Washington D.C., Aug 24, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- People are probably familiar with white supremacist groups like neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan – both of which made an appearance at the violent rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia that shocked the nation and the world.
But what of the self-described “alt-right” movement, which drew a younger crowd and appears to espouse some of the same tenets? Is it just the same white nationalism, re-manifested?
And, what is white nationalism, exactly? Although there’s intense historical and contemporary disagreement over which ethnicities count as “white,” the phrase could be summed up as an ideology which holds that there is a distinct white “race.” What’s more, white nationalists advocate for the protection and advancement of so-called “white” nations and cultures against perceived threats like miscegenation, immigration and multiculturalism.
While some of the ideologies behind white nationalism are rooted in 18th and early 19th century racial politics, a large portion of the movement’s rhetoric stems from the rise of nationalism as a political model, along with common conceptions of race and eugenics popular at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The “alt-right” movement, centered on nationalism and far right-wing politics, was named so in 2010 by self-avowed white nationalist Richard Spencer, and includes many white nationalist members.
The movement has coalesced online around an ever-evolving lexicon of memes and jokes, a focus on preserving what they call “white identity,” and vocal resistance to that identity’s perceived threats – including from immigrants, feminists, Muslims and Jews.
Alt-right blogger voxday described how he thinks the movement conceives of its goals, pointing out its “philosophy of offense” and nationalism. At “alt-right” events and in “alt-right” webspace, overtly racist terms like “The Daily Shoah” – referencing the Holocaust – and “cuck” (short for “cuckhold” – a vulgar term for miscegenation), find their way into the lexicon of terms used next to frog cartoons and Twitter screen caps.
Phillip de Mahy, a Ph.D. student studying at the Catholic University of America, researches online communities and explained some of the trends that mark the alt-right movement.
One of the most important aspects of the movement, he told CNA, is its shifting set of beliefs and alliances. “If you look at the message boards,” de Mahy explained, “there’s lots of disagreement about who’s in or out.” The tactics and political goals of the movement as a whole are also difficult to define with precision, he said.
“There’s many people in the alt-right who will say this is just the logical extension of the Republican platform,” de Mahy said, noting that in many cases, the alt-right supports many of the same policies or actions of conventional Republicans on issues like immigration or foreign policy.
However, what differentiates the two groups, he says, are the reasons that the alt-right and other white nationalist groups have for supporting these positions. They do so to “bring about the racial purity of the nation,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s many people that would identify with the movement who would have any trouble saying that, euphemistically, it’s White Identity politics or Pro-White politics, which is, in reality, White Nationalism,” de Mahy clarified.
However, according to “Ignatius,” a former writer for Breitbart who spent time observing the alt-right, the history of the movement is slightly more complex. What differentiates the alt-right from other racist groups, he said, is its use of the internet and internet culture.
“If you look at its origins and growth, it’s almost entirely from internet forums, based on internet memes, and consequentially it has the infectious nature of the memes,” he said in a written response to CNA.
Historically, the alt-right has organized around this culture which has accepted a range of controversial anti-feminist, anti-Islam, anti-immigration and white nationalist beliefs.
However, Ignatius pointed out, many Catholics who have political beliefs that could be considered alt-right “realize the evil of racism, how race is such a malleable and meaningless concept, how opposed, to Church teaching it is.”
And many of these people have been drawn to the movement by its strong denunciation of perceived problems within modern society, he said. However, even for those who don’t initially hold racist views themselves, the alt-right could still prove dangerous, Ignatius noted.
In many places in the movement, it is “more permissible for someone to be slightly racist” than it is for them to promote monarchist or feudalist ideals, he said. Thus, when some casual members of the group’s internet meme culture seek an ideological home in the alt-right, “it’s incredibly easy to slip into all forms of horrendous racism,” he warned.
“The alt-right requires one to sublimate religion to race in a lot of ways, hence calling the pope a ‘cuck,’” or “disliking” Guinean cardinal Robert Sarah, he said.
