The big buzz on Catholic social media this week concerned the “surprise” letter from Francis to the bishops of the United States on the topic of immigration.
The letter is considered surprising for a number of good reasons, its content not being one of them.
Consider: Jorge Bergoglio was introduced to the world as “Pope Francis” just fifty-two days into the second Obama presidency. According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), an estimated 2.5 million undocumented immigrants entered the U.S. during the entirety of his two-term presidency.
Guess how many were deported during Obama’s first term alone?
As reported by CIS, “In its first four years, the Obama administration deported 3.2 million aliens.”
Now, guess how many letters Francis sent to the U.S. bishops on immigration (or abortion, or same-sex “marriage”) then?
If you said ZERO, you win!
As one might expect, Bergoglio’s observations in his recent letter on immigration are detached not only from some of the most relevant facts on the ground, or what Bergoglio might call the “concrete circumstances,” but Catholic teaching as well.
Among the facts that Francis overlooks, deliberately or otherwise, is the sheer magnitude of the problem.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded over 10.8 million encounters with migrants who crossed the border illegally since 2021, and that figure doesn’t include those who eluded detection. [Moving forward, I will occasionally refer to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as “illegal immigrants” or “illegal aliens,” concise and accurate descriptions even if distasteful to some.]
If the Trump Administration hopes to keep pace with the Obama deportation record, ICE would have to deport some 14 million illegal aliens, a number no one is suggesting even possible.
Many millions of these persons, the vast majority of whom are unvetted (i.e., we know very little about their background, criminal record, and intentions) are still here. Many have been flown, or otherwise transported, to the U.S. destination of their choice, all on taxpayer money. This includes any number of criminals and gang members, as well as drug and human traffickers.
Among those who entered the U.S. illegally since 2021 are individuals and families that were systematically exploited by unscrupulous profiteers who took full advantage of the fact that the Biden administration had boldly abandoned the rule of law with respect to immigration.
Mexican drug cartels in particular capitalized on the situation, charging migrants thousands of dollars – to their very last penny for some – for transport to the U.S. where many, rather than experiencing the peace and prosperity they were promised, are then further exploited as cheap labor or as sex workers. Stories abound of wives and daughters being raped along the way.
Worse still, all indications are that the whereabouts and relative safety of tens (perhaps even hundreds) of thousands of children that came into the U.S. illegally only to be turned over to unvetted sponsors are unknown. One reasonably fears that they are either dead or enslaved in a pedophile ring.
This being so, we have a moral obligation to recognize that the recent influx of illegal immigrants includes persons – some, not all – who are as much victim as perpetrator.
In the face of this nightmare, one wonders, cui bono?
There are very few “winners” to be found amid this humanitarian crisis. Among those who benefit are certain unprincipled employers who are pleased to take advantage of the immigrants’ desperation by employing them at below market (or even slave) wages. This has long been one of the driving forces behind the unwillingness of U.S. lawmakers (of both parties) to address the problem of illegal immigration in a meaningful way.
NOTE: The excuse that Americans won’t, or are too lazy, to do this kind of work strikes me as bogus. What really seems to be the case is that employers are unwilling to pay high enough wages to fill those positions. Rest assured, when selling their goods or services, these same employers will seek every penny that the market will bear, i.e., “market forces” are selectively acknowledged (and laws ignored) in service to greed.
It must be also noted that the current situation is without precedent. Never before has a concerted effort to facilitate an immigrant invasion been orchestrated so openly and so rapidly. Members of the Democrat party have been shockingly transparent about their desire to leverage the border crisis – that they deliberately created – as a means of swelling their voter and constituent rolls.
For example, Democrats in New York City passed legislation last year that would allow “noncitizens” to vote in upcoming local elections. (The state’s top court will soon consider its legality.)
Though leftists and globalists (like Bergoglio) are pleased to address the U.S. immigrant problem as if it naturally arose in response to unjust conditions in foreign lands, there is very little organic about the onslaught of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally over the past four years. Rather, it’s the result of a well-planned strategy on the part of godless politicians whose primary concern is amassing power regardless of the humanitarian cost.
Also benefitting from the present humanitarian crisis are the bureaucrats, administrative staffers, and employees of certain NGOs (like Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services) whose personal income and influence are largely derived from government funding (i.e., many millions of dollars provided by American taxpayers). Over the last four years in particular, NGO “immigrant services” has grown into a thriving industry, and the one thing that most threatens its prospects for further expansion is simple: The rule of law justly applied.
The services provided by these NGOs to immigrants who broke the law in order to gain entrance into the country goes well beyond simply feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and clothing the naked, rather, it includes guidance aimed at helping the lawbreakers avoid justice.
