Unity is our strength

By Eddie Trask

For the ICR

Christian love enables us to understand the relationship between law and human rights.

Pope St. John Paul II’s 1996 annual message for World Migration Day, "The Church & Illegal Immigration," declares, “The Church must not fail to speak up for brotherhood and to accompany it with acts testifying to the primacy of charity.”

Within the current humanitarian confusion, where many migrants and refugees have been rendered commodities in a tiring game of partisan extremes, the operative phrase remains the “primacy of charity.”

What we can do—here and now—is slow the pendulum of extremes by respecting the law and showing love to the people in front of us: those who find themselves in the middle of a national debate without consistent rules, desperately looking for a good samaritan to guide and care for them.

Aware of this confusion and volatility, Catholic Charities of Idaho helps immigrants navigate their legal options while affirming that they are made in the image of God and have equal dignity with every other human being. This same approach helps foreign-born priests stay in Idaho, gives a voice and empowerment to victims of crime, and oftentimes paves a road to legal citizenship for those who desperately want to assimilate and live as unfettered, honest Americans. These services are vital for the state of Idaho and the universal mission of the Catholic Church.

The Church and her teachings will always transcend politics and secular ideologies by consulting Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterial teaching, maintaining a robust, 2,000-year-old framework that considers every soul in the world, not just those in a single locale or culture.

Does this mean we should permit crime under the guise of compassion? Of course not. Again, we are fundamentally talking about respect for the law and a nation’s right to protect itself while being a source of charity and mercy for our neighbors. Both are essential elements of Catholic dogma and doctrine.

It is important to recognize that there are two popular responses to immigration that are both unhelpful. The first response is passivity and delay, where decisions are stalled for long periods, and crises are allowed to endure. When this happens, we lack necessary immigration policies that provide for our safety and the good of an immigrant’s future.

The second response is reactivity, where decisions are hurried, and laws are unpredictably created and enforced so that human beings are shuttled around like cattle, stripped of their dignity.

In both responses, Satan gains the upper hand. Using man’s pride and impulsivity, he covertly dehumanizes the most vulnerable.

So, what can we do to combat the enemy’s playbook?

Three things. First, ensure we are not labeling an entire people as violent criminals. Second, data from multiple sources should be inspected while contributing to civil discourse that inspires communion rather than divisive conflict. Finally, pray for an end to the crisis, for a solution that is lawful and supports our shared humanity, one that values the person and the law.

By doing these three things, we can help keep the pendulum of extremes from forcefully swinging when political parties alternate.

To echo the final point, Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles recently said:

“…any enforcement actions should be prudent, and should be matched by immediate action in Congress to fix our immigration system, which has been broken for decades now.”

Creating a just and humane immigration structure will take time and bipartisan effort. For this to happen, our nation needs to be more united, the width between political aisles must decrease, forgiveness must be extended in every direction, and immigrants must consistently be shown their identities as children of God, not game pieces.

Some may think this will require a miracle. Well then, my fellow Catholics, let’s pray for such a miracle during this Jubilee Year. Our pilgrim brothers and sisters are hoping for one.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of Jesus and Mother of all the peoples of the Americas, pray for us!

More resources:

Catholic Charities USA Justice and Mercy

Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891)

Pope Pius XII’s Exsul Familia (1952)

USCCB’s Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope (2003)

Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est (2005)

Pope Francis’ Migrants and Refugees: Towards a Better World (2014)

USCCB’s Responding to False Claims About Catholic Organizations Serving Newcomers (2024)

USCCB’s Catholic Elements of Immigration Reform (2025)

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2238-2246