Clearly some who think we should enforce the laws of this country do so for bad reasons. So also some who think we should break the laws of this country do so for bad reasons. Ceteris paribus we should enforce the laws of this country.
My mother was an immigrant as was my paternal Grandfather. They were legal immigrants. My grandfather was harassed because he was German. My mother reported to the government every year as a legal “alien”.
There is no question that the People of Mexico are children of God. There is also little doubt that 12 million or more people from Mexico and other South American Countries have come to this country in defiance of our laws. Many, not all — maybe not even a majority — once here show further contempt for our country and go so far as to claim that parts of it are rightly theirs. That has nothing to do with their being children of God and with our duty to charity.
But, again, Aquinas places his discussion of Just War within his discussion of charity. Charity is more than giving into the demands or complying with the requests of others. Already the United States is the most giving country on earth. If you doubt me, get a copy of “who Really Cares”. You may be astonished.
In your last paragraph, you mention people seeking citizenship in the US. What you say is true. But how many of these illegal immigrants are interested in citizenship because they believe in the values of this country and wish to contribute to the US?
More importantly you talk about countries offering opportunities. Mexico offers no fewer opportunities than the US does. Mexicans have failed to CREATE opportunity for themselves. As long as the persistent notion is that opportunity is given, not made, Mexico will remain poor. If that attitude dominates in the US, we will become poor.
If we acquiesce to the demands of what I think is a bogus charity — something more akin to giving an alcoholic a handout in front of a liquor store than providing REAL help — we will end up unable to help others.
But please, before you say any more about selfish Americans, read “Who Really Cares”. The formerly liberal economist (I think, maybe sociologist) who wrote it said that while liberals TALK about giving, conservative Americans are in Practice and on a per capita and per income basis the most giving people on earth. You simply must read this before you throw around suggestions that those with conservative points of view are tainted with selfishness.
And Free Republic MAY be dignified when pigs fly, but certainly not before!
I don't "care" what their motivations might have been for coming here, or how good they have been since they got here. We either have the rule of law, or we don't.