A friend of mine is Irish Catholic — in Chicago, what we sometimes call “proud southside Irish Catholic.” Church every weekend. His actions embody his faith. But southside Irish Catholics are not just religious; they also tend to have a great sense of humor.
Yesterday we were at lunch, talking about the news of late. The top U.S. headlines were about immigration. Specifically, they were about the increasing arrests and deportations.
My friend seemed to briefly digress from the topic. He related that when he was at church that past weekend, he passed a car in the church parking lot with a bumper sticker. He couldn’t recall the exact content of the sticker, but he said that it evoked the anti-immigrant sentiment that is currently viral in the U.S. (and not just the U.S., if you follow international news).
The thing is, he explained further: “When you go into my church, you are surrounded by immigrants. There are Hispanics to the left; Hispanics to the right; Hispanics front and back. And some non-Hispanic immigrants as well.” And reflecting back on the bumper sticker in the parking lot, he then said: “I want to get a bumper sticker that says this: ‘Stop deporting Catholics’”!
Now our group at lunch laughed at that, as was my friend’s intent. Only it then occurred to me that while the story was quite funny, it was also completely apropos. Let me explain.
First, there is an obvious truth that gets easily obscured by heated political rhetoric: Most foreign-born individuals in the U.S. — and the census reports over 22 million noncitizen immigrants, or about 7% of our total population—are not actively committing criminal offenses. What’s more, very few of them are committing violent criminal offenses. Yes, many people violate the law when they enter the country without permission. Does this make them “criminals”? In my eye, not more than the people flying by me on the interstate at 85 mph. A lawbreaker does not a criminal make—at least not in the truest sense of the word “criminal.”
What source do I have for my claim that most noncitizen immigrants are not actively committing crimes? That would be plain common sense. My friend perceives that he is surrounded by immigrants at his church. We are all surrounded by these same people in our everyday lives. They are working in every restaurant we visit; they are present on every construction jobsite; they make up the lion’s share of all employees at landscaping companies; they fill the ranks of the cleaning staff at the building I work in, and certainly in the buildings you work in. And I could go on. The food we eat? We may not see their involvement, but any cursory review of farming news or food processing is replete with references to immigrants. I speak regularly with the maintenance staff at my building, many of whom are Mexican. The crew that re-sided my house and repaired my leaking roof? All Mexican.
Second, with unemployment consistently under 5% for the last ten years — excepting the pandemic spike — immigrants are plainly not “taking” jobs from U.S. citizens. Economists consider unemployment under 5% to be “full employment.” There are jobs for those willing to work. Deporting Catholics does not foster employment — on the contrary.
Finally, I will not belabor the standard lines about immigrants being hard-working, inventive, and providing our society continuous growth and renewal. You may reject all of those assertions, and even still, we should not be threatening them with mass-deportation. Such threats are cruel. And such threats harm us as a people economically, socially, and importantly: morally. You need not be southside Irish Catholic to appreciate that.
Immigration policy in the U.S. has been a disaster for many years. There is much to criticize on a bipartisan basis. Writer David Frum did so in a wide-ranging critique of U.S. policy in a 2019 article in The Atlantic, provocatively titled “If Liberals Won’t Enforce Borders, Fascists Will.” I recommend the lesson, because it foretold the recent history of the Americas, where populations seem to be moving like tides on the sea. Of course, the moon does not create these human waves, but rather the rhetoric of U.S. leaders does. For at least a decade and across the political spectrum, that rhetoric has had a manifestly negative effect on our social cohesion.
Even still, cruelty is not the answer. Close the border — fine. Return people to their country of origin before they have settled — OK. But rounding up our friends, neighbors and those who provide us countless daily services? This is far too reminiscent of what dictators do in countries we rightly condemn. Such actions also risk destabilizing countries to which we in the U.S. have close and abiding economic and social ties, such as Mexico. If we don’t want our own house catching fire, we should not be kindling the abode of our neighbor.
In this spirit, I have ordered the bumper sticker my friend envisioned:
Stop deporting Catholics.
In a time of tumult, I think that my friend’s humorous phrase captures the perspective we need. If you want one, email me at stopdeportingcatholics@gmail.com and provide me your postal address.
Stephen J. Rice is an attorney who lives outside of Chicago, Illinois.
entering the country or overstaying your visa is a crime… bye bye.
Great read…I totally agree!
From Corpus Christi TX!
Thank you for your insight.
Tell that to the thousands of Americans in Mexico that don’t have their FMMs. Round them up, put them in camps, and deport their asses. Hear, hear.
Yes, Mexico does not need the USA’s criminals, or tax dodgers.
