Pastoral Message aired on KNXT-TV during August 2007
Bishop John T. Steinbock
My Dear People of God,
It is disturbing to hear people comment on the TV and radio that the failure of a Comprehensive Immigration Bill is a victory for the American people. Rather than a victory, it is a travesty of justice and a moral failure of our legislators to respond to the unjust and totally impractical immigration laws of our country, which will now lead to greater injustice in our great land of America and greater polarization of the American people. It is sickening to hear those same commentators and politicians speak words that show total disrespect for the undocumented, words that can so easily lead others to hatred and prejudice, and to hear them condemn good hardworking, decent people who live with strong moral and spiritual values.
Our immigration laws were written many years ago and tried to respond to the situation of that day. In the setting of today, those laws are totally unjust and immoral. And our legislators have failed to respond to their responsibility to give us laws that take our present reality into account. Instead, many say deport all the undocumented, when our government cannot even deport the criminals amongst the undocumented; and, build more walls, rather than make the law for which they have the responsibility to enact to respond to the present situation of a nation in need of workers to maintain our very economy.
Who are greatly responsible for making the dreams of so many Americans a reality? It is the thousands and millions of undocumented workers who are busy harvesting our fields so we can have food to feed our families, who are the construction workers who build the homes people dream to live in, who build our skyscrapers and malls, and factories, and who actually are the hope of keeping our social security system viable. On and on, we can comment on the good that the undocumented do for our county. Without the undocumented our fields would go unharvested, our construction business would slow, many a restaurant and hotel would close, and so on, in about every area of the production, distribution and consumption of goods in our economy. The words engraved on the Statue of Liberty have little meaning to many these days: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Christ is present in our midst in the many hard working people and their children who came to this country illegally, because our immigration laws are both impractical and unjust. The law of God, the natural law, the right to work for and better one’s family takes precedence over outdated, unjust and impractical immigration laws. And our legislators failed to respond to one of the greatest needs of our country. Let us pray for our country, for our legislators, for the many commentators, for all immigrants, both documented and undocumented, and above all for our beloved country of America. God bless you all.