I've been trying to draw a line between law and justice, specifically as it relates to immigration and the ongoing immigration debate. But so far I've only talked about immigration law and border security without the wider discussion of why do people choose to come to America anyway? Certainly there are many answers to that question, but again, let's be blunt - the context of this discussion is really around emigration from our southern neighbors.
Immigration Law Has No Moral Foundation
First of all, I question whether or not illegal immigration is really a problem at all. I'm not saying it doesn't occur, I'm questioning why people who want to come to this country to work have to sneak across deserts, pay coyotes to ferry them and generally risk life, limb and property. I don't ask this question from a logistical or practical position - certainly those details need to be discussed and worked out - but rather from the standpoint of what is moral, right and just.
As I've written before, I don't see any particular moral weight to an arbitrary geographical line which some governments have decided (without asking me, by the way) delineate who rules where. Borders are, after all, simply the spoils of conquest. They are practical things, but ultimately they are imaginary, contrived and useful only to those in power. They keep us in, they keep us out. Which brings me to the core of this post - a just foreign policy.
Justice Must Be Our Policy Foundation
Before I move to the foreign, though, I must address the domestic because what I have to say applies internally as well as externally. What I would really like to see is economic justice, which must start at home. As long as we have people feasting alongside those starving, we live in injustice. As long as people go without shelter while others live on palatial estates, we live in injustice. As long as medical care goes to the wealthy, but not to the needy then, yes, we live in injustice. As long as the United States continues to have the resources to alleviate hunger, homelessness and provide healthcare to all its citizens but it does not, it remains an unjust society. We are wealthy beyond measure, yet morally bankrupt, and I am not just talking about sex, drugs and rock and roll. So even as I talk about foreign policy, what I really want is good policy - foreign and domestic. What good are governments if they can't take care of their citizens? And I mean the ones who are wealthy and powerful - the government does a fine job taking care of them.
With economic justice as a foundation, if we really were concerned about illegal immigration, we would be concerned about why people are immigrating in the first place. We know the answer, of course, work. A worker can earn more money in the United States than in many of the impoverished regions of Latin America. Even earning sub-minimum wage, workers here find a way to subsist and send money back home. I suspect given the choice, these workers would much rather stay with their families and earn the same amount where they came from. The problem is that lack of infrastructure, governmental corruption and poor economies lead to a lack of employment opportunities back home. These workers are clearly not lazy - they risk a great deal to get to the US, work exceptionally hard when they get here and continue to diligently send earnings back home to support family members. Coming here illegally is an act of desperation that a hopeless situation can be rectified, even at great cost.
Towards Economic Justice
How can it be that the United States, with its massive amounts of wealth, have neighbors to the south that are in abject poverty? The reasons are as complex and difficult as human beings themselves, but we can say with surety that just as poverty here should not exist alongside opulence, neither should poverty there. If we really cared about immigration, we would want immigration to not be last-ditch effort to provide for one's family, but a truly free choice. In order to make that so, we would work with those countries to help provide needed infrastructure - roads, water treatment facilities, electricity - as well as economic opportunities.
I recognize this is short on specifics, but as a guiding principle it seems worthwhile to help lift the economies of our neighbors. This means debt eradication, fair trade policy and aid where necessary. Prosperous people don't risk desert crossings and arrest for low-paying, hard labor. It is in our national interest to help others achieve economic prosperity, even as we attempt to bring it to all at home. I want to be clear here, however, that I do not see the United States as the savior of the developing world. What I would like to see is a United States that uses its vast wealth and resources for the benefit of humanity, instead of its detriment.
I can't help but think of the words of Christ, "To him who has been given much, much will be expected." I don't know that we've been given much, more accurately we've taken much, but the fact remains that we have much. I think it's appropriate to have great expectations for the United States, but I also worry that if wealth and resources that we have aren't used more justly, we will find them squandered or taken from us. Hopefully someday soon we'll learn to use our powers for good and not evil...hopefully.
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