Yes!
How very true about the number of US citizens in Mexico over staying their visa. I personally know of three.
Or the number of Irish in NYC who have done the same….oh I forgot they are white!!
There’s a felon in the White House And insurrectionist now released from jail. So yeah, let’s enforce the laws all of them.
Thank you for your accuracy
Anyone entering the US without a permit sees, in his mind, two enormous signs:
DON’T YOU DARE COME IN HERE
and
HELP WANTED.
The Republican, now MAGA, party has refused to get a policy and law that can make sense out of both signs. Until they do, the MAGAs are just messing with you.
Your bigotry has obscured your view of reality. Illegal entry to the US is a misdemeanor, not a crime. Overstaying one’s visa is a civil violation, not a criminal violation. This information is readily available online. Get informed!!
Yes, this is true, and any illegal entry into the US is violation of civil, NOT criminal law.
No, illegal entry into the US is a violation of civil, NOT criminal law. In the US one can be a lawbreaker without being a criminal. This is a nuance that may be difficult to grasp, it is for me! One other thing: the 14th Amendment to our beloved US Constitution mandates due process of law to all alleged lawbreakers, not just US citizens. That means even presumed undocumented immigrants are PRESUMED INNOCENT until proven guilty. I’m so proud to be an American with a Constitution that protects the rights of all.
Deport all the law breakers, yes illegals as they broke the law entering the country in the first place. Catholics, and I was raised Irish Catholic in Cincinnati, are law breakers with all the NGO crap they do to get more illegals into the country. Congratulations Tom Homan and your agency. Keep it up. From us here in Queretaro.
Do you have a heart or soul? Your support of Tom Homan obviously reveals your lack thereof.
20 year Retired Marine with a Dual citizen wife and daughter. We feel no pain for others as We and our family have done things the Legal way. The World isn’t our responsibility.
OK, law and order guy. Somehow I imagine you don’t have a problem with a felon in the White House or the release of violent insurrection is who tried to overthrow our democracy running free.
My guess is Mr Puckett voted for #Felon47
Sounds good in theory but in fact the great majority of illegal immigrants are young military age males whose greatest concern is probably not Catholicism. More than a few of them have criminal records as well. If you look at this purely from a Mexican perspective you have the wrong idea of who is actually jumping the border. In reality there are people from some 70 countries using Mexico’s laxity and tolerance to enter Mexico first and then make their way to the U.S. border largely unhindered. In a recent trip north along a rail line we saw freight train after freight train literally covered with obviously illegal immigration intended riding north in plain view with no concern the Mexican government might put a stop to it.
I’ve lived in Mexico going on 17 years. I did all the required legal steps to become a Permanente. We own a house here, we employ people and we pay property taxes. We pay VAT every time we purchase almost any goods or services. I support Mexican immigration law, I think it is rational and fair and there’s no reason anyone should be here if they aren’t legal. I have absolutely no problem with Mexican authorities checking visa status and deporting those who are not legal here.
I feel the same way about the U.S. However, if I were handling this situation I would first go after the criminal illegals, which is being done, then the young single men who could be offered the option of military service to become legal. Finally, I would find a way to regularize the intact, self supporting families.
Let’s not forget this entire problem is the direct result of the open border policies of the Biden regime. The Democrat Party did a complete 180 from being staunchly in favor of border control to being staunchly in favor of illegal immigration. Why? Because their support among natural citizen Americans is going steadily south and they view the illegals as prime prospects for being future automatic Democrat voters. I think this is a disgraceful display of hypocrisy and disregard for native citizens and legal immigrants.
I’m not convinced that the Dems’ motivation is votes as opposed to mindless extremism just as is well on display with the MAGA’s. Another example of that extremism is all the energy spent on trannies. In California millions are spent on caring for released mentally disordered sex offender when the scum should pay their own way or stay in civil commitment. No, I think it’s extremism not vote fetish.
This has nothing to do with Democrats theoretically cultivating Hispanic votes to their side of the aisle. It’s all about respecting humanity, in all of its forms. Why transgender people are even part of this conversation is beyond me. Yes, they exist. Yes, they deserve respect. But enough already with FOX News and the Christian Right portraying this issue as a threat to Western Democracy and an affront to God Almighty. You all need to chew a lude, if you even know what that is.
Your last chapter is utter nonsense.Sorry!Enjoy the coming 4 years!Good luck!
Daniel, as you seem to have plenty of time in your hands, you might want to read a book.
The issues with southern immigration predate Biden by about 40 years. Ronald Reagan chose not to solve it. George Bush kicked it down the road. And Trump accomplished nothing with his silly wall.