U.S. Code 8 § 1324 deems as unlawful:
…knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.
That said, there is an exception for:
…a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States, or the agents or officers of such denomination or organization, to encourage, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is present in the United States to perform the vocation of a minister or missionary for the denomination or organization in the United States as a volunteer who is not compensated as an employee.
NB: This clause specifically exempts unpaid ministers and missionaries. It does not provide cover for immigration attorneys or others on the payroll of Catholic Charities, CRS, USCCB, etc. who might counsel illegal immigrants on ways to avoid being brought to justice by immigration officials and law enforcement. [See HERE for an example of just such activity.]
In fact, one notes that “attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield [illegal aliens] from detection” is unlawful for anyone, including unpaid ministers and missionaries.
This brings us to Francis’ letter where, as stated, the concept of justice is given no mention whatsoever.
He opens by attempting to draw parallels between the millions of illegal immigrants mentioned above and Jesus Christ who endured “the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life.”
How many of the more than 10 million illegal immigrants of the last four years were expelled from their homeland? How many of them are genuinely fleeing political persecution or acting out of fear for their life?
I don’t have an exact answer, but I think it’s safe to say that the number is very small relative to the whole. Rather, it seems that most are motivated by economic concerns. More on that later.
Francis directly addressed what he called “the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations.”
This is a common tactic among the diabolical, namely, addressing a controversial matter (like mass deportation) and framing it as if it arose out of nowhere. A common example today concerns those who speak of the genocide being carried out by the IDF in Gaza as if October 7, 2023 had nothing whatsoever to do with the events that preceded it, namely, acts of Zionist terrorism and Israel’s multi-decade unlawful occupation of Palestine.
In the present case, “mass deportations” is a response to the actual crisis. Be that as it may, Francis went on to declare:
The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.
This makes exactly no logical sense. An immigrant attains an “illegal status” by breaking the law, this is what reasonable people refer to as committing a crime. Even the uber-liberal ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project acknowledges that “entering the United States without being inspected and admitted, i.e., illegal entry, is a misdemeanor or can be a felony.” (U.S. Code 8 § 1325)
Bergoglio’s letter goes on:
At the same time, one must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival.
What does the right of a nation to defend itself, its borders, its citizens and their communities entail? Is it only applicable to violent or serious criminals?
Benedict XVI reiterated the Catholic position when he wrote:
States have the right to regulate migration flows and defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing respect due to the dignity of each and every person.
Among “every person” whose dignity is to be respected are the citizens of a given nation, persons whose culture, way of life, safety and well-being must be protected from the burdens posed by an unregulated flow of immigrants, such as took place starting January 2021.
Francis – anti-national sovereignty globalist that he is – doesn’t bother to mention the State’s duty to protect its own citizens. And make no mistake about it, the invasion of the U.S. southern border since 2021 includes no small criminal element.
On the topic of immigrants who committed crimes either here or before entering the U.S., NBC News reported on January 27:
Immigration authorities made close to 1,200 arrests in just one day [in Chicago], and nearly half of those detained don’t have criminal records, according to a senior Trump administration official.
This report was obviously intended as a hit piece aimed at the present deportation operation. In truth, however, it suggests one of two things: Either roughly half of the illegal immigrants in Chicago have a criminal record, or ICE is making a concerted effort to concentrate on rounding up criminals. In either scenario, Americans (including Catholics) with a rightly formed conscience are hard pressed to make a critical judgment of the operation.
Francis finishes the thought by stating:
The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.
Based upon this, it is never just to turn away a would-be immigrant save for a known criminal. This isn’t just not Catholic, it’s sheer madness. One may also note how Bergoglio, like an obedient little globalist, cites “the environment” (aka climate change) as a driving cause for emigration. One wonders if he (or his ghostwriter) consulted with the WEF before publication of the letter.
In any case, it seems rather clear that among the more innocent immigrants (that is, excluding criminals fleeing prosecution at home, or drug dealers, human traffickers, and enemy combatants seeking to infiltrate the country for nefarious reasons) the chief reason so many seek entry into the U.S. is economic.
Those who came to these shores due to “extreme poverty,” seeking a better life for themselves and their children, deserve our compassion, to be sure. That said, one notes that the drug cartels that control the movement and transport of illegal immigrants through Mexico to the U.S. southern border do so for an exorbitant fee.
According to an estimate provided by U.S. Homeland Security:
To cross on our 60 miles of land border, on average it costs about $8,000 per person. It’s between $8,000 and $12,000 depending. On the water, it’s generally between $12,000 and $20,000 per person.
