Before you pile on me, please know that I didn't come up with this on my own. Fr. Benedict Groeschel, no great liberal, yet faithful to Church teaching and to the truth, said it. On his live call in show Sunday evening, he said the following about sin, "we are guilty of robbing the poor in ways that we aren't aware, and this is a sin which the Old Testament says 'cries out to heaven for vengance'. "He continued, "every year, illegal immigrants with fake Social Security cards pay BILLIONS of dollars into the system which they will never collect; they help keep that failing system going". The USCCB confirms this fact. So does my husband Francisco, who, as an illegal fleeing the terrible civil war in El Salvador, paid six months of Social Security he will never collect. Here is an article in USA Today confirming this fact.
So, next time a Catholic pundit (Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, are you listening?) tells you that illegals do nothing but rob this country, mention this fact. Yes, their kids go to school and get medical care. They are most likely citizens, and, even if they aren't, would you have them wandering the streets or die of preventable diseases right here in the USA?
Let me set the record straight, in my day job, I have worked with the poor for nearly 25 years. Illegal immigrants are NOT eligible for welfare. Do they still mangage to exploit the system sometimes? Sure. Did you ever file a homeowner's claim, or a tax deduction that was shaky? Let's be honest with ourselves,as Catholics, can't we afford to allow some of the poorest people in the world just get a job to feed their families? We who are overweight, whose homes are completely oversized for the 2.1 children we have, whose cars are big enough to climb the Rocky Mountains, yet never will, and whose cruise vacations rival those of the rich and famous. Why do we think it's moral to live like this, while children in the Southern Hemisphere die of hunger by the minute? Watch those World Vision Infomercials next time.
If your children lived where the water carried disease, and they had to scrape through garbage to eat, what would you be willing to do, to help them survive?
American Catholics are some of the richest people in the history of the world, yet we give a paltry 1% to our collection baskets in church, far less than Protestants. Yet our Church is involved in so many worthy projects to help the poor provide for themselves. Evangelization, education, health car
e, housing, there is so much your money can provide for the poor.Mother Teresa told the story of a young Indian couple who, instead of the extravagant wedding which Indian couples celebrate, donated all the money to her. She asked them why they would sacrifice their wedding celebration, and they answered, "we want to share the joy of loving". I had a nice wedding, but since I've been married, I have supported several of my husbands' relatives through college. Was I always a willing and cheerful giver? Nope. God has blessed even my reluctant generosity, and He will certainly bless yours.
Here are some 1
00% reliable places to donate money.Missionaries of Charity
Food for the Poor
Christian Foundation for Children and Aging
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
Catholic World Mission
Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara
7 comments:
Great post, thanks much!
"every year, illegal immigrants with fake Social Security cards pay BILLIONS of dollars into the system which they will never collect; they help keep that failing system going".
The SSNs are perhaps only fake in that they don't belong to the people who stole them?
Actually, Father Groeschel is quite a liberal. He has become more conservative but his liberalism still shines thru from time-to-time. He is a wonderful man who has done wonderful things but this issue is his blind spot.
He has worked with the poor all his life as I have, and this helps you understand the Church's social teaching, which some people consider liberal. Catholics have the uncomfortable job of straddling the fence politically. I stand strong on pro-life, and for the poor, and this confuses a lot of people!
Leticia,
I'm going to add my two cents to this issue as I have before. First of all, your headline could apply to everyone. The Social Security System is a rip-off to everyone.
And please, don't classify me with Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity who thumb their noses at Church teaching in the life issues as well. Put me in the category with Alan Keyes, Phyllis Schlafly, Pat Buchanan and others who are less known, but fully embrace authentic Church teaching. The Church does not teach as is being implied by many American bishops, priests and other lay Catholics that we need to pardon law breaking in the area of illegal migration, by treating them as citizens.
And btw, my family lives in a modest 2 bedroom house, buys only used cars (as cheap as we can find that lasts as long as possible), we can rarely afford vacations, but when we do, it is never an extravagent one, it is simply to go and visit out of town relatives, and we rarely eat out. But we give generously to the Church and to charity. Of course, we can always do more than we do.
Who really is ripping off illegal im(migrants)? First: the illegal migrants themselves. Whenever we sin (breaking a just law is a sin, and secure borders is a just law), we "rip-off" ourselves from God and His blessings, though God in His Mercy, always loves us and wants us to repent and is willing and ready to welcome us when we do. Second: Those who aide them in getting a false social security number aka, aide them in committing fraud. Third: the greedy employers who skirt the law, to get "cheap labor" from these poor and willing indentured slaves.
It's been brought up before that we wouldn't need all of these illegal migrants to do the work they do, if we hadn't aborted 40 million + babies. Actually, while there may be some cause and effect going on there (God's judgement on our land by allowing massive evil to take place through illegal migration), the economic law of supply and demand disputes the fallacy that we need these illegal migrants to replace the aborted children. While yes, there are some 20 million who would be of working age had it not been for aborting them, there are also those 20 million less consumers to consume the goods and services they would provide.
The truth is, that we have Americans out of jobs, because they cannot compete with the low-ball wages that the illegal migrants would work for, and still provide for their fammilies with the cost of housing, food and other necessities. While America is a rich nation, our system is rigged, and yes, some Americans are lazy, but there are hard working individuals who get ripped off in the way things are being run, including turning a blind eye to the immigration laws. Not to mention, we don't encourage our teenagers to do physical labor, and that's a problem that should not be avoided.
As a Church, we should be evangelizing these poor countries, and encouraging them to stay in their countries and fight for true justice, along with us. When they come here illegally, we should strongly urge them to repent and make reparation for their sins, not further encouraging them to sin.
We must have secure borders, and enforce the laws, or the culture of death and lawlessness will stampede right over our land.
I encourage you to read more of what I've written at www.lifeoftheparty.typepad.com Go to the illegal immigration category on the sidebar.
Michelle McIntyre
I should add that Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are closer to your views on this issue, as so often is the case with Catholics who thumb their noses at other Church teachings. I mean all of this respectfully, of course. I applaud your speaking out on life issues. And I look forward to and pray for increased Wisdom in this area that so divides Catholics.
Charles Rice in the book "The Winning Side" agreed with you, Michelle, that perhaps this is God's way of preserving this country from the fate of Europe, ie extinction.
BTW, Sean Hannity and I went toe-to-toe on immigration the week before his radio show was syndicated nationally. He was polite, but disagreed with me. This inpires another post. . .
I didn't read the book, but I've read some of his columns and am in disagreement with him. I think you missed my point that this might be God's judgement on us, not that this is His way of being sure our nation doesn't go extinct. I'm not married to this idea, it's just a possibility that it could be His judgement (have you read "Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence")? I highly reccomend it.
The law of supply and demand simply does not support the idea that we need these illegal migrants to fill the jobs that would have been filled by aborted children. Please read the above post for the explanation.
I can see how you might have gone toe to toe with Hannity. He talks "tough" on illegal immigration, but he supports a candidate who supports policies closer to what you think on illegal immigration, not to mention his anti-life positions. The pro-abortion wing of the Republican Party is pro-illegal immigration.
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