Transcript Document

Immigration: A Catholic
Response
Part III:
Catholic Social Thought
US And Mexican Bishops Conferences
Respond To The Tensions Of Immigration
After September 11, 2001
Strangers
No Longer
Together
on the
Journey
of Hope
Five principles for migration from
Catholic Social Teaching
1. Persons have the right to find opportunities in
their homeland.
2. Persons have the right to migrate to support
themselves and their families.
3. Sovereign nations have the right to control their
borders.
4. Refugees and asylum seekers should be
afforded protection.
5. The human dignity and human rights of
undocumented migrants should be respected.
#1
Persons have the right
to find opportunities
in their homeland.
Right to opportunities
in our homeland
"Every human being has the right to freedom of
movement and of residence within the confines
of his own country; and, when there are just
reasons for it, the right to emigrate to other
countries and take up residence there." "No one
would exchange his country for a foreign land if
his own afforded him the means of living a
decent and happy life" Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum 1891
Repeated in Gaudium et Spes #66
#2
Persons have the right to
migrate to support themselves
and their families.
US & Mexican Bishops on Right to
Emigrate
“The Church recognizes that all goods of the earth
belong to all people. When persons cannot find
employment in their country of origin to support
themselves and their families, they have a right to
find work elsewhere in order to survive. Sovereign
nations should provide ways to accommodate this
right.¨
Strangers No Longer 2001, #35
Popes on Right to Emigrate
• Pius XII (Exul familius):
- If conditions are not available to live with
dignity, then people have right to migrate.
• John XXIII (Pacem in Terris)
- People have the right to emigrate for “just
reasons.”
II Vatican Council on Right to
Emigrate
“When there are just reasons, every
human being must be permitted to
emigrate to other countries and take up
residence there. The fact that he is a
citizen of a particular state does not
deprive him of membership in the human
family, nor of citizenship in that universal
society, the common, world-wide
fellowship of human beginning.”
Gaudium et Spes #66
John Paul II on Right to Emigrate
“The Church in America must be a
vigilant advocate, defending against any
unjust restriction of the natural right of
individual persons to move freely within
their own nation and from one nation to
another. Attention must be called to the
rights of migrants and their families and to
respect for their human dignity, even in
cases of non-legal immigration.”
Ecclesia in America #65
Basis Of Right To Emigrate
• 3 separate principles (normative rather
than positive principles)
– Right of a family to sustenance
– The priority of the family over the state
– The right of economic initiative.
• Church is concerned about
– Loss of home country
– Dangers for migrants, both material & moral
John Paul II On Root Causes
“The elimination of underdevelopment is
the antidote to major illegal migration.”
Migration Day 1995
U.S. & Mexican Bishops on Root
Causes
• “Migrants are forced from their lands because of poverty, injustice,
religious intolerance and armed conflicts.”
• Need to develop economies of sending countries (address root
causes): ¨The creation of employment opportunities in Mexico would
help to reduce poverty and would mitigate the incentive for many
migrants to look for employment in the U.S.¨
• Need to promote integration of economies and facilitate movement
of people as well as goods.
• Projects must reach poorest areas. NAFTA has aggravated
inequality in rural areas.
Strangers No Longer 2001
U.S. & Mexican Bishops
on Globalization
“Now is the time for both the U.S. and Mexico
to confront the reality of globalization and to
work toward a globalization of solidarity…
(and)…to harmonize policies on the
movement of people, particularly in a way
that respects the human dignity of the migrant
and recognizes the social consequences of
globalization.”
Strangers No Longer 2001
U.S. & Mexican Bishops
on Globalization
Globalization does not offer all people the same
opportunities… few are rich and many are poor.
– Globalization aggravates inequality
– As long as social and economic inequality exists people
will migrate…
#3
Sovereign nations have
right to control their borders.
CONFLICT OF RIGHTS:
RECEIVING NATIONS VS.