That’s a lot of money, especially in most immigrants’ nation of origin. This means that it cannot be said that many of those who came to the U.S. in this fashion are fleeing extreme poverty, i.e., they obviously had access to substantial liquid assets.
There are, of course, others who paid less than the full amount charged by the cartels (perhaps even very little or nothing) but were able to arrange transport under an “indentured servant” agreement, which creates yet another humanitarian crisis.
In 2023, the New York Times published an investigation, Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. that detailed how immigrant minors are made to work long hours at dangerous jobs to repay massive debts to unvetted sponsors. What this suggests is that in some (if not many cases), being returned to one’s nation of origin is more like a rescue operation than it is a punishment.
That said, there is a place for punishment, otherwise known as retributive justice.
Catholic teaching has always been clear in stating that those who wish to emigrate have a duty to abide by the laws of the nation they wish to enter. Even the 1983 conciliar Catechism states as much, saying that 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.”
When this obligation is neglected, when the laws of the nation one wishes to enter are violated, justice demands that those unlawful actions be met with certain consequences.
Rules for thee and not for me…
On December 19, 2024 – six days before Christmas – an updated decree was officially issued “on the subject of illicit entries into the territory of the Vatican City State.”
According to the Vatican decree, “there is an urgent need to issue these provisions … in order to provide for an adequate system of sanctions for violations concerning the regime of access to the Vatican City State.”
Get that? An adequate system of sanctions is a matter of urgency!
Vatican City State, over which Jorge Bergoglio reigns as Sovereign, obviously takes the matter of illegal entry into its territory very seriously! Among the violations identified in the decree are the following:
…anyone who enters the territory of the Vatican City State with violence, threats, or deception is … Entry by fraudulently evading the security and protection systems of the State or evading border controls is considered to have occurred ‘by deception.’
Elsewhere, the decree refers to entry “without obtaining the required permit issued by the Governorate” as a violation.
This would cover such things as slipping in undetected, attempting to breach fences, gateways, or walls, etc., as well as the use of fake documents, activities each that are not exactly uncommon on the U.S. border.
Throughout the decree, all of these means of unauthorized entry into Vatican City State are repeatedly referred to as … wait for it … crimes. For example: “Conviction for any of the crimes provided for in this decree…”
But wait! Didn’t His Hypocrite say that “the rightly formed conscience” must disagree with identifying “the illegal status of some migrants with criminality”?
Well, yes, he did say that.
Be that as it may, the decree went on to set forth certain sanctions for those who commit the crime of unauthorized entry into Vatican City State.
Those in flagrante delicto – that is, caught in the act of attempting entry without the required permit – are subject to “mandatory arrest,” i.e., it’s not optional, the perps are getting cuffed. They are also subject to substantial fines “ranging from €10,000.00 to €25,000.00” (1 Euro = 1.05 U.S. Dollars) as well as being subject to a formal ban from the territory for a period of 10 years.
The point is obvious: Illegal immigrants in the United States are treated far better than they are in Vatican City State.
Since 2021, though an exact figure is difficult to pin down, millions of persons in flagrante delicto of illegal entry into the U.S. have been subject to “catch and release,” i.e., these persons were not arrested, they were not subject to hefty fines, nor did they face immediate expulsion or a lengthy ban, rather, they were allowed to stay in the U.S. pending a hearing date.
According to ICE as reported in its 2024 Annual Report, there are nearly 8 million people on its “non-detained docket.” Some of these persons failed to appear in court for their hearing. Many simply cannot be located. This thanks to the Biden Administration’s reckless and deliberate disregard for the rule of law.
This is the backdrop to the present “mass deportation” operation that Bergoglio ignores. It’s an untenable situation that needs to be addressed in service to the common good.
Of more concern than socio-political matters relative to Francis’ letter on immigration is the degree to which he distorts Catholic teaching. In addition to ignoring the matter of justice, one of the more egregious ways he does so concerns his commentary with regard to human dignity.
For example, no less than three times in the course of the letter he refers to the “infinite dignity of every human person.” He also speaks of the “equal dignity of every human being.” Both of these things are untrue, and it’s no small error. In fact, it undermines the very purpose of Our Lord’s Sacrifice on the Cross.
I will end here by inviting those interested to revisit this treatment of the 2024 Dicastery for the Destruction of the Faith document, Dignitas Infinita, the “Declaration on Human Dignity.”
Bottom line: Bergoglio’s letter could just as easily have come from the pen of Klaus Schwab or any other high profile globalist. It’s not worthless, however, rather it’s of evidentiary value, serving as it does to demonstrate that it is not the product of a Catholic, much less a pope.
