“World Day of Migrants and Refugees”
By Deacon Rod Knight
The last Sunday of September is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Today’s headlines are full of articles about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, Venezuelan gangs taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, and even a deportation plan for the Hmong in Eau Claire. Some are here legally, and some are not, but the media will sensationalize what it can especially during election time. We are bombarded by the crisis at our southern border. In December 2023 alone the U.S. Border Patrol had 250,000 encounters at the U.S./Mexico border (Pew Research Center). Fifty percent of the incoming are single, 45% are families, and 5% unaccompanied minors. It is a crisis due to the conditions and inability to manage the numbers. There are 281 million international migrants worldwide. Why? War, conflicts, violence, natural disasters, food or water insecurity, or the pursuit of a better life are a few reasons people may be displaced or migrating. We have a Somalian community here locally and an annual influx of migrant workers seasonally, are they isolated or assimilated within our community? How many of our ancestors migrated here?
Pope Francis’s message for the 104th World Day of Migrants and Refugees in 2018 gave the response of four verbs to the challenges of migration: to welcome, to protect, to promote, and to integrate. I am not naïve, and I understand many of the concerns with the border. Yes, many of the single people entering illegally are men of military service age. Criminals, cartel drug traffickers, foreign born terrorists, and others with malicious intent may gain entry. But what of those families who have sold or left everything they have for a dream of a better life for themselves or their children? What about the vulnerable 5% of unaccompanied minors (children), easy pickings for the sex trade/trafficking. We are Americans, and as Americans we do not like to be told what to do or have anything forced on us (remember mask mandates and the jab of the recent COVID epidemic). But we are also Catholics, and we are called to love our neighbor. We are called to perform Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, and to acknowledge human dignity. Fifty-four percent of Americans back mass deportation of immigrants. Let us start with our Indian Priests, you know those ones who left their homeland, families, friends, and everything familiar to be here so we can practice our faith and receive communion regularly. Yes, I am being sarcastic! I do not agree with how our government implements plans and I do not agree that the best interests are of the people they serve. We should believe in law and order but should not permit our brothers and sisters to be used as political pawns in violation of their human dignity. Most issues are hard to correct from the top down.
Now remember the Pope’s four verbs welcome, protect, promote, and integrate and we can apply them at the community level. We can vote, pursue, and promote social justice, get involved in councils, boards, and politics and incorporate a Catholic world view. We can practice what we preach. Language is one of the biggest barriers to overcome. I know this firsthand from serving at the Spanish Mass (my apologies to all those in attendance). But Christian Nestell Bovee said it best, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see, kindness is a universal language that can be understood by everyone.”