USCCB: Dismissing the Catechism, their Flock AND the Law

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops caters to the left, discounts the Catechism, and attacks President Trump for following federal law.  If they had it their way, our borders would be open to everyone, and all who enter would have automatic access to free healthcare, welfare and food stamps - all at taxpayer expense.

In a recent statement, they “implore the administration to show mercy and compassion for those seeking refuge…” but what about mercy and compassion for citizens who seek refuge from poverty while their hard-earned tax dollars are supporting those who entered our country illegally?  What about concentrating on the youth in our country that are citizens?  Why not put the millions of dollars used for resettlement into the inner cities to give our youth a chance to stop the cycle of poverty and violence?  Why should children of illegals be considered first before our own?

The USCCB also stated, “The contributions of DACA youth as of today is extraordinary.”  Firstly, “youth” is not quite true ... Not when DACA age maximum is 35.  Secondly, before they signed up for DACA, they were all breaking the law by using fraudulent identification, etc., to get jobs or social services.  Is that “extraordinary”?

I’m sure they haven’t considered recent observations from Matt O’Brien, an attorney and until last year, a manager in the investigative unit of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS): 

1.   “As many as half of the approximately 800,000 people who now have work permits under DACA may have lied on their applications to get approved.

2.   "Based on what I had seen and what I discussed with my colleagues, the fraud rate is 40 to 50 percent. It's possible that it was higher…”

3.   “USCIS employees did quick checks of DACA applications, he said, rather than thorough reviews, to get the DACAs all racked and stacked quickly."

4.   “…immigration officers often found evidence that someone had lied about his DACA qualifications, but that the office of the chief counsel at USCIS almost always dismissed a recommendation to deny an application. I would say 98 percent of the time they defaulted to approving them.”

The USCCB is also concerned by the President’s desire to reduce future admissions of refugees.  Why?  Our welfare and food stamp programs are strained as it is because of those entering our country illegally, and allowing refugees in will exacerbate the situation.  Not only that, allowing refugees from certain countries can put our country at risk because proper vetting cannot be accomplished.   We need to protect our citizens.

The USCCB needs to adhere to the tenets of our faith and follow the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2238 Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God, who has made them stewards of his gifts: "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. . . . Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God. Their loyal collaboration includes the right, and at times the duty, to voice their just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the dignity of persons and to the good of the community.

2239 It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.

2240 Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country:

2245 The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human person. "The Church respects and encourages the political freedom and responsibility of the citizen."

2246 It is a part of the Church's mission "to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it. The means, the only means, she may use are those which are in accord with the Gospel and the welfare of all men according to the diversity of times and circumstances."

2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.  Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.
 

Do not accuse us of being unsympathetic or unfeeling.  We welcome immigrants who come here legally and refugees who are fully vetted … Those who are willing to assimilate to our culture, become citizens and be productive members of society.

The USCCB is NOT using the Catholic Catechism in their statements regarding DACA and they're not even taking care of their own...the Catholic citizens that really need help.  They should recall the words of St. Thomas Aquinas: 

“It is essential to human virtue that the movements of the soul should be regulated by reason."

 (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 30, c.3)

"Without such regulation, compassion is merely a passion. A false compassion is a compassion not regulated and tempered by reason and is, therefore, a potentially dangerous inclination. This because it is subject to favoring not only that which is good but also that which is evil.”

(Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 30, a.1, ad 3)