What does it mean to be illegal?
Monday, October 25, 2010
*Randolph McGrorty
Recently, I had the frustrating experience of dealing with the City of Miami bureaucracy. I needed a building permit for some home renovations. In order to obtain the permit, I faced high fees, long lines, and a cumbersome process. Because my house is located in a designated “historic district” (whatever that means) I had to submit pictures of my home. The City of Miami determined that my garage door (already present when I purchased the home) did not match the original garage door when the home was constructed 65 years ago. Even though I had not personally changed the garage door, my garage door was deemed “non-conforming.” I am now required to seek a variance for this door or face substantial fines. I could even lose my home! That’s the law. So, the City of Miami considers me to be “illegal.”
I could not help but reflect on my “illegal status” in relation to the work I do and with all of the talk about “illegals” in the country. I serve as the executive director of Catholic Legal Services. More than 1,000 individuals seek the services of our offices each month: individuals seeking to reunite with their families, many of whom are U.S. citizens; political and religious refugees seeking safety and security; essential religious workers seeking to minister to U.S. religious communities; battered spouses and their children. These individuals confront a complex immigration law and a confusing bureaucracy. Many have unhealed wounds from a painful past. Many encounter unexpected bigotry and barriers as they adjust to a new culture and a new way of life. They face an uncertain future. We attempt to assist these individuals in complying with the laws, as complex and confusing as they may be.
Before we do what the City of Miami did to me, before we brand them “illegals,” vilify them and seek to deport them, let’s calmly consider some facts. First, these individuals did NOT commit a crime. To cross our border without inspection, or to overstay one’s authorized stay in the U.S., is NOT a criminal violation. It is a civil infraction similar to my non-conforming garage door. Yet we treat them as criminals, often imprisoning them. I do not seek to minimize the importance of controlling our border, but simply to inform you of the law.
Second, immigration law is very complex. Many individuals have not chosen to disregard the law, but are deemed to have violated it without any intent to do so. I certainly did not intend to violate the law when I purchased a home with a “non-conforming” garage door! Similarly, many of these so called “illegals” entered the U.S. as children, accompanying their parents who made the decision for them. Others are stranded here for a variety of reasons. Most recently, we saw this when the cataclysmic earthquake struck Haiti—leaving thousands without a home to return to. Still others have made a good faith effort to comply with the law, but due to bureaucratic complexities and processing glitches, the government rebuffed their efforts.
Third, since the law does consider these individuals to have violated immigration laws, let us provide a just mechanism to allow them to cure the violation. The City of Miami is allowing me to seek a “variance” for the garage door. Perhaps a similar process presents a just “punishment” for these law breakers. The U.S. Catholic bishops endorse such a “variance.” They call it earned legalization. The bishops’ earned legalization proposal provides a window of opportunity for undocumented immigrants who are already living in our communities and contributing to our nation: They can come forward, pay a fine and application fee, go through rigorous criminal background checks and security screenings, demonstrate that they have paid taxes and are learning English, and obtain a visa that could lead to permanent residency, over time.
For more information about this proposal, and for more facts about immigration in the U.S., rather than hype and name-calling, I urge you to visit the website sponsored by the bishops: www.justiceforimmigrants.org.
In the meantime, as people of faith, I refer you to the scriptures, which so clearly direct us to “treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you.” (Lv 19:34).
Finally, when thinking about these very important issues, I leave you with a reflection from our Archbishop, the Most Reverend Thomas Wenski, who stated boldly, prophetically, and accurately: "The so-called ‘illegals’ are so not because they wish to defy the law; but because the law does not provide them with any channels to regularize their status in our country – which needs their labor: They are not breaking the law, the law is breaking them."
This is an important, relevant and complex issue and I hope to be able to address it at greater length in the future. I look forward to your comments.
Comments from readers
What most amazed me is the will of some of these kids to go to College and become professionals against all odds!Wake up Americans,Dream Act for everyone,do not push them to join the gang,let them get busy!
At the same time it is important to point out that we as the Church of Christ also need to allow these brothers and sisters illegal or not to be able to celebrate the Eucharist in their native language. In South Florida that's not a problem, but when you travel through the southern states it does become an issue. Thank you for writing about this. Excllent Raldolph!