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.”
[…]
Totally misguided and wrong action by the bishop. Fear of the law being rightly enforced against you does not excuse you from Mass attendance. Those who are hiding from ICE are guilty of being in the country illegally; they are guilty of violating immigration law. How is that possibly understood as an excuse not to attend Mass? The bishop is pandering. The bishop would not excuse people who are guilty of other crimes from Mass attendance because they didn’t want to venture outside their homes lest law enforcement apprehend them.
Let’s get this straight: is the bishop condoning violating immigration laws? He seems to think it’s wrong for law enforcement to apprehend and prosecute for immigration crimes. I have no respect for any bishop who cannot bring himself to use the word “illegal” in conjunction with “immigration” or “alien”. This bishop is an example of such.
The bishop is emoting about “standing with immigrant communities” without acknowledging that illegal aliens have brought this on themselves by attempting to evade immigration laws and/or not regularizing their legal residency, thinking that the law does not apply to them.
I voted for this enforcement. I voted for Trump. These actions by ICE are exactly what I voted for. Illegal aliens have their willful violations of immigration law and the Democrat Party’s open border, sanctuary city, and lax enforcement policies to blame. It’s now time to face reality under a law and order administration.
Meanwhile, the Vatican does not tolerate illegal immigration into its own territory. See how it threatens illegals:
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
What a bunch of political horse manure. Bishop Rojas ought to be ashamed of himself.
As if criminals, gang members, and cartel guys are going to be at Mass on Sundays.
With guys like Bishop Rojas leading our dioceses, no wonder weekly Mass attendance is at an all time low.
The problem is more about ordinary folks waiting on asylum hearings, etc. who’ve been rounded up, detained, & then let go. I totally get what ICE is doing as far as criminals & gang members but some other people have been detained that needn’t have been. Stuff happens, mistakes are made but it still must be pretty traumatic to go through.
Those who operate the bleeding heart blue states and sanctuary cities are absolutely the ones responsible for this situation. The ICE folks warned that if blue cities and states continued to ignore ICE detainers and refused to turn over criminal illegals for deportation, but instead released them into the communities, that more “ordinary” illegals would get swept up in the more dangerous process of street arrests. Those illegals are the collateral damage resulting from the lefts self righteous belief that they are correct to defend rapists and murderers and gang members from the punishment due them, in the form of deportation. While ICE has a focus on arresting the “worst of the worst” it is also NOT ok to be here illegally just because you mow lawns and are not a gang banger. If you as a hard working illegal come into view while they are in your neighborhood arresting a gang member, you may indeed get arrested. Because you have no right to be here either. Get it??
Its hard to respect a Bishop who essentially says its ok to escape the consequences of your sins. And breaking the law in this case is indeed an illegality and a sin. Rendering to caesar means obeying the law. A little bit of stealing is not ok, a little bit of sex abuse is not ok, a little bit of ANY sin is not ok, a little bit of slander or lying is NOT ok. If someone robs your home and then is caught, he is not allowed to keep his ill gotten gains just because he is used to possessing it, or has possessed it for a long time, and his neighbors have asserted he is a “nice guy”. Get it? .
It is horrifying to see a Bishop excusing this behavior when he should be advising these people to self deport home and try to return legally. When people think the rules dont apply to them, and they can make their own chaos reigns and civilization breaks down.
They are here illegally. They should return and follow proper immigration protocols, which include asking for asylum in the first country they come to, which is usually not the US
These bishops used to be laughable. They’re no longer even funny. Pitiable, yes; funny, no.
The bishop bespeaks a “Covid-Stay-at-Home” mentality.
Let us pray: O Lord, give us worthy shepherds.
How ironic (but very understandable given the nature of our fallen nature) that the very ones who championed “religious freedom “ are at the same time selectively denying it. Oh what fools we mortals be.
Whether the Bishop agrees or not, these individuals are being arrested for an illegal act – illegal entry into this country. He clearly disagrees and is free to make his case as vigorously as he chooses, but facilitation of illegality crosses the line, and in itself becomes illegal, and this also clearly is his intention.
I hope that’s not the case. If this deportation effort has changed from deporting dangerous criminals to arresting ordinary workers who came in the wrong way but have otherwise clean records & have been productive members of our communities then I wouldn’t support it. I’m more in agreement with Ronald Reagan & Rick Perry on this issue. They were/are conservatives with a heart.
You can get arrested for traffic infractions and unpaid tolls, even if you have an otherwise clean record and are a productive member of society.
There are two possible methods for illegal immigrants: make them legal, or deport them. Making them legal has been tried before, and was followed up by a gradual, then sudden, cessation of enforcement of immigration law – the stuff that keeps the cartels and terrorists out. Their continued residence as an illegal underclass contributes to creating a refuge where the cartels and terrorists can hide and abuse their neighbors with no fear of the police being called, not to mention a steady stream of income from the perfectly ordinary illegal workers who have otherwise clean records.