Immigration has always been the lifeblood of the United States. And the truth is that it is now only a cause celebre as it is a way to motivate and distract the uneducated while the ultra rich put in place tax policies that will bankrupt our nation and only benefit the top 1%.
I don’t anyone who’s anti-immigration on either side of the aisle. You’re only telling half the story when you make comments like that. Look at England, Sweden, Germany, Ireland who are having extreme problems with people from the Middle East who were brought in by the UN. These aren’t immigrants, these are invaders being shuttled, flown in and smuggled across the border. Get the facts and report them correctly.
As for the Irish Catholics, it was not that long ago that they were discriminated against in America. “Native-born Americans criticized Irish immigrants for their poverty and manners, their supposed laziness and lack of discipline, their public drinking style, their catholic religion, and their capacity for criminality and collective violence. in both words and pictures, critics of the Irish measured character by perceived physical appearance.”
Yes, the germanic english pictured we Irish as monkeys just as their cousins in 3rd Reich Germany pictured Jews. Both sets of germans caused holocausts one against Irish and the other against Jews.
I recall my now deceased Uncle Joe, telling me he could not get a job in Portland, Maine when he graduated from high school. This was about 75 yrs. ago. There were signs in windows saying “Blacks and Irish Catholics need not apply.” He had to take a street car to Biddeford, Maine which was predominantly French Catholic factory town to find employment.
Not much has changed in this country, only different targets. We should be ashamed!!! A day of reckoning will come!
Currently, only known criminals are being arrested and deported. There are existing warrants for them. There are no mass arrests of other illegal migrants. ICE is not randomly knocking on doors or going to churches and schools to apprehend random Hispanics, like me.
Raise your hand if you can name another country in the world that will allow you to enter illegally and remain indefinitely. I’ve traveled to more than 40 countries throughout the world and allways complied with their immigration laws. It’s possible that I could overstay my visa but I certainly would have the sense to leave before I was apprehended, deported and barred from ever returning.
To all those wailing and complaining about illegal criminals arrested and deported, why didn’t you say something about this over the past four years as surely you knew this was wrong.
And as Christian and Catholic as many us may be, it is not the responsibility of the Inited States of America to be the caregiver of the world!
And when they come knocking on your door because you have a Hispanic name, you’d better have your papers in order.
I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 60’s.We were supposed to help farmers with advice and good livestock — which we did. The chicken industry, for example, was transformed between 1962 and 1967, based in part on the work we did.
We didn’t save the world. But we did show, to ordinary Ecuadorians, some with a picture of JFK on their walls, that we thought they mattered.
That’s what AID did, and will do again as soon as the courts slap down the illegal closure of agencies authorized by Congress and the previous President. AID is far from perfect, and we all hoped that Musk et al would really examine the results of its activity, and all the government agencies, and make them better. Now we know that was a con job.
We must resist this, David, in every way we can. Please join us.
Imagine in the heyday of the Italian Mafia in the U.S.A. who ran quite notorious, violent, corrupting, degenerating cartels: “Stop Prosecuting (Italian) Catholics!”
Thank you Stephen for your insight, well-crafted reason and compassion. I’m just about ready to blow my brains out from the hateful comments that seem to permeate this website. I’m not sure why they even have an interest about life in Mexico.
As an aside, I recently was at O’Hare in Chicago and ate at one of Rick Bayless’ places. The entire staff is Hispanic. They have an explicit policy to not tip the workers. Rick Bayless is about as Mexican as I am, yet he profits from cultural expropriation. Shame on him.
Amen. 🍿🍺🍿🍺
You seem to drink a lot of beer and eat a lot of palomitas. Jajajaja. Just curious, where are you?
No disrespect, just in case you aren’t aware, typically the popcorn and beer emojis mean sit(ting) back and watch(ing). The comments are entertaining, like a movie.
There is no comparison to getting a permanente in Mexico and trying to enter the U.S, legally. I know both sides. It is virtually impossible to enter the U.S. legally, especially as a Hispanic, and it has been this way since 9/11. If you have a tremendous amount of money, then maybe, otherwise forget about it. Don’t waste your time and the money that everyone in your family has contributed to finance your life-threatening trip to the northern border so that everyone in the family might have an opportunity to live a more humanitarian existence. Criminals? Rarely! And far less than the criminals we experience amongst our own citizens in the U.S.on a daily basis. Yes, I agree, our southern border needs rules, laws, and regulations, but our government has not been able to agree upon that for many years. There was a time, quite some time ago, when migrant workers were able to come to the U.S. and return home, and come back when their help was needed They were not paid fair wages, but it was more than what they could earn in their country. Those who risk their lives to come here now are still rarely paid a fair wage for their efforts. They keep their heads down, and have a work ethic that far exceeds, for the most part, than most of us in the U.S. would ever hope to have. We have been willing for years to hire them for a wage that most of us would never accept. We are all in for a rude awakening if we do not fight for their rights as well as our own. It seems to me that Humanitarianism has become a thing of the past, and what little is remaining in the U.S. is rapidly vanishing.