MIGRANT PEOPLE
Catholic teaching on
conflict of rights
¨Since land everywhere offers the possibility of
supporting a large number of people, the
sovereignty of the State, although it must be
respected, cannot be exaggerated to the point that
access to this land is, for inadequate or unjustified
reasons, denied to needy and decent people from
other nations, provided of course, that the public
wealth, considered very carefully, does not forbid
this.¨
Pius XII, Exsul Familia (On the Spiritual Care to Migrants) 1952
U.S. & Mexican Bishops on
conflict of rights
“The Church recognizes the right of sovereign
nations to control their territories but rejects such
control merely for the purpose of acquiring
additional wealth. More powerful economic nations,
which have the ability to protect and feed their
residents, have a stronger obligation to
accommodate migration flows”
-Strangers No Longer 2001 #36
CONSEQUENCES OF
BORDER PATROL
A.
B.
Border Danger
Border
Ineffectiveness
Migrant Deaths Rise On The Border
From Arizona Republic newspaper Phoenix, AZ
A. Border Danger
1995 to 2003
2,650 migrants
died at
Mexico-US border
B. Border ineffectiveness
• Spending on border security increased
1993 to 2004 5x to $3.8 billion, while
border control 3x.
Border ineffectiveness
Since 1994, US government instituted projects to tighten border
security (staff, construction of walls, surveillance equipment,
AWACS and satellite imagery, etc)
1993 Operation Hold the Line
El Paso, TX
1994 Operation Gatekeeper
San Diego, CA
1995 Operation Safeguard
State of Arizona
Since 1994, number of undocumented in the US more than doubled*
1994 US Census
4 million
2000 US Census
8 million
2007 estimate
13 million
*Nearly half from overstaying visas.
U.S. & Mexican Bishops on
enforcement
Need for humane enforcement policies
– Abusive agents need training and control.
– “Shameful treatment of children in poor
housing.”
– Fences, blockades create harder conditions
with no reduction in migration, just increase
risk and death and increase cost of
smugglers.
U.S. & Mexican Bishops on
enforcement
– Stop deporting people without due process
and housing them miserably (authorized in
1996 by IIRIRA)
#4
Refugees and
asylum seekers
should be
afforded protection.
John Paul II on refugees and asylees
• “Refugees have a right to emigrate, especially when in
danger of losing their lives.”
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 1987
• Refers to world refugee crisis as “the festering of a wound.”
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 1987
• Rights of refugees include “right to be reunited with their
families and right to a dignified occupation and just wage.
The right to asylum must never be denied when people's
lives are truly threatened in their homeland.¨
Refugees: A Challenge to Solidarity 1992
#5
The human dignity and
human rights of
undocumented migrants
should be respected.
Dignity of Undocumented
• Paul VI: “We cannot insist too much on the duty
of giving foreigners a hospitable reception. It is
the duty imposed by human solidarity and by
Christian charity…” Populorum Progressio
• John Paul II: “Emigration in search of work
should in no way become an opportunity for
financial or social exploitation. As regards the
work relationship, the same criteria should be
applied to immigrant workers as to all other
works in the society.” Laborem Exersens
Dignity of Undocumented
John Paul II: “The Church in America must be a vigilant
advocate, defending against any unjust restriction of the
natural right of individual persons to move freely within their
own nation and from one nation to another. Attention must
be called to the rights of migrants and their families and to
respect for their human dignity, even in cases of non-legal
immigration.”
Ecclesia in America 1999
Principles for a solution
• Economic policies, e,g, NAFTA & globalization, should:
– Promote integration of economies and facilitate movement of
people as well as goods.
– Create legal avenues for immigration.
– Promote family unity (unjust that wives and children often have
to wait 8 years for visas. Separated family encourages illegal
immigration. Need more visas, both permanent and temporary.
– Temporary work program has lacked legal protection for workers;
guarantee a change.
– U.S. should sign International Convention on the Protection of All
Immigrant Workers and Their Families.
– Consequences: Less border patrol, less fear, families united,
labor moves where needed, no deaths at border, no labor abuse.
Principles for a solution
• Assist sending countries, e.g., Mexico
• Address slow economic growth
• Address serious structural problems
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Poverty and inequality
Corruption
Low tax collections
Poor education system
Ineffective political checks and balances
Inadequate infrastructure development
Restrictive business regulations
Rigid, antiquated, inefficient labor market policies