For Immigrant Rights

Because Work is Not a Crime!

Many are joining in these days protests against a bill in Congress that would make being undocumented in this country a crime. This is wrong. There is no other way around it.

This is not just about the right to control our borders or any other jingoistic excuse. This is simply a matter of keeping labor in the North American economy cheap and workers scared. The history of the United States in Latin America in general has been that of trying to create economies that favor U.S. interests at the cost of workers and farmers not being able to make a decent living. Farmers in particular cannot compete with cheap American products dumped on the Latin American markets. So what do they do to survive? Go to the economic super-power that created the mess in their country in the first place.

We as Christians should realize that it is precisely the Outsider, the foreigner, who is one of the main characters of the Gospels. At the Last Judgement, we will be asked if we fed, comforted and welcomed Christ in our neighbor, not if we asked to see His green card first.