Traffic fines are not felonies or the sort of heinous crimes associated with cartels.
We need a secure border but we can deal humanely with folks who have been in the workforce for years and kept clean records. It benefits everyone. Especially with the looming demographic shrinking we face.
I was comparing unpaid traffic fines, which can get you arrested, with illegal immigration, which can get you arrested.
You can deal humanely with people and arrest them.
A demographic increase can be orchestrated in 3 ways: end contraception, end pornography, and increase LEGAL immigration. A permanent underclass is not beneficial. A refusal to enforce the immigration laws will result in a permanent underclass regardless of how many more amnesty laws get passed.
I wish we could solve our demographic crisis by outlawing contraception but that horse left the barn generations ago. We’re reaping the harvest.
Too mush haste leads to overstep and I think this is not good. Illegals have a lot of useful background information that would stabilize law enforcement and show better who among them could be legitimized the more easily and quickly. The authorities have to go on trust with the legal interlocutors/intermediations; and anyway in this process will learn even more.
Two contrasting movies might bear out some of the issues.
In The Lineup with Eli Wallach, you see well-organized crime chasing a lucrative criminal trade mixed into legitimate trade and travel; smuggling needing in-depth and committed long-term investigation to uncover what is deeply hidden, a lot of it out of reach. The detective/police work is hard-nosed, matter-of-fact and relentless.
In Border Blues with Gary Busey, you have multiple disparate intersecting character lines involved in more or less innocent pursuit incidentally complicating the search for a serial bomber. Some of the detective/police work is a bit fly-by-night for which L.A. got a notoriety; albeit everyone is on board, consistent and persistent.
Please note Border Blues is a basically “clean” movie as I saw it on YOUTUBE with an instance of verbal profanity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lineup_(film)
https://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/films/border-blues
The bishop quotes canon law having to do with “Spiritual Goods” but actually seems to be dispensing them from the Sunday Mass obligation for their temporal good of not being arrested for the crime of being in the United States illegally.
What part about they are here illegally, against the law, does this Bishop not understand.
Typical Church State Politics that we’ve seen for the past many years….is this a “sanctuary” situation? It’s ok to break a just law? What is his Excellencies status…??!!
Not to ever worry that this Bishop will ever die for his Faith.
“We shall continue America’s tradition as a land that welcomes peoples from other countries. We shall also, with other countries, continue to share in the responsibility of welcoming and resettling those who flee oppression.
At the same time, we must ensure adequate legal authority to establish control over immigration: to enable us, when sudden influxes of foreigners occur, to decide to whom we grant the status of refugee or asylee; to improve our border control; to expedite (consistent with fair procedures and our Constitution) return of those coming here illegally; to strengthen enforcement of our fair labor standards and laws; and to penalize those who would knowingly encourage violation of our laws. The steps we take to further these objectives, however, must also be consistent with our values of individual privacy and freedom.
We have a special relationship with our closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Our immigration policy should reflect this relationship.
We must also recognize that both the United States and Mexico have historically benefited from Mexicans obtaining employment in the United States. A number of our States have special labor needs, and we should take these into account.
Illegal immigrants in considerable numbers have become productive members of our society and are a basic part of our work force. Those who have established equities in the United States should be recognized and accorded legal status. At the same time, in so doing, we must not encourage illegal immigration.
We shall strive to distribute fairly, among the various localities of this country, the impacts of our national immigration and refugee policy, and we shall improve the capability of those agencies of the Federal Government which deal with these matters.
We shall seek new ways to integrate refugees into our society without nurturing their dependence on welfare.
Finally, we recognize that immigration and refugee problems require international solutions. We will seek greater international cooperation in the resettlement of refugees and, in the Caribbean Basin, international cooperation to assist accelerated economic development to reduce motivations for illegal immigration.
Immigration and refugee policy is an important part of our past and fundamental to our national interest. With the help of the Congress and the American people, we will work towards a new and realistic immigration policy, a policy that will be fair to our own citizens while it opens the door of opportunity for those who seek a new life in America.”
Ronald Reagan
Date
07/31/1981
I LOVED Ronald Reagan, but knew this immigration law he agreed to was a huge mistake. The amnesty only encouraged more of them to come, hoping for an amnesty themselves.
From Wikipedia:”Despite the passage of the act, the population of undocumented immigrants rose from 5 million in 1986 to 11.1 million in 2013.[16] In 1982, the Supreme Court forbade schools to deny services based on illegal immigration status in Plyler v. Doe. In 1986, Reagan signed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which forbade hospitals from denying emergency care services based on immigration status.”
