spiritual blindness, my sin, is not seeing the issue of immigration as one of faith first, politics second. It is possible to speak the truth as I've experienced it, which does have political implications, but like Don Bosco doing so without endorsing one party or the other.
To make it plain, I don't believe that 11 million people enter another country by accident (how we know it's 11 million people, since they're undocumented, I'll never know - how do we know it isn't 5.5 million, or 22 million? Sorry for the digression). A nation doesn't surrender it's sovereign right to a border for no reason. Also, the issue has been at the forefront of the national consciousness for at least 20 years, yet no concrete reforms are ever enacted, no matter who's in the congressional majority or in the White House. Why is this? Again, I don't believe that any of this is an accident. Which leads me to a fundamental question. If the situation was allowed to happen, even if there isn't any grand conspiracy (which I'm not suggesting there is), who benefits?
I see interests, both political and economic that benefit. The politicians have an issue ready at hand to keep their base engaged and, presumably, their membership boosted by the immigrant population who do manage get citizenship, and their children born here, so are citizens already, who are counted on to join, or at least vote for them. The immigrant population feels they have an advocate who fights for them, even though very little changes over time. Since in today's political climate, no matter what community your talking about, perception is more important than reality, it's not an unwise strategy.
The other are the business interests, who find ways to get around the law to hire undocumented aliens. They don't have to pay minimum wage, deal with unions, follow an 8 hour day, and can hire and fire at will, with no ramifications. I'm sure those who live in farming areas could go into details on how large industrial farm corporations benefit from the current situation. Neither party is really interested in solving the problem, but both are eager to exploit it for votes, and business interests for profits.
You may take issue with my analysis, and that's fine. Whatever the causes of the problem, I deal with the victims of it everyday. The vast majority of our parishioners here were born outside the US, mostly in Mexico. Many have legal status, many do not. I won't hazard to guess percentages. Part of this has to do with the variety of situations I've run into over the years (as I'll detail below). Some of those who are undocumented have managed to make a decent life here in spite of "being in the shadows," and I'm surprised sometimes when I'm approached for help with their immigration work. It's not uncommon for someone who is knocking on the door of being middle class, or has already crossed the threshold, to end up not having legal status and needing assistance.
Many struggle though. They work construction, which is hit or miss - especially here in Chicago where the winters can be harsh. Others are dish washers and bus boys, which, again can be erratic. Many have factory work which can be six or seven days a week at upwards of 12 hour shifts. The pay is little and the job security is the same.
As for family life, both mother and father work, for the most part. Many families are strong, but cracks are forming. I see more and more single mothers, or "blended families" which seems so morally indifferent when it happens in the middle class or above, but is not so quaint where I live. Again, it works when the parents are married, supplying a stable home life with love and affection for all the children, regardless of the paternity or maternity.
But in other situations the families have been "blended" two or three times over. Partners change often, and it's usually the father figure who's changing in and out of the children's lives, and the situation can be disastrous. The children know that the man living here now isn't their father, and doesn't love them like a father. One day he will most likely leave, and they'll have to deal with another padrastro - or stepfather. The best case scenario, the man leaves and the children only suffer deeper abandonment issues, never develop respect for male authority. In the worse cases there is abuse, both physical and sexual before the man decides to leave or gets reported.
These issues are not confined to the undocumented population, but they are exacerbated because there is a fear of going to authorities for help. There is no extended family, quite often, to reach out to. They feel alone and desperate. Theses homes can also be breeding grounds for gang members. The gang, perversely, becomes the family they never had as children.
Again, I have to stress that for the most part our people work hard to live the right way. But this shouldn't blind us to the real problems that are, at the very least, made worse for adults and children by the parent's legal status in the country.
From the stand point of the faith, a great obstacle for many in trying to live holy, Christian lives, is the long hours and 6 to 7 day weeks that too many parents have to maintain just to survive. They can't fulfill their Sunday obligation, or it is very difficult to. They have the responsibility to get to Mass on Sunday, but the employer has a responsibility to allow their workers this very fundamental right. So many of the children of these workers don't receive the Sacraments, don't receive even a basic catechesis. They are denied grace and knowledge which are so important in our human, as well as spiritual development. God freed His people from slavery in Egypt first and foremost so they could go into the desert and adore Him in the manner He saw fit. There were also economic and political reasons, but these came after. God wants to be united with his people. It is their right,as well as duty, and His due. That so many are undocumented, and so unable to really exercise their rights - religious, civil and economic is a great sin against God, and the First and Third Commandments.
What I haven't gotten into, and will in a deeper way at another time, is that for every family, there is a different story. Mom is documented, but dad isn't - or the other way around. The Parents are undocumented, but the children are citizens by birth. Some of the children are citizens some aren't. A child brought here by his or her parents at two or three years old, has no memories of Mexico, grew up here, was educated here, speaks English fluently, but Spanish not as well, could be deported. These people are more American than Mexican in many ways, yet they have no rights, and struggle to become documented. So those who want mass deportations need to think long and hard about what that really means in terms of breaking up families.
I know that this examination is scatter shot, and not very well planned out. But it is a beginning. I do plan on writing more on this, because I'm in the position to. If I can sum up what I'm trying to say, it's that those who are here in this country illegally are victims of larger forces, both here in the US, and in their home countries (which I haven't written about) who benefit from the situation. The immigrant is here because there aren't any opportunities in their native lands, or at least don't see any. They crossed the border, sometimes after a harrowing journey through the desert, at the mercy of bandits, smugglers and the cartels. They were permitted to come in and stay, even if only passively. They are not saints - they're human beings. Which means that there are good and bad among them. I've seen mainly good, though I've also caught more than a glimpse of the bad. Their situations are diverse, and defy simple solutions like building walls or throwing them on buses.
As a priest of Jesus Christ my first responsibility is to care for the spiritual and material needs of my flock. Before all else, be they documented or undocumented, they are baptized members of the Body of Christ, which transcends political or national identities. Even if they aren't Catholic, those who come to my door are human beings, and I'm not going to ask for a birth certificate before offering help. For me, this isn't primarily a political issue, but a moral one, and a very personal one.
No comments:
Post a Comment