Chamberlain, SD, Jan 30, 2020 / 03:31 am (CNA).- In central South Dakota, along the northern jog of the Missouri River in what one might call “the middle of nowhere,” sits St. Joseph’s Indian School, a modern school with a long history.
While it seems remote, the location of the school is fitting for the Lakota Sioux tribes it serves – Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and several other reservations are within roughly two hours of the school.
At a time when public schools in the state are failing to successfully educate Native American students, St. Joseph’s has seen notable success. The high school graduation rate for students who attended St. Joseph’s at some point in their education is around 96% – while state high school graduation rates for Native American students is around 60%. On their assessment tests, St. Joseph’s students consistently show 85% grade-level improvement every year, the Argus Leader reported.
School officials told CNA that it’s a combination of factors that drive student success at the school, from small class sizes to a safe residential environment to numerous educational supports, such as tutoring, that are available on campus.
“I think we are really fortunate that we have small class sizes,” LaRayne Woster, who teaches Lakota Studies at St. Joseph’s, told CNA.
“We’ve got about 12 students in a class and they get a lot more individual attention and we’re able to individualize the work that we do for them to meet them where they’re at. We also have a very large counseling program here,” she said. Each of the school’s 221 students is paired with a counselor who meets with them weekly, helping to evaluate and support their mental health, since they live away from their family, and many have experienced trauma.
The model of the school is unique – every student is required to live on campus, in family-style homes divided by gender and age range, and looked after by house parents. The K-8 school also includes a high school program, where high school aged students live on campus and attend the local public school. A transition specialist works with the students to prepare them for post-graduate life.
The “secret sauce” is also in the school’s religious identity and its desire to give students a well-rounded education that focuses not only on academics but also on faith and culture, school officials told CNA.
LaRayne Woster teaches Lakota Studies at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Photo courtesy of St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Artwork in the school depicts Jesus dressed in native attire, Joe Tyrell, Director of Mission Integration for St. Joseph’s, told CNA. “So our kids don’t feel like church is just for white people,” or that they have to choose between a Catholic or Lakota identity, he added.
“They can be proud of who they are. They can look and say: ‘This is who I am. I’m Catholic, Christian and I’m Lakota,’” he said. “You just see the integration of both cultures in everything that we do.”
But this mentality of encouraging students to embrace their Lakota culture was not always the case in educational models for Native Americans.
‘Kill the Indian, Save the Man’
A Catholic residential school for Native American students may conjure up unsavory images of the past, when the goal of boarding schools for Native Americans was to rid the students of their native culture and “Americanize” them.
Starting in the mid-late 19th century, Native American parents in the U.S. typically had three schooling options for their children: public reservation day schools, private reservation boarding schools, and off-reservation boarding schools, which appealed especially to families who lived in remote areas.
The first off-reservation boarding school was Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, founded by Colonel Richard Henry Pratt in 1879.
Pratt operated his school with the idea that Native Americans must be “civilized,” and he came up with the motto: “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” Pratt, like many others at the time, believed that separating Native American children from their indigenous roots and culture was the only way they could be transformed into productive citizens and members of United States society.
Chamberlain Indian School, a government boarding school for Native Americans, opened in 1898 on the grounds which now belong to St. Joseph’s, and operated under a similar education model and mentality as Carlisle.
But the school struggled materially, as the surrounding acres were poor for farming and were not enough to sustain the school. Schools like Carlisle and Chamberlain also struggled with communicable diseases like smallpox and tuberculosis, which spread swiftly among the students living and learning in such close quarters, often killing a number of students.
In the early 20th century, the tide started to turn and preferences for the education of Native American students shifted to reservation-based day schools – they were less expensive, and educators felt that the students might be a good influence on the reservation.
Tornadoes and fires and nuns: The founding of St. Joseph’s Indian School
It was in this movement away from boarding schools that the Chamberlain Indian School was sold to a religious order for a brief time, and then in 1927 was sold to the Priests of the Sacred Heart (the SCJs), an order of priests that was looking to build a Catholic school for the local reservations.
There had been calls from the local native tribes for a Catholic school to be built in the area since the mid-1800s. At an Indian Congress held in 1922, representatives from tribes across the state voted for a Catholic Mission School to be built on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
With permission from the Bishop of Sioux Falls and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, Father Henry Hogebach, SCJ, founded St. Joseph’s on the Chamberlain campus in 1927.
“The charism of the Priests of the Sacred Heart would be to look to those situations where people are not treated justly, and to try and work for a more just solution,” Clare Willrodt, director of communications and outreach for St. Joseph’s, told CNA. “So, I’m sure that that influenced their feeling called to be here.”
“The school was probably pretty much founded on the boarding school model,” she added. “But …where the government schools would go around the reservations and round up kids, and take them from their parents, any children who have ever attended (St. Joseph’s) were sent here by their parents. We didn’t go out and round them up.”
Prior to purchasing St. Joseph’s, the SCJs attempted to build a Catholic school on the Cheyenne River reservation, as the Indian Congress desired. However, the grounds lacked the necessary water supply for a school, and so the school was moved to the Chamberlain campus.
The first few years were rough – the nuns that were supposed to teach the first year bailed at the last minute after not receiving the proper permissions from Rome, and Fr. Hogebach scrambled to hire some teachers before the children arrived. There was a tornado, a fire, financial hardships and students sent to the school beyond its official capacity, including an orphan baby sent to be taken under the care of the Franciscan sisters, who came to the school in its second year.
