Illegal, Not Migrant
Dear Editor: I do not agree that the church should call illegal immigrants “migrants.” If you break the law that’s an illegal act and the church should avoid politically correct speech and call it what it is. We can have all the compassion and give them the necessary help after they’ve completed the application process, just as our ancestors did.
And don’t give me that phony line that the Democrats have their best interest at heart letting them in. Democrats will give free college, guaranteed salary, medical care, etc., that we’ll have to pay for and receive their life-long votes in return. Also, Democrats in Congress in the majority means abortion will be expanded and federally funded.
Frank Higbie
Bound Brook, N.J.
Unjust Laws Aren’t Worth Upholding
Dear Editor: This past week, Cynthia Gonzalez of Fresh Meadows took up the ages-old argument against asylum for undocumented immigrants (“Adopt Them,” May 1). As an Afro-Colombian adopted into an Irish Catholic family, I am equal parts heartbroken and furious when I see members of our communities supporting the suffering of other members of our communities because of laws whose intent are far more tied to racial discrimination than they ever were to our national security.
Over the course of our history, countless brave individuals — many of them Catholic — have risked severe punishment, to the point of execution, to help those suffering under the weight of this country’s unjust and oppressive laws.
Keep in mind that the success of the Underground Railroad was literally based on the willingness of free Americans to provide asylum for runaway slaves until they had reached their final destinations. For many practicing Catholics — and, in an ironically tragic way, some Latin/Hispanic Catholics — it has become far too easy to forget that the basis of your faith centers around Christ, who risked everything, laying down His very life in defiance of an unjust and oppressive society, for the salvation and freedom of every single one of us.
Put simply: Jesus wasn’t interested if the people He came to save spoke His language or had the right paperwork. Perhaps we should be better at taking the hint.
Joseph P. Murray
Rockaway Point
Immigration Must be Lawful and Orderly
Dear Editor: I could not believe or accept what was written in “As The Tablet Sees It” in the May 1 issue. To compare what is happening on our southern border to the story about Jesus as a migrant looking for help is a defective and misleading analogy.
These people, the immigrants, need help just as millions of others do. But what is the answer? According to The Tablet, they can come here and we will support them. After all, these people have no money, no jobs, no health insurance, and no assets.
Cynthia Gonzales was correct in her letter (“Adopt Them,” May 1) when she suggested that those in favor of this situation step forward. Strangely, no such person is willing to personally underwrite such an effort.
When conditions in another country are so bad that masses of people leave and force their way into another country, that is a condition of war.
Simple talk about Jesus is not sufficient. It sounds nice but is fraught with problems. Catholics have a religious and civic responsibility to help but we cannot be the economic lifeboat for the entire world.
Past presidents have directly addressed this situation on our border and all have said that our laws are primary. Immigration must be lawful and orderly. That is the standard of a democratic republic. The current administration has tossed that concept out. Elected officials who refuse to administer according to the law are, by definition of the law, guilty of nonfeasance.
Persons under the guise of charity are failing in their civic responsibility. This is not a subject that entitles one to have a personal opinion. It is a factual situation that requires an honest approach.
Comparing this illegal activity to the Holy Family escaping from Herod is an unfortunate analysis.
Robert J. Tillman
Richmond Hill
Editor’s note: The Tablet’s commentary on the situation was presented from a humanitarian, not political, perspective.
Dividing Through Racist Narrative
Dear Editor: In America today there is a progressive liberal agenda to divide the nation by using the narrative of racism. Nowadays, if you don’t go along with this narrative you are labeled a racist and you may even be destroyed by cancel culture.
Of course, there is some racism in the United States but certainly not to the degrees that liberal progressives would want you to believe. With so many nationalities, how would Brooklyn and Queens survive if this narrative is true? Is racism really a top topic within the Brooklyn and Queens communities?
Also, are we to believe that all white people are inherently racists as the narrative goes?
The last issue of The Tablet includes numerous articles and a cartoon devoted to racism. Is The Tablet now being politically correct and joining forces with the progressive leftists to divide our communities through this narrative?
William James Carroll
Woodside