The consequences of deportation
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William H. Westhoff
Published: August 11, 2008
At the 2008 National Migration Conference, the Catholic bishop of Guatemala asked the Director of ICE: “Are you conscious of the consequences of deportation on families and on the economies of their
home countries?” Some county Board of County Supervisor leaders, who adamantly support the strictest enforcement of deportation laws are graduates of major U.S. Catholic universities.
Therefore one wonders what the bishop knows and they do not?
Answer: the bishop knows Guatemala. Twenty-two years after the end of 36 years of U.S. involvement in its civil war the top 10 percent of its 2.5 million citizens keep 50 percent of the country’s income.
The 32 percent at the bottom of its society exist on $2 or less per day.
Also telling is that 70 percent of the land is still owned by 2 percent of the people. Last year, 16,000 Guatemalans were deported and, through this June, another 13,000. In 2007, Guatemalans in the U.S.
remitted $4.1 billion to their families. That amount spread to the 45 percent of the poorest Guatemalans would be about $10 each per day, but it is not so evenly disturbed.
The U.S. is the world’s wealthiest country.
Many citizens of other countries, states and counties view the immigration actions of Prince William, once the nation’s seventh wealthiest counties, with shocked despair. Considering all this, the
bishop’s question appears to be rhetorical — it reminds many there will be in the future, a perfect judgment of everyone that will consider all the facts.
WILLIAM H. WESTHOFF
Woodbridge
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( kgotthardt ) on August 16, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Like other churches, the Catholic church is advocating human rights, the least of which is kindness which there is a distinct lack of towards immigrants especially in this county.
There is nothing wrong with churches trying to protect people from hatred and persecution.
And like all institutions, churches have some negative elements.
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Posted by ( PWCMom ) on August 13, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Thanks Mr. Charest! At last something we can both live with.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on August 12, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Once again, willow703, I agree with you. Evil is evil, no matter who the sponsor.
Every evil action also has unintended consequences. In Iraq, and Iran, we are paying now for our actions back in the 1950’s of overthrowing popularly elected governments, abet unfriendly to the US, and replacing them with puppet governments that had no internal support.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on August 12, 2008 at 9:19 pm
PWCMom,
Yes, that is constructive and reflective. Thank you.
For the record, I do write, fax, e-mail, and even make phone calls to my elected representatives. I also write Letters to the Editor of this newspaper, write on blogs which I have posting accounts with, and on my own personal humble blog. I also do some volunteer work and contribute to non-denominational non-political charities. All of which is my way of contributing to our society, and in my small way, help improve the lives of other people less fortunate than me.
I do all this without belonging to any organized church or religious organization.
While I agree with your assessment of the Church/state line, you may want to remember it’s not just the Catholic Church that’s pushing that divide, and spending millions of donated dollars on fancy stuff for the clergy. Our home-grown evangelical sects are every bit as guilty, and far more prone to influencing our politics, than the Catholic Church.
But otherwise, I fully agree with you that the churches should either stick to nonpolitical issues or completely practice what they preach.
How’s that for constructive and reflective.
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Posted by ( PWCMom ) on August 12, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Mr. Charest: Here’s a reality check. In case you have not noticed, one individual person has a miniscule chance to affect another country’s foreign policy, but can certainly voice their opinion and make specific suggestions. We write our congressmen and other elected officials with our opinions, suggestions and votes…and YES, I have DONE all that (and continue to do so)-have you?
Reality is also that I represent myself and support myself through individual work. I do not have a public, fiduciary duty to a congregation like the church does, and I don’t get the tax breaks and funding they do either.
The church is supposedly a public entity, and is responsible for providing religious guidance. They are not responsible for policy making. For some time now, they have been advocating breaching the line between church and state and becoming more political in their views and public opinions (i.e. abortion and immigration). Much of that advocacy are just public statements-no offers of more help or suggestions/offers to work with foreign governments to address the issues they make statements about. I find it amusing that every Sunday (or other day) they collect BILLIONS of dollars through donations, tithes, etc; yet I don’t hear much of them financially supporting other countries in the same fashion Mr. Westhoff suggests. I do see alot of gold chalices, silks, large buildings and elaborate bishops’ homes, Prada shoes and other expenditures, though.
Perhaps the churches should either stick to nonpolitical issues or completely practice what they preach. Forgo the elaboration and work with the foreign governments to help them to help themselves. Stop advocating the violation of our laws. Put your money where your mouth is. Lead by example. Otherwise, perhaps they should decide to become more political and accept the tax and other consequences for doing so?
I hope that is constructive and reflective enough.
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Posted by ( willow703 ) on August 12, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Ron,
You might want to remember who supported & trained the forces of Mao, Kim, Ho, Pot, Castro, Ortega, the revolutionary forces of Honduras, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and others, who have slaughtered tens of millions, including more clergy than Latin America has ever had.
You might want to ask yourself: What’s the difference? I see no difference; evil is evil.
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Posted by ( JimB ) on August 12, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Not to be argumentative, I didn’t understand this letter to the editor when I read it in the newspaper and again online. Is he saying that permitting people to be in the US who do not have the right to be here is a substitute for foreign aid? I originally thought something was missing from the letter since he jumps from $10 per day each for people back in the home country to how horrible PWC BOCS is.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on August 12, 2008 at 11:54 am
“criticism without constructive and reflective action or suggestions is counter productive and only serves to show just how shallow you can be. “
So where is your constructive and reflective action on this LTE, PWCMom ?
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on August 12, 2008 at 11:51 am
willow703,
You might want to remember, it was “Right Wing Death Squads” supported and trained by US forces, that were guilty of the worse atrocities in Guatamala and El Salvador, including the murder of Catholic Nuns and Priests, for the “crime” of trying to help the local villagers.
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Posted by ( BHappy ) on August 12, 2008 at 10:36 am
I agree with other posters—I am so sick and tired of the Catholic church’s myriad attempts to undermine US sovereignty, and to try and blame illegal immigration on US involvement in Latin American politics.
The larger question is, why does such a small segment of the population control the land and wealth? What is the Catholic church doing to promote and advocate for social justice in Guatemala, etc, instead of advocating for the emptying out of these nations?
Is the Catholic church setting up schools so these children can be educated? Providing micro-loans to encourage the establishment of small scale enterprise? If the Catholic Church spent as much time promoting trade ties as it did excoriating the US for enforcing its immigration laws, the situation in Guatemala would be much different.
One effect of the enforcement: those returning home to Guatemala and other failed and inequitable Latin states will hopefully push for reform—- with or without the assistance of the Catholic church.
Enforcement is a good thing—hopefully it will push the forces for reform and change.
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