Bishop Nickless responds to raid

May 22, 2008

On Monday, May 12, federal agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Agriprocessors facility in Postville, Iowa, to arrest and detain 389 workers. According to Catholic teaching (see e.g., Catechism of the Catholic Church #2401-2414, 2426-2463), was this a just act?

Following the more pragmatic standard of worldly justice, one earns by one's actions and intentions whatever one is due. In this sense, justice is like a wage or reward for right behavior. According to this standard, people who enter or work in this country illegally are not due the reward of just (meaning fair) treatment and respect. As criminals, they should be harshly deterred from their criminal acts. Thus, I have heard and read many people in the past two weeks laud the Postville raid as defense of law and orderliness. But even in these terms, the Postville raid was not fully just. If we are to treat illegal immigrants merely as criminals, then we must be consistent in protecting the legitimacy of our own laws, by extending diligently the full measure of due process and presumption of innocence which our laws confer. This did not happen in the Postville raid, in which families have been separated and held without communications; in which legal counsel has been denied or significantly delayed; and in which people have not been afforded the presumption of innocence before detainment.

Following the more idealistic standard of worldly justice, what fairness one is due attaches to one's status (e.g., a broad category like citizenship), rather than simply to one's actions. In this sense, justice is like a guarantee of social standing, a "leveling of the playing field." According to this standard, people who enter or work in this country illegally are due some fair treatment, but still liable for having broken certain laws. As non-citizen criminals, they should be arrested and deported, but then perhaps allowed to seek legal entry. Thus, I have heard and read some people in the past two weeks support the Postville raid as defense of American jobs for Americans. But again, even in these terms, the Postville raid was not fully just. In the past two weeks, the disruptions caused by the mass arrests have also damaged significantly the legal economy and social fabric of the Postville area. To cite a few examples, apartment owners cannot collect rent, retailers have dramatically lost customers, and children fear to attend school.

In contrast, the Catholic standard of justice, taught clearly by Jesus Christ Himself (Jn 8:3-18, e.g.), recognizes and defends the a priori dignity of each human person. Prior to any category or action, every human person, created for love and endowed by God with inalienable rights (as also our founding political documents agree), must be acknowledged and treated as a fellow human, as a brother or sister in Jesus Christ, as equal to one's own self-worth. In Catholic justice, no one is a stranger, alien, or non-citizen. The sinner deserves forgiveness even before any outward act of contrition or repentance; the law-breaker deserves mercy stronger than the justice of enforcing the law.

This Catholic sense of justice uniquely defends the rights of all the parties involved in a situation such as the Postville raid. The Catholic Church supports the authority of the government of the United States to make and enforce laws; but insists that these be just laws, intending and benefitting the common good, and applied equally to all. The Catholic Church protects the rights of workers to seek safety and a gainful livelihood wherever these may be found; but insists that workers who move to find them respect the just and good laws and customs of their new communities. The Catholic Church supports the rights of entrepreneurs to employ whoever is well-suited to the work; but insists that choices in employment be made without discrimination or coercion. The Catholic Church protects the rights of families to remain together and to raise, defend, and educate their children; and insists that this include strong moral formation and aim toward the common good.

By every standard of justice, the Postville raid was deficient in justice. If such actions are not necessary, how can we tolerate them? If such actions are necessary, how can we deny our own share of responsibility for creating such conditions?