It is an interesting phenomenon. Many people around the country think that ICE raids are part of following the "letter of the law" --- that they are necessary because "illegal is illegal" --- now a Roman Catholic bishop is saying the just opposite --- that the raids are immoral and that government employees who refuse to participate should be able to take a stand as conscientious objectors. Novel idea isn't it?
A couple of days ago I was flying back from Argentina and while I was in line for the immigration check point in Houston I thought about what it must be like to work for the U.S. government as an ICE officer. The person checking my U.S. passport looked like he was in his late 30s, had a Spanish surname. He was congenial and polite (unlike some others I have encountered). As I spoke with him I wondered, what is it like for him to work in that job? Does he ever feel bad when he directs someone to be detained? Does he think that detaining families with small babies at international airports is necessary so the letter of the law can be followed?
A colleague of mine who recently graduated from a prestigious private university on the east coast was telling me that every time his wife and children (ages 1 and 2) fly back from their country of origin (Mexico) the wife and kids get detained at the Houston airport -- for hours. The kids start howling after a while and everyone gets miserable. The family has figured out that if they let the kids cry the detainment ends up being much shorter.
The conversation with my colleague leaves me wondering, why in the world would ICE detain a woman with a valid green card, whose husband is a tenure track professor (in political science no less) - why does this happen every time she travels back home?
Is the nice ICE officer who attended me one of the guys who stopped my colleague's wife? I wonder how he felt about it when he saw the mother holding the green card with two kids in diapers.
I guess to be an ICE officer you need to have the idea of "illegal is illegal" firmly planted in your mind. Only thing is, being that we are all human beings, you can bet that ICE officer has his own way of justifying what is right and wrong. Does he jaywalk? Has he ever run a yellow light? Did he ever cheat on an exam in college? Did he ever tell a little white lie? Did he ever get too much change at the grocery store and not tell the clerk? Has he ever told his wife she looks good in a dress when she really looks awful?
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RI Bishop Wants U.S. to Halt Mass Immigration Raids
By RAY HENRY
The Associated Press/Washington Post
Thursday, August 21, 2008; 4:37 PM
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop is calling on U.S. authorities to halt mass immigration raids and says agents who refuse to participate in such raids on moral grounds deserve to be treated as conscientious objectors.
Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin asked for a blanket moratorium on immigration raids in Rhode Island until the nation adopts comprehensive immigration reform. Tobin made the requests in a letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston...Tobin's action comes during a heated debate over illegal immigration in heavily Catholic Rhode Island. Authorities recently raided six courthouses looking for illegal immigrant maintenance workers and Gov. Don Carcieri, himself a Catholic, signed an order requiring state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.
"We believe that raids on the immigrant community are unjust, unnecessary, and counterproductive," the bishop's letter says. It urges individual federal agents to consider the morality of their actions and refuse to participate if their conscience dictates.
In such cases, he said, "we urge the Federal Government to fully respect the well-founded principles of conscientious objection."...Tobin is bishop of the Diocese of Providence, which covers the entire state. Some 60 percent of Rhode Island residents call themselves Roman Catholic, a higher percentage than any other state.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called U.S. immigration policies "morally unacceptable," saying they keep families divided and encourage the exploitation of migrants.
While the bishops' conference has said the federal government has a right to launch raids, it believes they are often counterproductive, said Kevin Appleby, director of the conference's Office of Migration and Refugee Policy.
He said Tobin's letter is unique because it asks that ICE agents be excused from raids on religious or moral grounds.
"I think it's an interesting idea because, from our reports, a lot of these raids have really impacted families and individuals and really terrorized communities," Appleby said. "It should be logical that some agents think that tactic is too harsh and might not want to participate."
Tobin said he decided to write the letter after hearing about the plight of suspected illegal immigrants arrested during raids in June and July.
The July raid on the Rhode Island courthouses occurred as Tobin was attending the first meeting of a panel charged with monitoring the implementation of Carcieri's crackdown on illegal immigrants.
As the illegal immigrants were being arrested, the state police superintendent assured Tobin and other clergy that his officers would not launch immigration raids. State police later said they were just assisting in a federal investigation.
for link to complete AP/WaPo article click here
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