Your piece is the best response here. And perfectly correct. Thank you for sharing. And yes the US has completely lost its way. Selfish and uneducated aren’t an attractive mix.
Well said. My impresión of most other comments here aré from people who don’t seem to appreciate that most of us aré hypócrites and have all contributed to the shambles that the whole world Is now in.
“In 2020, the Catholic electorate — one the biggest religious blocs in the nation — was almost evenly split, with 50% backing Trump and 49% favoring Biden, a longtime member of the faith.
“This year, according to VoteCast, 54% of Catholic voters supported Trump and 44% backed Harris — a shift that was particularly notable in North Carolina, Florida and Texas.
“VoteCast documented a racial divide. About 6 in 10 white Catholics supported Trump, and about 4 in 10 supported Harris. By contrast, about 6 in 10 Latino Catholics supported Harris, and about 4 in 10 supported Trump.”
Thanks for the data, Mark. It will be most interesting to see what this looks like next year.
Unfortunately, as a lapsed Irish Catholic, I can say that in the US (as in Ireland) the Catholic Church lost a huge amount of it’s most conscientious members as a result of the sex scandals of the last decades. As a result, it is even more influenced by its most reactionary and far right members. One will hope that at some time the American Catholic Church will free itself from its domination by splinter reactionaries like Opus Dei.
If you cross the border illegally you are a criminal, just because you go to church with them doesn’t change that. As a supposed Christian, you are called to obey the magistrate unless their laws are against God’s law. Even in scripture, the Hebrews who went to Egypt during the famine had to have Joseph’s permission. There are plenty of Catholics who immigrate to the US legally and those that come illegally are trying to short cut those who did it the right way. It isn’t just Catholics but Protestants, Hindus, Muslims, etc… If you crossed the border illegally or overstayed your visa, you are a criminal.
A society focused on law and order and who is ‘the real victim’ is a society swirling the drain. Policies and actions of the ‘developed’ countries intentionally create chaos abroad, to transfer wealth from abroad; to keep resource-laden countries from coming together internally and externally with their neighbors; and to keep citizens from those wealthier nations poor and at each other’s throats and arguing who belongs and who doesn’t. It makes perfect sense if you think of these developed countries as criminal organizations. Not so much if you consume news and entertainment media, which coincidentally are owned by those who profit the most.
This topic and most of the conversation is a big part of why I chose the latter half of “America, love it or leave it!” But you can’t really leave a place where your roots are, and where the same conversation follows you around the world. USA’s security and prosperity is yoked to Mexico’s security and prosperity and the security and prosperity of Central America. USA’s security as a whole is also tied to the security and prosperity of its middle class, working class, working poor, and (working or unemployed) homeless. (Don’t worry, the very wealthy are getting wealthier, oddly.) Enforcing laws against the most vulnerable domestic and foreign population feels like ‘doing something’ but it ends up contributing to the underlying problem of lowering living standards for the ‘legals’ and the ‘illegals’. The same with ‘foreign aid’ which is almost always tied to regime change operations or the threat of regime change. Creating chaos abroad has consequences, but the domestic wealthy profit from that in terms of keeping the cost of ‘human resources’ to a minimum. Very few law and order types rail against the wealthy and powerful, who bend, break and shape the law, except for their links to the wrong politician or political party.
Very nice article! Love the analogy with speeding; it’s only “a crime” when other people do it.
“Yes, many people violate the law when they enter the country without permission”…… WRONG STEPHEN, 100% WRONG!!! ….”ALL” …not many …”ALL” WHO ENTER THIS COUNTRY ILLEAGALLY “VIOLATE THE LAW”……. ALL!!! You have nothing further to legitimately consider after those words and your entire article is invalid beyond that.
I kept reading in hopes that you would have something worthwhile to consider, but the best you could come up with was to play the sympathy card and bring up your Nice Catholic Neighbors who only broke…. ONE REALLY BIG LAW!!!
Since you brought religion into this here’s one for you; GOD FORGIVES, but he has laws too. And those Pearly White Gates…they are to keep those without permission from entering the Kingdom.