In other words, they came in droves and ever since have been a major financial burden on the country. As for the jobs that “Americans wont do”,–well, who do you think did them before we were inundated with illegals, undercutting wages? They are without question a financial burden on the entire nation.” This needs to end. Illegals need to understand that WE get to decide to gets into the US.
I hope Trump does not start giving carve out exemptions to certain businesses like agriculture who want to use illegal labor. . At best, they should be given work permits which can be revoked, but NEVER the right to vote.
Poor folks, new immigrants, and slaves have done those sorts of agricultural jobs in the past LJ. And occasionally convicts .
It’s very difficult to find US citizens who will do that kind of labor or who can do it dependably. Ditto for many service industry jobs.
I personally think we should do our own work, too but that’s not what most Americans are looking for these days. Fewer Mexicans also. I read that as the standard of living in Mexico has risen US farmers have to seek workers from further away.
To our beloved bishops: Obviously you want the chaos and human trafficking of the past four years. You do not care that children have disappeared and are sexually exploited. You stand with the the cartels that made millions of dollars on expediting illegal immigration and profiting from human misery. And you are willing to tolerate the mass migration and misery brought on by open, unmanaged borders.
Or is it you just hate Trump?
Probably both.
Good. Maybe now they can discontinue Spanish Masses since no one will be attending.
Why would they discontinue Spanish Masses?
I’ve been attending those since the 1970s and so have lots of US citizens.
Mass attendance in Spanish down because the faithful fear deportation? Proves beyond all possible doubt Trump and Miller’s claim that “illegals” are Islamist terrorists, rapists and murderers. Shame, shame shame.
Would ICE raid churches? Probably not. Churches are sanctuaries, going back to the Middle Ages. ICE should not violate this principle. The idea of armed ICE agents entering a Church is reprehensible. ICE should make this clear. Churches are off limits.
I doubt Mass raids would happen because it could put the rest of the congregation in danger of crossfire. It seems better practice to arrest offenders as they enter or exit Mass.
We had a gunman try to enter a Mass in our diocese a few years ago but thankfully a member of the congregation wrassled him to the ground until law enforcement came. The officers told everyone to duck down for cover in case there was a 2nd gunman inside. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.
No. No arrests on Church property. Do it elsewhere. Church is a sanctuary. Any arrests on Church property is a step towards Fascism.
If there’s a gunman, law enforcement has no other choice. Otherwise it’s much more prudent & respectful to make arrests outside of church.
So the bishop is telling me that rather than attend Mass more often to ask God for His protection, I should run away from the law, and now from Him because the truth isn’t going to be on my side?
This bishop has all the sophistication of thought about law, justice, and morality that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has. Two ways to deal with such a person in a position of influence: mockery or dismissiveness. Both this bishop and Ketanji have views that possess no merit.
If you are in my nation unlawfully you are owed neither my empathy nor my sympathy. My moral obligation is to the eradication of such lawlessness, as directed by my constitutionally protected Christian faith, as directed by my nations history and traditions.
Obviously the good bishop should be counseling those among his flock who have sinned by breaking a legitimate law to turn themselves in to the proper authorities or take advantage of the policy which allows them to return to their homeland and apply for LEGAL immigration to the United States…with a $1,000 in their back pocket.
Yes, sinned. By their actions illegal aliens are placing themselves ahead of the line for all sort of benefits designed for the aid of American citizens. They are robbing disadvantaged citizens of aid to which they alone are entitled.
It would appear that while the good bishop received his academic theological training he was never catechized.
Can’t be a pastor without catechesis.
Very proper dispensation by the Bishop of San Bernardino. As in the times of the catacombs Catholics are under persecution. Now ten million of them are threatened with deportation for a misdemeanour like jaywalking. It’s saddening to see other Christians applauding the persecution of these hardworking fellow believers just because the WASP establishment fears them. This is the real motive behind this spectacle. It’s all pointless in any case. Last month only sixteen thousand were deported. Sixteen million to go. It’s just another political stunt that will divide the country in the long term.
“…just because the WASP establishment fears them.”
Keeping it classy and fact-based. Nice. (Ahem.)
