Over the course of the last few months, America has been discussing the subject of immigration; specifically our broken immigration system, securing our borders, the impact on an already financially strapped America; and most importantly what do we do with those that have entered this country illegally. These questions have been festering for years, but there was considerably more talk then there was action. The subject came to a head back in the summer months of 2014 as many people from Central America and Mexico traveled at great personal risk to come to America through a loophole in a law enacted under the Bush administration. There are some extremely valid questions related to how the country should handle the questions above:

• How do we secure our borders to prevent the terrorists and violent criminals from entering the country?
• How do we fix the existing system that takes too long and has too many rules for people to successfully navigate to become green card holders or American citizens?
• How can we grant amnesty to people who entered the country illegally when so many people came in the right way? How is that fair to them?
• Who is going to pay for these illegals to stay here? Why can’t we deport them? They will take jobs away from hard working Americans.

There is clearly much work to do about this subject. You can refer to them as “illegal aliens”, “undocumented aliens”, immigrants, and/or refugees, but that is semantics. The people are here and there is no real structure to take care of them. Unfortunately, for many of the people already here they have become political footballs with the focus on the questions above and not on the real questions, the ones that God wants us as Catholics to ask and act upon:

• What do we need to do as the Church and disciples of Jesus to take care of the people that are already here?
• How can we prevent splitting up families that are already here?
• How can we re-unite families that are already split apart?
• What are the situations these people are leaving and what can we do to help?
• How do we take this situation and allow God to find the good in it? To do what Jesus asks us very clearly to do in Matthew 25 in “The Judgment of the Nations”:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations^* will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

We, as Catholics, need to be more of a voice to stand up for these children of God and engage more actively in the conversation. There needs to be focus on both sets of questions, but clearly there aren’t enough voices asking the questions that God wants us to ask. There aren’t enough actions to help these people and even more as they stream through our borders. Instead of using these people as political footballs, let’s put in place assistance to help those that are here while the government works through the necessary legislation to address the problem permanently. I found some very interesting data on the Catholic Charities website for the Archdiocese of New York (http://www.catholiccharitiesny.org/what-we-do/welcoming-and-integrating-immigrants-and-refugees/welcoming-more-information/):

Welcoming and Integrating Immigrants and Refugees

In any given year...

2,176 : families provided with expert counsel and safeguarded from exploitation

28,332 : calls for help answered promptly with accurate information in 18 languages

478 : breadwinners helped to obtain authorization to work

324 : immigrants reunited with their families

457 : individual refugees resettled

72 : immigrants taught English and civics

42 : asylum seekers provided with legal representation

This is the type of aid that Catholic Charities in the NY Archdiocese provides for immigrants. This is an opportunity for us as Catholics to use our God-given gifts to help these people. Many churches and parishes are stepping up, but it is not enough and I would argue that a big part of the problem is the mindset around the discussion. We need to change the mindset to prioritize the love and care that these people need as opposed to where their care is currently is prioritized.

A few suggestions on how we can help:

• If you feel your parish isn’t doing enough to help these people speak to your Pastor and encourage him to pull together a team to provide more focus on what can be done in your area.
• Work with the Catholic Charities chapter in your area to see how you can help
• Work with your Congressional and State leaders to make your voice heard. Let’s focus on how we take care of the people first and then deal with the many other hard questions after we have a framework in which to take care of these people

We are called to do “whatever we can for the least brothers of ours”. Many of these people leave horrendous living conditions and oppressive governments for a chance for a new life in the US. As a Church we do wonderful things for the poor and the homeless in our country and we must work to take care of these people as well. I welcome your thoughts on this important issue.