Furthermore, many members of the alt-right who were focused on other forms of nationalism but who were not racist have left the movement in the wake of the 2016 election, he said.
During the presidential election, groups like “traditionalists, white nationalists, libertarians, civic nationalists” all coalesced, but since then “non-overtly-racist civic nationalists” have left the movement. This has allowed the more openly white nationalist elements to define what the alt-right is, both within online communities and to the outside world,” Ignatius said.
“Although I’ve said that the alt right is nebulous to the point where it’s hard to call them universally racists, it’s accurate to say it’s a racist movement.”
There are other morally reprehensible beliefs held by some in the alt-right, he noted, particularly support for abortion in non-white communities and the belief in paganism of some members.
In an April 2016 article for Radix Journal – a publication started by Richard Spencer – Aylmer Fisher pushed back against what he called the “pro-life temptation.”
Fisher argued that the pro-life position is “dysgenic” because it does not oppose birth among populations that are more likely to be below the poverty line and more likely to be of African-American or Hispanic heritage.
“Not only is the pro-life movement dysgenic,” Fisher wrote, “but its justifications rely on principles we generally reject. The alt-right is skeptical, to say the least, of concepts like ‘equality’ and ‘human rights,’ especially as bases for policy. The unborn fetus has no connection to anyone else in the community.”
He criticized pro-lifers, saying that those who are interested in “banning abortion because it’s ‘racist’ or adopting children from Africa, are the ultimate cuckservatives.”
While it’s unclear how seriously most members of the alt-right promote abortion, or how many support abortion access, it’s been a “consistent” topic of conversation among some of the group’s most vocal leaders and on some message boards, de Mahy said.
“They’re very explicit about the fact that this is a form of eugenics and that’s a good thing,” he said. Ultimately, “the alt-right would consider themselves to be pro-white and differing on the specifics of how to realize the furthering of the White Race. They would disagree about whether some things are pragmatic,” he said of support for abortion.
And while some members of the alt-right are Christian and while some see the Christian legacy – like historic Christian Europe – as a foundation for their worldview, others just see it as a vehicle for carrying their racist agenda. Or, they despise Christianity altogether.
“A lot of these people are very explicitly Atheist,” de Mahy said. “The overarching understanding of religion is largely instrumentalist.”
Some argue that Christianity is a compromised belief system because it is not defined by ethnic ties, and they find an alternative in paganism – particularly Nordic paganism – and its ties to the historic peoples of European descent.
Joseph Pearce, a senior editor at the Augustine Institute, has written a book about his previous involvement in the white supremacist movement and his subsequent conversion, “Race With the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love.” He recently wrote an opinion piece in the National Catholic Register, “Charlottesville Through the Eyes of an ex-White Supremacist.”
In his youth, Pearce had joined a white supremacist party in Great Britain, edited a white supremacist magazine, and was involved in violent street encounters with political opponents. Pearce twice spent time in prison, yet began reading St. Thomas Aquinas, Blessed John Henry Newman, and other Catholic authors during his second prison term on his path to conversion.
But why might young people be attracted to the white supremacist movement? Pearce told CAN that he joined it the because of “pride.” This also motivates other young men who are joining the movement today, he said, because “we live in a culture which is antithetical to Christianity, because it elevates pride.”
Younger generations are “all about self-identity now, basically constructing a cosmos in conformity with your own desires, wishes, prejudices,” he said. And they are looking to “tribalism,” which racism is a part of, because that offers a collective sense of pride.
“I think that tribalism’s on the rise because we’re not teaching generations these days about virtue, about Christianity, about humility, about love being laying down your life for the beloved, which is the other, including your enemy,” he said.
“We’re producing whole generations of people who are animated and motivated by pride, and racial pride will be one of those manifestations.”
For those who seriously believe in white nationalism, Catholics must forcefully condemn their beliefs but pray for their souls, Pearce said.
