The Border

The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona has taken a decidedly unpopular position on the immigration issue--that it is a human problem, resulting from human beings trying to find a better life for themselves and their families, and that our faith demands that we treat immigrants as our neighbors. The result has been quite a bit of activity--including support of fair trade operations in Mexico that allow families to make living at home, health care visits to border communities, and displays of solidarity with immigrants.

My church, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix, has a new video initiative, and the first short video (about 6 minutes) is devoted to this issue. If you look closely you will see Bishop Smith in Naco at the most recent border procession. This is the first of a series of videos. You can find all of the videos at You Tube here. More context on what the video shows can be found here.

And, here, without further ado is the video:

Comments

Anonymous said…
As a lawyer what do you believe? Does the rule of law allow for an orderly society? hmmmm
Chuck Blanchard said…
Tammy:

Welcome. Your cpomment actually has be thinking of a longer post. Great question! For now, my answer is this: the rule of law can (and has in the past) left room for compassion. for example, before the 1996 Crim bill, long term undocumented aliens in the U.S. could avpoic deportation of they could show they had strong links to the community, at least 7 years in the US, and hardship to family members. This, it seemed to me, was a good safety valve, and it was part of a legal system. Your question, of course, asked more broadly (I think) about how we can have effective border control and an immigration system governed by the rule of law, whiole still remaining true to the need to treat humans as humans. That deserves a longer post that I hope to get to at some point.

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