The border today, in a nutshell

Yesterday I wrote that I would post a summary of our present immigration situation. The best summary that I have seen recently is the homily given by Pope Francis advisor Cardinal Sean O'Malley during a Mass concelebrated with seven fellow bishops right up against the border fence in Nogales, Arizona, on April 1. Here are some excerpts from that homily:

"...As a nation of immigrants we should feel a sense of identification with other immigrant groups seeking to enter our country.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants. Only the indigenous Native Americans are not from somewhere else. So the word of God reminds us today that our God wants justice for the orphan and the widow and our God loves the foreigners, the aliens... The hard work and sacrifices of so many immigrant peoples is the secret of the success of this country. Despite the xenophobic ranting of a segment of the population, our immigrant population contributes mightily to the economy and well being of the United States.

"Here in the desert of Arizona, we come to mourn the countless immigrants who risk their lives at the hands of the coyotes and the forces of nature to come to the United States. Every year 400 bodies are found here at the border, bodies of men, women and children seeking to enter the United States. Those are only the bodies that are found. As the border crossings become more difficult, people take greater risks and more are perishing.

"Last year about 25,000 children, mostly from Central America, arrived in the US, unaccompanied by an adult. Tens of thousands of families are separated in the midst of migration patterns. More than 10 million undocumented immigrants are exposed to exploitation and lack access to basic human services, and are living in constant fear. They contribute to our economy by their hard work, often by contributing billions of dollars each year to the social security fund and to Medicare programs that will never benefit them...

"We have presently over 30,000 detainees, most of whom have no criminal connections. The cost of these detentions is about $2 billion a year.

"The system is broken and is causing untold suffering and...waste of resources, human and material.

"We find in those prisoners, neighbors, fellow human beings who are separated from their families and communities. The sheer volume of the cases has led to many due process violations and arbitrary detentions...

"But America at its best is not the bigotry and xenophobia of the "Know Nothings", but the generous welcome of the New Colossus, that mighty woman with a Torah, the Statue of Liberty, the Mother of Exiles who proclaims to the world: 'Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp,' cries she with silent lips, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door.' (Emma Lazarus) We must be vigilant that that lamp continues to burn brightly."