“I was a white supremacist. I went to prison twice. I was demonized by the culture, perhaps rightly so,” he said. “Certainly my ideas should have been demonized by the culture.”
“But I was a human being, and I wasn’t beyond the reach of the love of God, because God reached me in the prison cell,” he said, noting that his conversion began while he was serving his second prison sentence at the age of 24.
For one who is part of the white nationalist movement, we must be “hoping that he can be brought to the love of Christ and brought to conversion,” Pearce said. “God laid down his life for sinners, and we’re all sinners.”
[…]
To the bishops of Colorado: The People have spoken. Those who violated Federal law by invading our country, need to leave NOW. You bishops need to respect the will of the people and not interfere with what is NOT in your purview.
We Catholics DO support immigrants coming to the USA but we will NOT support people violating our laws to come here.
In addition, the bishops of the USA have forfeited their moral position in the Church with their sexual abuse of minors and other vulnerable persons and also covering up the abuse by other clerics. It’s time for the bishops to do public penance before they can ever recover the right to lecture others.
Absolutely. Well said.
Excellent points!
The validity of one’s office is not dependent on his morality.
In what world do you live in? Progressive bishops have absolutely forfeited their credibility. There is no authentic office without a moral and spiritual foundation behind it. Once again, your commitment to leftist ideologies is compromising your judgment.
God doesn’t recognize our man-made southern border. God does recognize how we treat people.
GERALD: Christ also said to his disciples: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
It’s not a good idea to speak for God; Christ did that already.
God certainly does recognize borders. Read the Bible.
I read the Bible. Christ instructs us to love each other as He loves us.
Indeed. We should follow the Vatican loving (sarcasm) example. No open borders.
“Vatican Promises Stiff Penalties for Illegal Aliens Crossing its Border”
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/01/16/vatican-promises-stiff-penalties-for-illegal-aliens-crossing-its-border/
There are legal avenues for immigration. We cannot take care of the entire world that wants to come here and our own, safely and effectively and at the rate they are pooring in. Absolutely unsustainable. Get real. Prices for goods and housing gave skyrocketed since Biden’s open borders. My friend is being evicted come the first of the month because his full-time job can’t pay the rent plus other bills. That’s who I care about. He has bought an ice tent . It’s tough here in Denver. 40k illegals have contributed to the rising rents here. Would you want to live in an ice tent in February?
God might not, but a sovereign government and its rightful citizens can and must recognize and defend our national borders. We should treat illegal aliens for what they are – individuals who are in violation of the law. The government’s first responsibility is to its citizens, not to law breakers.
Granted our Southern border has a dodgy creation history but to be fair so did Spain’s acquisition of land.
I don’t know how the title to my home and land are recognized by God but I’m pretty sure in this temporal world they belong to me legally and lawfully.
Yes, we will be held accountable for how we treat each other but scripture also instructs us to respect those in authority. I believe we can do both at the same time.
Unfortunately God does recognize nations, borders, races, tribes, families (subsidiary) even though He calls all men of all nations to come unto Him, to know Jesus is to know peace, peace among all men of good will.
Your comment is completely correct but lacks insight and balance. Conflating civil laws with assumptions of family separation is illogical. Given the crisis orchestrated, a dramatic response is required. Our church should use it’s own resources to do the work you speak of. Too easy to claim moral superiority and use government funds to do what you feel best for the underprivileged. When the GOOD bishops refuse government funding and use their own money and prayers they will be rewarded for speaking the truth in love.
So, Gerald. Does God recognize the fentanyl that pours in across the southern border and kills our people by the thousands?
How about the children who are trafficked or the mentally disturbed who will end up homeless?
Should I assume you’re in favor of this?
Thousands of American businessmen welcome these migrants with open arms because they work hard for a low wage. Thousands of American businessmen are getting rich using these illegals. It’s all about money.
