The immigration situation

The whole text of my comment from Emily's site re: immigration. She wrote that St. Aquinas would be on the side of the Sensenbrenners, basically. My response was this:

The problem with this debate is that it seems very race-based. No one's talking about securing the Canadian border and building walls there, even though THAT'S WHERE THE 9/11 GROUP CAME FROM.

Secondly, the point Hillary's trying to make, although she may be a poor messenger for it, is that Jesus didn't separate those in need based on law. He treated the adulteress and the prostitute the same as the common working person. Matthew 25: 35-36, "35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."

That is what Cardinal Mahoney is saying. That is what many of us are saying.

Because if we ended the economic issues which created this problem, things would be a lot better. As long as vineyard and orchard owners and WalMart are willing to pay these people $4/hr. or pay them by each piece of fruit picked, illegal immigration will not stop, because $4/hr. beats the hell out of most jobs in Mexico, especially since THEY have started outsourcing.

These people risk their very lives to get here. Faced with death in unventilated trucks, by Minutemen and Border Guards, by Mexican drug gangs, they come.

Living in Southern California, I can tell you that as much as some people hate the illegals, this economy would cease to function without them. The blame isn't just on Mexico and Mexicans. It's on us for enabling it, for allowing the vineyards, the orchards, the WalMarts, to hire these people, pay them below minimum wage, and be the reason they get state help.

In all honesty, how many white people, how many of the critics, would be willing to work these godawful jobs under godawful conditions? These illegals don't have those pretentions. They will do anything for their family's well-being. Are they breaking a law? Yes, they are. So are their employers.

We have no right to demonize the illegals if we ourselves haven't cleaned up our act and showed that we are willing to work these jobs in the fields. I've NEVER seen a white, black, Asian, or Indian in those fields. They are all Hispanic out there, enduring the worst to try and support their family. This whole immigration debate is far too narrow, and will not stop the problem. The wall in Israel hasn't kept Palestinians from building ladders and scaling it. Walls are detrimental to a society, let alone our souls. The Cardinal, along with others, are following the lead of our Lord Jesus, ministering and caring for everyone, regardless of their status. Tell me, what is really so wrong about that? Legally wrong, morally right.