If Illegal Aliens Are Breaking the Law Then Why Care About Them?

One often hers this in the great immigration debates. The Catholic Key has a Bishop's response to that at Bishop, They are Breaking the Law’.

We get into if a law is "Just" or "unjust" here. First let me say I am not saying that Bishop is wrong there. I just think in some ways he is not hitting the right points.

First we should be reminded that "under the law" we as Christians would all be convicted. We Catholic should recognize that is through the abundant mercy of God through the Sacrament of Confession we are forgiven of sins that scream to the Heavens for Justice. Yes we must do Penance but under immigration reform those folks have to Penance too.

I have a different view on the "Just" nature of this. First this "justice" seems to be mightily one sided. For decades we needed illegal Aliens to help fuel our economy. Many people in New Orleans and on the Gulf used illegal aliens to get their homes built again. Many people us them in their own business and around their own house.

BUT BUT BUT I am not doing that is whatI hear. Well that might be so. However many of our fellow countrymen did and I am not sure we can just ignore that. The laws are pretty much set up so in reality the punishment comes down on just one party. That is the illegal alien. So in some ways this "Justice" is indeed unjust and needs to be reformed.

Further complicating the picture is that these many of these people that stayed had families. They include people that are now American Citizens (wives and children). Part of Justice requires us to balance out what happens to them. What we call the "domestic Church".

We saw recently the cases of kids brought here at a young age in the Dream Act drama. What about them. Did they "break the law" too.

It is a very complicated issue. Under the proposed immigration legislation we saw in the Bush years many would be deported even in these tough situations. But it was a real attempt at Justice recognizing the responsibilities and fault was in many places.

That does mean we have to give Citizenship to every illegal. That does mean we cannot control our borders. That does not mean that some people have no buiness being here no matter what.
That does nto mean that we should stop all deportations.

However it means (at least in a Christian sense) throaing out half a bible verse or half a paragrpah fo the Catechism while ignoring the rest is not productive.