So, Gerald, why then do you seem to condone the open borders which our president is proceeding to close?
Of course we welcome hardworkers. A work ethic is a very good thing and should be rewarded but we can’t continue to keep our workforce afloat through criminal trafficking cartels.
There should be a way to work on our visa and immigration policies so more decent people can come here to work legally and without profiting organized crime.
Does God recognize the wall that surrounds the Vatican City State and which the Pope guards jealously enough to reinforce the penalties against those who encroach on Vatican territory? If Pontiff Francis gets to establish his borders against unwanted intruders, why not the USA? I smell hypocrites galore in our Roman Catholic Church.
The moral treatment of people includes sane policies of regulating human migration, sane policies controlling sex trafficking, sane policies of stopping harmful drugs from entering the nation, and ending the exploitation of desperate people, and not taking refuge in sentimentality, the exact opposite of which is brought about by open borders.
@Gerald: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”
That would include protecting people like Laiken Riley and people like the woman lit on fire on a subway in NY and all the families who lost loved ones to fentanyl. Help the migrant yes but using a little wisdom by having a secure border with a comprehensive immigration policy. I don’t think God wants us to check our brains at the door.
Comprehensive policy – 1. allows people to understand with confidence even certainty at times, how best to mobilize, 2. requires broad-based inputs as well as specialist and 3. needs preparation and good personnel bringing through the policies in various areas in ways that also withstand scrutiny.
Some of it is bare-bones brainstorming: how many doctors do you want, how many labourers, how many train engineers, how many gross numbers per year, etc.
The existing legal and bureaucratic regime will most likely not reach to anything like this and more likely will get in the way of anything and everything at will.
And how they treat us. We used to believe in the Golden Rule.
Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser’s. Render unto GOD what is GOD’s.
Ceaser / US government has the right to establish the conditions on how a non-citizen enters the country. Breaking the laws, does not give you the right to stay in a country you blanketly have no respect for. Being here, expecting all your living expenses paid for by the legal citizens is theft. While the bishops and governors look the other way, we taxpayers do not have the budget for increasing expenses.
Impressive statement, exemplifying the balance it encourages.
Colorado bishops are not acting out of the bounds of justice on the immigration issue. Many of the migrants passed through the border in context of cooperation by the Biden administration’s policy of offering a form of permission including the CBP One app. Also with a policy of refusal to close the border, the offer of financial, and other support upon arrival.
We are responsible to persons, the unity of families who crossed the border because of a wrongful policy in force at the time. Such migrants are themselves not entirely culpable and deserve a more compassionate response to their situation. Unfortunately, we are in effect morally obliged to make reparation for the sins of the Biden administration.
We are under no obligation to illegal aliens. We are not responsible to them or for them. They are not entitled to assistance or support of any kind. Illegal aliens are here ILLEGALLY. They have broken the law. The only responsibility we have is to deport them immediately.
Careful there, the food you put in your mouth or the milk you drink may have been handled by an illegal.
Americans will not/can not do a lot of work that migrants are glad to.
I’m not for illegal immigration but they do a lot of our ag work.
Granted. But that doesn’t mean they should be here illegally.
Demonstrably untrue. Americans did ALL of those jobs until the last 3 or so decades. They will do them NOW if paid enough per hour. The excess number of illegals willing to work for sub-par wages is exactly the reason wages have stagnated for decades. What business owner in his right mind would pay a worker $25 an hour if they can get away with $12?
As for the Bishops, funny they have plenty to say to Americans who object to their nation being invaded, but appear to have nothing to say to the law breakers who sneak over our boarders, often using stolen identities. Then going on public welfare at an immense cost to their “host” country which then struggles to care for its own native born poor. They burden our hospitals and our schools. Eventually , these excessively needy illegals will bring the entire country to the same indigent level as the countries they fled. It is also not true that all of them are here seeking honest work. Far too many have proved to be violent criminals, sex traffickers, drug pushers, gang members, etc. No thanks. I stand with Trump. Send them back. Our nation provides billions in foreign aid. They are not allowed to come here and destroy our country as well.
