Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
The EditorsJanuary 28, 2016
A vendor displays a blanket with an image of Pope Francis Jan. 27, to be sold inside a store of religious items in Mexico City. (CNS photo/Edgard Garrido, Reuters)

When a leading candidate for the U.S. presidency refers to Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals and rises in the polls; when his competitors joust over who will build a bigger wall and expel more undocumented persons; when the outgoing administration steps up deportation raids to deter future migrants, it is time to reframe the conversation in the United States about our southern neighbor.

Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Mexico (Feb. 12 to 18) provides an opportunity to do just that. Sharing a 2,000-mile border and over 200 years of history, the people of Mexico and the United States are deeply interconnected in ways that are often lost in our intractable and shortsighted debates over immigration.

Migration. The pope’s Mass in Juárez is sure to draw the attention of many in the United States, not least residents of El Paso, Tex., which is separated from the Mexican border city by just a chain-link fence. Significantly, though, this is where the pope’s journey ends. Pope Francis will first visit San Cristóbal de Las Casas in the southern border state of Chiapas. From there, like so many before him, he will make his way north.

When, in the summer of 2014, tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors crossed the U.S. border, President Obama requested $1 billion to address the factors in Central America that drive emigration. Since then, however, the sense of urgency has waned as border crossings slowed, though not because people have stopped attempting the dangerous trek north. Rather, with U.S. encouragement and support, Mexican authorities have stepped up enforcement. After the launch of Mexico’s Southern Border Plan in July 2014, apprehensions about unaccompanied minors nearly doubled, according to the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America. The effect of this stepped-up enforcement upstream has not been to deter desperate migrants but to force them to take alternative routes, where they are more vulnerable to abuse at the hands of smugglers and officials.

In a speech to the Vatican diplomatic corps in January, Pope Francis said, “There is no place for autonomous solutions pursued by individual states” when dealing with the mass movement of people. The United States must recommit itself to: 1) work with Mexico to address the root causes of the exodus—namely, poverty and violence in Central America; 2) build up Mexico’s capacity to screen and provide legal assistance to asylum seekers and 3) ensure a culture of lawfulness among security and judicial institutions operating at the border.

Trafficking. From Chiapas the pope will travel to Morelia, the capital of Michoacán State and a hot spot in the continent’s drug conflict. For decades ruthless cartels south of the border have been locked in a deadly competition to feed American addictions. In the United States deaths by heroin overdose have quadrupled since 2002, rising to 8,260 in 2013, while U.S.-manufactured guns trafficked south have fueled crime-related violence in Mexico that analysts estimate has killed over 100,000 people since December 2006.

There are no easy answers when it comes to combating the cartels that have ravaged every level of Mexican society—from the bought-off village priest to corrupt leaders of the ruling P.R.I. party. The joint U.S.-Mexican strategy of targeting drug kingpins does little good as long as there are foot soldiers ready to work their way up the ranks and extend their influence beyond the drug trade to industry theft, extortion and local politics. The only sustainable solution in the long run is an economy strong enough to attract the young men who now see gangs as the only path out of poverty and an independent justice system willing and able to root out corruption at every level of governance. The United States must do more to ensure that its $300 million in annual drug-war aid does not undermine these objectives by propping up police and government officials with links to organized crime.

Our Lady. Of course, the United States and Mexico are connected not only by shared security concerns; our people are tied together by deep bonds of faith, family and culture. No figure better embodies this shared heritage than Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is “not just the patroness of Mexico, but the patroness of the Americas,” in the words of Pope Francis. While the Mexican people are known for their love of Guadalupe (even non-Catholics consider themselves “guadalupanos”), devotion to Our Lady in the United States is growing—a beautiful gift to the U.S. church from immigrant communities.