It’s an issue that can’t be avoided, the facts you are concerned about. The United States has amnestied millions of Catholic “illegal” Hispanic migrants before without any threat to its integrity. It is simply dishonest for Trump and Stephen Miller to talk about Islamic terrorists, rapists and drug traffickers when almost the entirety of the 10 million plus Hispanic Catholics who live in the United States with irregular status work hard. Like the 30% of US citizens who have “form” for “crimes” of varying gravity, some also trespass. But obviously this isn’t the real reason for continuing this cruel political stunt which is only damaging the US (while gratifying a minority, it’s true). Time and time again the real motive comes out, and it’s got nothing to do with the law of Christian ethics: they don’t assimilate properly into the dominant WASP culture. It’s time for the United States to address its bi-cultural reality. Like Canada, it is a bi-lingual country (23% Hispanics in the US, 19% Francophones in Canada). London regognised this reality in Canada in the nineteenth century, and Canada has continued this. The US now needs to do what it had already done in New Mexico, afford official status to Hispanic civilisation by virtue of its continuous (indeed prior) existence and contemporary strength. This wont kill the US. Continuing to provoke 80 million of its own people with this cruel stunt will have terrible effects if prolonged. I’m not talking about liberal “multiculturalism”, but something people who read a publication like this one ought to be thinking about, rather than lifting the terms of the debate from the dominant social and political caste, which has no interest in the Christian West
Mr. Cervantes, when is the last time you visited the States? The days of “WASP” culture are in the past.
Illegal aliens are not hard working and they are not being persecuted. They are here in violation of federal law. It is necessary and appropriate for them to be deported.
Tennessee’s law provides for 30 days jail for jaywalking. I’ll wager many more than 30,000 a month would be arrested if it were applied, which is the number of arrests ICE can manage at the moment. The law isn’t the real motive. The migrants’ Catholic, Hispanic civilisation is.
Tennessee jay walking laws were made to catch illegal immigrants? Or US state laws are enforced for that reason?
Being in the US without proper documentation is reason enough.
Jaywalking is not a threat to our national security.
Nor are millions of Catholics working to put food on your table.
Migrant workers who came to our area work very hard indeed. But yes, they are here in violation of the law.
I hope we can find a way to make them legit, at least with temporary work permits so they can get their jobs done. Especially for agriculture. Crops and livestock can’t wait.
Complete fearmongering and hysteria. Firstly, Christians in Nigeria and the Middle East continue to attend Mass despite facing actual persecution (i.e violence at the hands of Radical Islamists).
Secondly, fearing consequences for breaking the law is not persecution. Being a criminal doesn’t make you a “victim”.
Thirdly, breaking the law is a sin, so these illegals need to go to confession.
Finally, the Catechism teaches that immigrants need to accept the laws of their host country and show gratitude, not a sense of entitlement. The Bishop is violating Church teaching by protecting ingrates who forced their way into the country.
I thought my comment points to a need to harmonize the issue on a scale. Just being an illegal is, “as a crime” and/or “as moral offense”, is on the very low end of the scale of priorities.
Another interesting movie description about immigration is Men In Black 1997, there at the beginning, when MIB had to zone in on the worst threat. (I am not advocating on “necessary inevitable violence” either.)
I have always argued elsewhere that immigrants present many positive opportunities. BUT that it had to be ordered to right flourishing. Obviously, it’s people and futures involved.
The reactionary approach is the opposite, it is time-consuming, divisive, facilitative of more expert bad elements who skip over it and manipulate it, up-ending of the positive opportunities, costly, sterile, sterilizing of local officials.
In other words you’re “PUTTING BACK” EVERYBODY and the new economy but you imagine it’s “so wise” and “well-feathered”.
Also, I have hit out at international organizations on emigration and mass cross-border movements, for being slack, lugubrious, always behind the curve, self-involved bureaucracies -ultimately inhumane and anti-economy serving entrenched interests within and in the private sector.
“Just being an illegal is, “as a crime” and/or “as moral offense”, is on the very low end of the scale of priorities.”
*********
I agree Mr. Galy. Before this issue became so politicized & illegal immigration became so massive I don’t think it was on too many people’s radar.
The Government shouldn’t be able to take people from Church sanctuaries against their will. I always thought that they were places of refuge in this country the same as foreign embassies.
There are no such sanctuary laws in the states. If illegals are hiding in churches, they are subject to deportation.
I think sanctuary is a good tradition but it worked that way more in the past.
Temporary work permit is a brilliant idea mrscracker. It’s a way to bring the situation under some clear-sighted management and organization -a big section of it. But it mustn’t be a ruse. What they could do ahead of advertising it is, publish a list of qualifying and semi-qualifying attributes that would be applicable with additional caveats: that people would be able to repeat temporary work if not made permanent immediately, that they would be re-engaged in temporary status for mere visits and that they would not be black-listed for merely having crossed the border, etc., etc., etc. The temporary work permit could be granted as a matter of right for individuals not themselves under the pale of serious suspicion of crime.
Temporary work permits weren’t my idea of course but possibly Donald Trump’s. Or his advisors. We’d have a huge crisis in those US industries if everyone here illegally was deported.
We shouldn’t be in this situation in the first place & we have ourselves to blame as well as the border crossers & the cartels who brought them here. Everyone played a part. Secure borders & safe & a legal immigration/work visa process benefits everyone. (Except the cartels.)