It’s gonna be an issue; you can’t just shut down our food supply because honest, hard working people are caught on a technicality.
This is one article from newsweek and there are many on the internet:
With Nearly Half of U.S. Farmworkers Undocumented, Ending Illegal Immigration Could Devastate Economy
Published Apr 21, 2021 at 12:38 PM EDT
Updated Apr 23, 2021 at 10:47 AM EDT
How much do you want your food to go up? – I’m telling you most Americans will not/cannot pick strawberries, apples or do any farm manual labor if it were $30 per hour. How much do migrants make picking strawberries in CA an hour – a lot — how many Americans are applying to pick strawberries – not a lot I’ll bet.
LJ, I would agree that US citizens *should* be able do those low paying agricultural jobs but it’s not going to happen any time soon.
Some years ago our state enlisted convicts to pick vegetables when there was a shortage of seasonal workers and it was a disaster. The workers from Latin America spend through the rows leaving the convicts behind in the dust. Inmates appreciate being outside in the fresh air and having opportunities to earn money. It wasn’t slave labor or the chain gang but they were pretty bad at picking onions. Maybe with practice they could keep up.Who knows?
Some countries enlist high school students to pick crops.
It’s fine to have seasonal foreign workers but they need to come here lawfully. And we could probavly automate more harvesting of crops also.
“honest, hard working people are caught on a technicality. ”
The “technicality” is entering a country illegally, thus breaking the law. Their very first action reveals their contempt for the laws of the United States: “If I want to do something, the law doesn’t matter.” That isn’t honest, whatever about hard working.
Who said Nazism was dead?
There is another reason Americans are partly responsible for the reason so many immigrants need to leave their countries in South America. It’s all the money Americans have spent on illegal drugs going all the way back to the 60’s which line the pockets of the cartels building them up and, in a sense, supporting criminal activities. I saw an interview with a very famous rock star who said in her lifetime she spent perhaps a million dollars on cocaine. I wonder if she ever gave it any thought to the blood that is now on her hands.
I want to express my gratitude to CWR and its editor for publishing this article, one showing how carefully balanced and morally responsible our bishops can be (and typically are, without always receiving credit where credit is due). It is important that all bishops and pastors urge the faithful to not only support the government in proper goals but also in how they arrive in achieving them. It is of course morally correct to shut down illegal immigration but NOT in a manner that more cruel than necessary (heartache is inevitable but treating them like animals is not) or with an antipathy that is violates the law of charity. Recognize and deal firmly with the evils but do not give in to fearmongering (as if we were being invaded by a race of orcs) nor to excess (e.g., any kind of deportation process that is so hasty that families that had been together are separated by our own officials without bringing them together again before sending them off).
Don’t presume that you have a monopoly on compassion. You judge others harshly and prematurely. What you write smacks of an elitism unworthy of any Christian. Yours is not the only way to go about solving a problem that was created by others.
A defensive nerve has been touched that you need to take to spiritual direction as a close reading my my text not warrant your presumption. However, what I have said does apply to you personally if you knowingly support our currrent president unconditionally even though at times he has been unnecessarily cruel on this particular issue, as testified to by his own White House officials (some of whom left because they refused to break laws for him). Most recently, our President shut down a family reunification program tasked with finding children separated by our own government (due to haste, bureaucratic bungling, whatever the cause) from their parents before they are deported. He is also not a thoughtful Chrisitian as he has always opposed comprehensive immigration reform, focusing only on the punitive side even when other measures provide both border security and while respecting the human dignity of those that need to be sent back or get to the back of the line. He has never entertained a legal, controlled guest worker program (even ones proposed by conservative Republican leaders) and has sabotaged DACA relief even when most conservatives wanted a soluton that is both just and merciful. Beware of nativism and tribalism. Be a patriot, not a nationalist. One is a virtue, the other disposition is one of the favorite playthings of the devil for splintering Christian unity (for 500 years and going strong). As to “my” solution that you speak of, I’m trying to hew to the USCCB consensus (which is NOT remotely the same as Pope Francis’ naive approach challenged by many Eastern European cardinals); I doubt you have a better one, at least if it means supporting any politician whose ideas ignore the bishops’ rational and compasssionate guidelines. Take care, brother, if you are selling your soul to a populist nationalist approach that is more driven by anxiety and contempt than careful consideration and articulation of Catholic social doctrine (which is not some post-conciliar invention).
