In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Rick Santorum has challenged the U.S. Bishops on their stand on immigration. Here are the two key quotes:
“If we develop the program like the Catholic bishops suggested we would be creating a huge magnet for people to come in and break the law some more, we’d be inviting people to cross this border, come into this country and with the expectation that they will be able to stay here permanently.”
“What are we saying to all the families who are doing it the right way, who are separating from their families, who are making those sacrifices and then we say well, everybody who broke the law came here and we’re going to let you in and those folks, well sorry you’re chumps, you played by the rules….We have to have rules and we have to keep those rules in America or we would be a magnet for more people who want to break the law.”
Immigration is, of course, a prudential question on which Santorum may disagree with the bishops. However, it would be helpful if he actually addressed what the bishops proposed. The bishops have specifically responded to the argument Santorum makes in the first quote. The following is from an FAQ on immigration at the USCCB website:
Will a new legalization program simply lead to more illegal immigration?
No: not if the new program contains all the appropriate elements and is implemented properly. In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which legalized the undocumented population in this nation. However, that legislation did not address “future flows” of immigrants by making changes to the employment-based and family-based immigration systems. The creation of a temporary worker program with protections and more family reunification visas will help stem illegal immigration by providing legal avenues for migration. Moreover, the U.S. bishops have advocated for policies to address the root causes of migration, including sustainable economic development and fair trade and economic policies which take into account the plight of low-skilled workers. Only policies which address global economic inequities will provide the long-term solution to forced migration.
As for Santorum’s second argument, I think we should get the opinions of the people he is putatively protecting: immigrants who “are doing it the right way.” The Pew Hispanic Center, in their 2010 National Survey of Latinos, asked the following question:
In other words, 81% of Latinos responding to the survey want to provide a pathway to citizenship or legal residency for illegal immigrants. This does not suggest that legal immigrants feel they are being played for “chumps.” Rather, it suggests a strong degree of sympathy and understanding: they may have done it legally, but the vast majority are not angry or vindictive. (Let me forestall objections Pew can’t be trusted that point to the recent flap between CRS, the USCCB and Pew. This is an evolving situation and all parties are working through this quite amicably.)
Santorum comes back to a trope we hear frequently in this debate: America is a nation of “rules” and we need everyone to “obey the rules.” Since a majority of Latinos suggest that immigrants seeking to regularize their status pay a fine of some kind, it would seem that they agree with Santorum to the extent that breaking the rules requires some kind of punishment. I suspect, given that many of those surveyed are friends with or know illegal immigrants, is that they understand the reality that millions of people have made their lives here, raising families and becoming part of the community, and harsh laws and mass deportations are a sin against charity and justice. This is exactly the point the bishops are trying to make and which Santorum does not acknowledge. So this may be a prudential matter, but the bishops are right and Santorum is wrong.
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