The Cardinal’s Cure Is Worse Than the Disease

Recently my archbishop, Roger Cardinal Mahony, essentially called for making illegal aliens de facto citizens of the United States. As a faithful Catholic, contradicting my prelate and the highest-ranking Catholic official west of the Mississippi is not something I’m comfortable with.

I feel compelled to do so, however, because I disagree with Cardinal Mahony on this issue. If accepted, his proposal would have serious consequences for our state and nation.

At issue is the status of undocumented workers from countries around the globe. Cardinal Mahony wants to give amnesty to these workers in order to give these men and women more assurance that their basic human rights will receive respect.

I applaud Cardinal Mahony’s good intentions and share his concerns about the treatment many of these people receive. It is deplorable to me that anyone would violate their rights simply because they are in this country illegally and won’t go to the authorities for fear of being deported. People have the right to fair and humane treatment regardless of their residence status.

Unfortunately, the cardinal’s cure is in some ways worse than the disease because it calls on our nation to turn a blind eye to the core issue surrounding illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are here illegally. By giving these people amnesty, we essentially ignore lawlessness.

We have laws for a reason. As Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Every law is ordained to the common good.” Furthermore, “It is the fear of punishment that law makes use of in order to ensure obedience.” Yet, if we follow Cardinal Mahony’s advice, the threat of punishment--in this case, deportation--is removed, and our laws become meaningless. What’s more, this would cause a flood of illegal immigrants from all over the world, which our state, already strained to provide basic social services, cannot sustain.

I know this is not Cardinal Mahony’s intention. But to quote the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, “No one who over-drinks wills the hangover, but he gets one. In breaking the law, we always suffer certain consequences that we never intended. God so made the world that certain effects follow certain causes.”

We have to insist on the rule of law. Otherwise, our laws become mere words, kept or broken based on nothing more than mere whim.

Furthermore, the cardinal’s proposal ignores the 1.3 million resident aliens who are on their way to becoming naturalized citizens. They have followed the law, received resident alien status and participated in a naturalization process that forces them to jump a number of significant hurdles. To grant the undocumented workers in this country amnesty--that is, de facto citizenship--shortchanges those who have followed the rules and obeyed our laws.

Additionally, Cardinal Mahony’s proposal places the entire burden on the United States and none on Pacific Rim, Latin American, African and European countries from which illegal immigrants come. Most illegal aliens come to this country for economic reasons. Rather than haphazardly changing its immigration laws, the United States should force other countries to reduce the barriers to economic progress that drive so many to our shores.

Maybe the United States can do something to solve the problems caused by illegal immigration. To simply grant illegal immigrants amnesty, however, is not a solution. Indeed, ignoring respect for our laws never is.