yes, you cannot shake an illegal’s hand before Communion then beat the out of them while arresting them in the parking lot, but you can arrest them if that’s your job.
I have not seen anyone suggest that “beating” them is ok. That feels like yet another untrue leftist accusation which will be repeated over and over until enough uninformed minions believe it.
I’m speaking from a Catholic Christian perspective – these people have souls.
Well, if they have souls and a functioning conscience, they should not be breaking the law by entering the country illegally, since that would be considered a sin.
Of course they have souls knowall. I hear you. We can secure our border without needlessly demeaning others. I wish I could hear more balance about that from people. It’s a shame. Most folks who come here would be assets if they’d just come in the right way.
I am sure that over the next four years we are going to see CWR posting CNA articles by bishops on Trump’s immigration policy. That does not make it any less frustrating. ( Frustrating articles, not frustrating that CWR posts them).
The bishops say that nations are entitled to strong borders, which seems to mean that we can try to stop illegals from crossing, but if they do manage to cross we cannot send them back. Not a very honest position.
President Trump signed a list of pro-life executive orders after the March For Life yesterday, after already freeing the pro-life demonstrators from jail. It would be nice if the bishops would issue a comprehensive statement on that.
And, maybe mentioning that these reversed pro-abortion executive orders issued by Biden.
I would guess that most people have words or phrases that they get tired of hearing. I am tired of the bishops saying “welcome the stranger” when what they mean is don’t send illegals back to their country of origen. We do welcome the stranger. We welcome on average one million legal strangers (immigrants) every year.
The bishops did mention unaccompanied children and drugs coming across the border, but it seems that these are just mentioned in passing.
As the bishops always mention, they want “comprehensive immigration reform” without ever stating what particular “reforms” they want. What they seem to want is citizenship for the illegals, or, in the language of their 2024 voting guide, “unauthorized newcomers.”
I believe it is going to be a long four years of these types of statements from the bishops.
“Drug smuggling and human trafficking are on the rise because of the open border policy”
The reason for Freemason Biden’s policy.
“Mass deportation is not the solution to our present situation in the United States, especially when it may separate parents and children,” the bishops said.
But children won’t be separated from their parents. Entire families will be deported together, as they should be. Problem solved!
From a legal standpoint I would say you have to use your discretion. That is the general law anyway. Make a list. I’ll give an example. This is not exhaustive.
Many came in authentic pursuit of a more humane life and used the openings made available to them. They can be full of good will and don’t necessarily vote Democrat ultimately.
A large portion of some measure want to be in the “Democrat system” and be hinge points for the rest of their lives and they tend to be mixed in with “radicals”.
“Radicals” -narcotics contacts, Pink Tide, terrorism cells, criminals active for hire, other subversive elements.
There will inevitably be some past criminals genuinely hoping for a new beginning, but likely this is a very small group.
When there are minors and dependents involved in “bad” and “risk” groups you still should act with delicacy. An area for diplomatic measures and new relations/funding with regional neighbours.
‘ ….. Covering the news is a labor-intensive enterprise, and the number of media actually attempting to do it—especially in the national and international sectors—has always been comparatively small and is getting smaller all the time. Newsrooms have shrunk. Foreign and domestic bureaus have closed right and left as an economy measure. In the news business now, fewer and fewer are trying to do more and more with less and less.