Despite the challenges, St. Joseph’s school grew rapidly, peaking with enrollment levels of 300-340 students in the 1950s and ‘60s.
It was also in the 1950s that the priests of the school started incorporating some traditional cultural activities into the school setting, even while laws at the time still made it illegal for them to let the children speak their native language in school, Willrodt said.
“Those priests did do quite a bit of work to try and keep the culture alive – beautiful beadwork, dancing, things like that,” she said.
By the 1970s, civil rights movements and changing philosophies in education – particularly towards boarding schools – brought changes to St. Joseph’s. By 1981, the school transitioned the students to family-style residential homes, rather than dormitories.
It was also in the 1980s that the Lakota language was incorporated into prayer services at St. Joseph’s, and that the school’s religion department published documents exploring the links between Catholicism and Lakota religious beliefs.
St. Joseph’s today
“At this point in St. Joseph’s history, Lakota culture no longer involves taking a class or attending a Pow Wow,” Kathryn Cravens wrote in Educating for the Future, a book about St. Joseph’s Indian School.
“Native culture pervades every aspect of the school, from the look and feel of the campus, to the manner in which values and religion are reinforced. A sweat lodge has been built on the grounds of the school campus and is available for students who wish to participate in this Lakota ritual,” Cravens wrote.
There are also Lakota tribal flags hung in the school cafeteria. The Lakota Medicine Wheel, called the Circle of Courage at the school, emphasizes Lakota values of generosity, courage, wisdom, and respect, and are displayed in the family homes on campus. Lakota language is taught and encouraged daily in school, and extracurricular activities for students include cultural activities like traditional beading, drum group, archery or dancing. Students also go on regular field trips to culturally important sites both near and far.
The school also continues to embrace its Catholic identity, and to help students understand that they can be both Lakota and Catholic. The church on campus is called Our Lady of the Sioux, and the Virgin Mary is depicted in traditional Lakota regalia.
Our Lady of the Sioux chapel on St. Joseph’s campus. Photo courtesy of St. Joseph’s Indian School.
“I’m proud to work here to show our kids the ability to pray and be proud of who they are as a Lakota kid, and if they’re Christian as well,” Tyrell said, though he added that he helps students learn how to pray no matter what their faith background is.
“My goal as a religion teacher for the past eight years was to have our kids know that they have some way to pray,” he said, so that they’re able to navigate the tough times in their lives once they leave the school.
“I really love the ability for our kids to find who they are as an individual and then tie that in with their culture and spirituality. And then that amplifies who they truly are and (they’re able) to use it for the rest of their lives.”
Woster, a member of the Rosebud tribe, said she is glad that the students have an opportunity to learn so much about their culture in a safe environment, which not all reservation towns may be able to provide.
“I think what a lot of our South Dakota residents and citizens would say is, ‘I grew up either on a reservation or a border town and didn’t know anything about the people who first lived here,’” she said.
“We’re at a place in education where kids are getting to learn the correct history and who they are and they’re able to be proud of what that is. As a mission, we’re supporting and embracing the fact that this is…a living culture. I was not raised learning about my culture and who I was at school, so I’m super excited and proud of the fact that I get to do that here everyday,” Woster added.
Danielle Kucera, associate director of communications and outreach for the school, told CNA she is proud that St. Joseph’s provides a safe environment in which students can learn and be involved in extracurricular activities, and where their parents trust that they are safe. She said that even if students come from stable homes, reservation environments on the whole can be unstable, with high rates of drug and alcohol addiction, depression, violence and other issues.
“…it wasn’t necessarily that (families) couldn’t provide for their students or for their children, it was more so that they wanted them to be in a place that they could guarantee that they were in a safe environment and learning in a way that was impacting,” Kucera said. “We provide this safe place for our students, and our families know that they’re a part of our family here.”
St. Joseph’s is able to provide all of its additional support for students – including counselors, speech and occupational therapists, and tutors – through private donations. The school receives a small amount of Title I funding from the government for children who need educational support, but everything else is donor-funded. The school also provides resources such as food assistance to struggling families and alumni who need it.
“Our resources are large because of our donor base, and so we’re able to do a lot of things for our families,” Kucera said. “I’ve always said that if the families are doing good back home, that means our students probably are, too.”
Sharmel Olson, director of education at St Joseph’s, told CNA that she is most proud of the school’s educational legacy, as well as its ability to educate the whole person and prepare each student for life after high school.
“Certainly education for me is at the forefront, but at the same time we’re able to do things that other schools honestly don’t get to focus on,” such as faith and culture, she said. Their numerous avenues of support also allow them to look out for all the needs of their students.
“If (a student is) struggling emotionally, we make sure we take care of that, and sometimes that has to be above school, that has to be taken care of so that you can learn. We have a strong team, and a philosophy here that the kids come first and whatever their needs are at that time is what we’re going to take care of. And so I think that’s very unique that a lot of schools don’t necessarily have those capabilities to do that,” she said.
Teachers and staff who come to St. Joseph’s often end up staying for a long time, she added, because they feel a strong sense of mission in serving the Native American population.
“We’re very mission-based, and I think most of (the staff) at our school…we’re here for a reason,” she added. “We really feel that calling to be here.”
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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.)