The pope, who will celebrate Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe on Feb. 13, has asked the church to look to Mary during this jubilee year: “Let us implore her to guide the footsteps of the American people, a pilgrim people looking for the Mother of mercy.” As Mexico prepares to welcome Pope Francis, we, like Our Lady, are called to show compassion on her people, starting with the poor and marginalized. Our brothers and sisters across the border are Americans, too.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
William Rydberg
8 years 1 month ago
I am just a Canadian, so I have no dog in this fight. But it strikes me that the tone of this Editorial Board opinion piece (I readily admit I an not familiar with the details) seems ungenerous in the light of the fact that nearly everybody on the Board is either a Religious or a practicing Catholic. There's gotta be a way of making your point without dragging the Pope in to this stuff... Just my opinion...
Henry George
8 years 1 month ago
There is no solution to the "Immigrant Problem" but you do have to wonder about a government that does so little to put the needs of its own citizens over that of "Undocumented Migrants". A great deal of the bitterness toward Immigrants is caused by the simple fact that if you in a low income job it is very hard, if not impossible, to get a raise, better working conditions, when there are plenty of "Immigrants" wiling to take your job. Another part of the bitterness is caused when "Immigrants" move into small towns and place enormous burdens upon the public facilities: schools/hospitals/transportation/housing/courts/prisons. Those of you rich enough to send your children to private schools, drive your own car, live far away from crime may not feel the burden of immigration but the rest of us do. Part of the solution would be if "Rich Elites" actually hired American Citizens to be their gardeners, maids, nannies, cooks etc... As for the sudden and massive appearance of children at the border seeking to be re-united with their parents in America - that was a well organised operation by those who profit by sending Undocumented Immigrants to America, all the while knowing full well that Elites would demand they be admitted. It will take a multi-national effort to bring a higher form of economic prosperity to both North and South America and a firmer/fairer Immigration policy plus the end of the Drug Cartels/Wars before justice of any sort can be achieved.
Vincent Gaglione
8 years 1 month ago
There is this myth that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs from USA citizens. I find it hard to believe that Mr. George would take such manual labor intensive jobs for even a modicum of a decent wage. And as for those who hire such laborers, I doubt even more that they would gladly give up their monetary surplus to pay for such labor, which is why they can only find illegal immigrants to do the jobs in the first place. Beyond that, many American corporations, especially in agriculture, gladly use illegals and temporary workers to keep your lettuce cheap! I support comprehensive immigration reform, not just for the borders but also for the airports through which half the illegals arrive into the United States. I lived for years in a predominantly Irish neighborhood where many illegals from Ireland live. Does Mr. George refer to them as well and their construction and even union jobs? I suggest that there is a great deal of prejudice that motivates the issue about illegal immigration, fears of the USA becoming another Spanish-speaking American country. Would he attend a Mass in Spanish by this Spanish-speaking Pope? Finally, with the exception of health care and education, illegals do not get the benefits of the American social safety net. Would Mr. George deny to any fellow human being - undocumented or otherwise, with or without health insurance - the right to care? Even the good Samaritan knew better. There's plenty of wealth in this country to accomplish these benefits without taking more taxes from the pockets of ordinary Americans. When 200 Americans own as much wealth as 52 million American blacks, there's plenty of money and more to be shared for the public commonweal.
JR Cosgrove
8 years 1 month ago
when the outgoing administration steps up deportation raids to deter future migrants,
I think the editors need a reality check. Here is the headline today Border agent: 'We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether' http://washex.am/1QJpYS1
In a shocking reversal of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are being told to release illegal immigrants and no longer order them to appear at deportation hearings, essentially a license to stay in the United States, a key agent testified Thursday.What's more, the stand down order includes a requirement that the whereabouts of illegals released are not to be tracked."We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether," suggested agent Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.
Robert Lewis
8 years 1 month ago
The pope is obviously willing to be "dragged into this stuff" if he's going to the US-Mexico border to say mass: it's a tacit statement in itself.

The latest from america

Jesuit Father Andriy Zelinskyy, coordinator of military chaplains for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is pictured in a 2018 photo.
When reflecting on the life, death and resurrection of the Lord while living in a state of military invasion and active war, “everything becomes more authentic,” and “God ceases to be just a concept,” says Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J. “He really becomes a source of life and all hope for you and for
PreachMarch 17, 2024
One study showed Catholics donated the least amount of money of all denominations surveyed.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 15, 2024
Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera and Teresa Morris Kettlekamp will lead the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 15, 2024
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that exemptions that allow religious organizations to avoid paying Wisconsin’s unemployment tax don’t apply to a Catholic charitable organization.