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March 23, 2020
Richard Morasci
San Francisco
Re “Matthew’s Gospel and immigration,” Letters, March 13:
The letter by Mr. Farber criticizes the stance of the USCCB in regard to illegal immigrants. He cites the Bible in defending President Trump’s restriction of people from Central America and Mexico from seeking asylum in the U.S. However, according to international law, people have a right to seek asylum. It is not illegal. I know it is very hard for us North Americans to put ourselves in the shoes of refugees. If we had to pack up our things and loved ones in order to flee violence and death, I am sure the terms legal and illegal would be meaningless.
The Bible says that we should obey the law according to Mr. Farber. Throughout history we have seen laws that were unjust. Would it have been justified to break those laws? The slaves in the South who ran away from their slaveowners and sought refuge in safe houses along the underground railroad did something illegal, but was it still right? In the 1930s there were Jews who tried to escape into Switzerland from Germany and were refused entry. If they still sneaked into Switzerland without going through the legal entry points, it would have been illegal, but would it have been right?
I think what we North Americans have to remember is that the decision that refugees make to leave home and walk hundreds of miles to start a new life is not an easy one. They look to America as the promised land, and if the alternative to fleeing their homes is death, then trying any means, legal or illegal, to seek safety in the U.S. is justified in the minds of the refugees. Wouldn’t we do the same thing? The U.S. has opened and has closed its doors to refugees in the past. The Trump administration has chosen to close our doors, but is it right or even legal?
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