…..
Speaking at meeting in Rome, Helen Osman, the top communication official of the U.S. bishops’ conference, says that “to understand the culture of the United States and how the Church can present the faith within that culture, it is important to realize that the adoption of digital communications is fundamentally changing the culture.” Quite so. In the end, moreover, it doesn’t matter greatly whether people get their news on a printed page or a screen. But it does matter that they get it—and that it be timely, accurate, honest, and fair. Religious leaders, just like other leaders in society, need to worry about that. ‘
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2014/05/29/the-mixed-state-of-the-changing-media/
I understand your points, but people’s motives oe desires are not under consideration here. If people want to establish a new life here, there is a legal process for them to do that. Breaking the law is unacceptable, even if people are seeking a better life.
So give a legal process and see who stays.
You’ve inherited a negative situation, make it positive.
A lot of it is already in hands who will hide it, uncover it.
Diamond in the rough full of opportunity shining bright.
There is good reason for setting in new legal processes. The situation is novel and it has different dimensions. Some things to do with borders; some with ICE in non-border States; some with Homeland Security; some with temporary provision of basic social services one way then another then another; some with personnel management and differentiation; some with probationary status and agency accessibility of those under management; etc.
If documented, if undocumented. Qualifying levels. Pre-qualifying levels. I would pass separate laws addressing different things and creating different processing tracks. This or that track could involve elective options for those under management in that area. I stress, separate statutes.
There is also sound LEGAL reason for new laws. The Supreme Court recently revoked the Chevron rule so that it is a whole new field for review of administrative act. This brings up also changing existing personnel. While a certain level of fidelity can be expected from Texas staffing, the bureaucratic and quasi-bureucratic status quo in the hinterland is working with its own vision that is going to fight very hard not to become outdated and to remain relevant and in charge.
Most importantly, without a knowable plain and simple fair and square legal procedural backdrop you already offend rules of natural justice. And you’ll lose in court.
‘ Skidmore Deference Survives: Under Loper, courts must exercise their “independent judgment” in reviewing agency regulations. However, the Court left Skidmore deference in place. Under that doctrine, courts may still defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statute if the interpretation has the “power to persuade.”
A New Form of Deference for Express Delegations of Authority?: It is unclear the extent to which Loper will impact agency regulations promulgated pursuant to express delegations of authority by Congress. The Court explained that, while it is the court’s duty to interpret federal statutes, the best reading of a statute “may well be that the agency is authorized to exercise a degree of discretion.” In those cases, “the role of the reviewing court under the APA is, as always, to independently interpret the statute and effectuate the will of Congress subject to constitutional limits.” Loper explained that courts fulfill their “judicial function” in these cases by: (1) recognizing “constitutional delegations” of authority; (2) fixing the boundaries of the delegated authority; and (3) “ensuring the agency has engaged in reasoned decision-making within those boundaries.” The Court did not explain, however, if this is a different test than the judiciary’s duty to “say what the law is,” and if it is, when it should be applied.
Opens Door to Challenges: We anticipate a significant uptick in new lawsuits challenging agency regulations across sectors. It remains unclear, however, how courts will apply Loper in the context of particular statutory schemes and without more specific guidance from the Supreme Court. ‘
https://www.whitecase.com/insight-alert/us-supreme-court-strikes-down-chevron-doctrine-what-you-need-know
Psalm 106:33 They so embittered his spirit that rash words crossed his lips. 34 They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them 35 But mingled with the nations and imitated their ways.
Obama deported 3 million illegals, more than Trump did in his first term. Somehow, that didn’t get the pushback that Trump is getting now.
It’s a sure bet that none of these Colorado Bishops will ever be named a Cardinal while Francis is Pope.
Me again.
Some may want to check out “If bishops want to be heard on immigration . . . “, Catholic Culture, Jan. 24, 2025.