Friday, August 17, 2007 at 12:12am
A tale of two immigrants
Column: God Said What?
This week our national debate on illegal immigration has been bipolar. It's been a tale of two immigrants.
On the one hand, there's Jose Carranza.
He seems like a thug. That is, if even half of what he's charged with is true. He, along with at least one other, are the prime suspects in the murders of Dashon Harvey (20), Terrance Aeriel (18) and Iofemi Hightower (21), and the attempted murder of Natasha Aeriel (19) in Newark, N.J. The innocent victims, all of whom had a bright future ahead of them, were lined up along a schoolyard fence and murdered execution-style. This week Carranza surrendered himself to the mayor of Newark but has pled not guilty to the murder charges.
On the other hand, there's Elvira Arellano.
She is a mother who has a U.S.-born 8-year-old son, Saul. She is the woman about whom I wrote last week who has avoided deportation by taking sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church here in Chicago. Due to her actions she has been thrust into the spotlight of the national debate on illegal immigration. And she's in the news again because she will be leaving the church's grounds soon. This is to participate in a prayer and fasting vigil in support of the plight of undocumented workers next month in D.C.
Now there has been some chattering in the media and the blogosphere that is trying to make Mr. Carranza a symbol of the danger of illegal immigration. To say the least, that's disingenuous. Because a person like Ms. Arellano and one like Mr. Carranza have only two things in common: They both are illegal immigrants and they both are accused of breaking portions of U.S. law. But that's where their similarities end.
Because their situations are as different as night and day. Ms. Arellano used a fake Social Security number to get a job to support herself and her son. Mr. Carranza allegedly committed cold-blooded murder. Ms. Arellano paid taxes and positively contributed both to her own community and the larger society. Mr. Carranza left a gaping hole in the larger community that may never heal.
Both are illegal immigrants. But you don't see a church offering sanctuary to Mr. Carranza or him even seeking it. You don't see anyone holding vigils for him. And you don't see him offering much to his community other than defamation, shame and mourning. Their lives are different and their crimes are different.
You see what I'm getting at here. Just because one illegal immigrant is the prime suspect in a heinous crime does not mean that most others are hardened criminals. It doesn't even mean that a sizable minority are such. It means that evil abides among illegal immigrants just as with everyone else.
The issue here has less to do with illegal immigrants than with the rest of us. It's our own willfulness to seize upon a heinous crime and read into it our own policy recommendations. It's our own prejudice to portray all undocumented workers as of the same stripe as the Newark murderers. It's our opportunism and our lack of shame.
But if we must talk policy, here's my two cents. As far as many Catholics are concerned, our position is clear. We ask for comprehensive immigration reform. This means that we expect our nation to find a process for legalizing the undocumented workers currently in this nation who haven't committed violent crimes while at the same time tightening our border enforcement.
As Auxiliary Bishop John Manz wrote last year in a statement on behalf of the Archdiocese of Chicago, "[T]he essential elements of this reform must be: family reunification, just and effective border control, a temporary worker program, restoration of due process protection and a path to legalization and citizenship for those already in the U.S." And a broader articulation of the Church's position can be found in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' document "Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope."
This position isn't based on either Mr. Carranza or Ms. Arellano but on looking at the larger situation with the eyes of Jesus. It's the Church's attempt to balance the national interest with God's interest while always giving the final word to God.
With luck, the chattering linking the Newark murders to all undocumented workers will soon cease. Then, the victims' families will not have to worry about feeling manipulated for political ends. That means in my columns as well as elsewhere in the media realm.
In the meantime, let's keep looking at this with the eyes of Jesus. Let's pray for the victims, their families and for justice to be meted out. And let's talk sensibly about undocumented workers.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.
On the one hand, there's Jose Carranza.
He seems like a thug. That is, if even half of what he's charged with is true. He, along with at least one other, are the prime suspects in the murders of Dashon Harvey (20), Terrance Aeriel (18) and Iofemi Hightower (21), and the attempted murder of Natasha Aeriel (19) in Newark, N.J. The innocent victims, all of whom had a bright future ahead of them, were lined up along a schoolyard fence and murdered execution-style. This week Carranza surrendered himself to the mayor of Newark but has pled not guilty to the murder charges.
On the other hand, there's Elvira Arellano.
She is a mother who has a U.S.-born 8-year-old son, Saul. She is the woman about whom I wrote last week who has avoided deportation by taking sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church here in Chicago. Due to her actions she has been thrust into the spotlight of the national debate on illegal immigration. And she's in the news again because she will be leaving the church's grounds soon. This is to participate in a prayer and fasting vigil in support of the plight of undocumented workers next month in D.C.
Now there has been some chattering in the media and the blogosphere that is trying to make Mr. Carranza a symbol of the danger of illegal immigration. To say the least, that's disingenuous. Because a person like Ms. Arellano and one like Mr. Carranza have only two things in common: They both are illegal immigrants and they both are accused of breaking portions of U.S. law. But that's where their similarities end.
Because their situations are as different as night and day. Ms. Arellano used a fake Social Security number to get a job to support herself and her son. Mr. Carranza allegedly committed cold-blooded murder. Ms. Arellano paid taxes and positively contributed both to her own community and the larger society. Mr. Carranza left a gaping hole in the larger community that may never heal.
Both are illegal immigrants. But you don't see a church offering sanctuary to Mr. Carranza or him even seeking it. You don't see anyone holding vigils for him. And you don't see him offering much to his community other than defamation, shame and mourning. Their lives are different and their crimes are different.
You see what I'm getting at here. Just because one illegal immigrant is the prime suspect in a heinous crime does not mean that most others are hardened criminals. It doesn't even mean that a sizable minority are such. It means that evil abides among illegal immigrants just as with everyone else.
The issue here has less to do with illegal immigrants than with the rest of us. It's our own willfulness to seize upon a heinous crime and read into it our own policy recommendations. It's our own prejudice to portray all undocumented workers as of the same stripe as the Newark murderers. It's our opportunism and our lack of shame.
But if we must talk policy, here's my two cents. As far as many Catholics are concerned, our position is clear. We ask for comprehensive immigration reform. This means that we expect our nation to find a process for legalizing the undocumented workers currently in this nation who haven't committed violent crimes while at the same time tightening our border enforcement.
As Auxiliary Bishop John Manz wrote last year in a statement on behalf of the Archdiocese of Chicago, "[T]he essential elements of this reform must be: family reunification, just and effective border control, a temporary worker program, restoration of due process protection and a path to legalization and citizenship for those already in the U.S." And a broader articulation of the Church's position can be found in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' document "Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope."
This position isn't based on either Mr. Carranza or Ms. Arellano but on looking at the larger situation with the eyes of Jesus. It's the Church's attempt to balance the national interest with God's interest while always giving the final word to God.
With luck, the chattering linking the Newark murders to all undocumented workers will soon cease. Then, the victims' families will not have to worry about feeling manipulated for political ends. That means in my columns as well as elsewhere in the media realm.
In the meantime, let's keep looking at this with the eyes of Jesus. Let's pray for the victims, their families and for justice to be meted out. And let's talk sensibly about undocumented workers.
— — —
Kevin Considine is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Recently he was married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and reads his columns to see if they make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at {email considkp@yahoo.com}considkp@yahoo.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Kevin Considine.