Immigration

National Catholic Reporter, July 11, 2008 by Joseph Madden, Lisa O'Reilly

* The article "Immigrant nightmare" (NCR, June 13) was deeply moving and at times shocking. My prayers and commendations to Sr. Mary McCauley and the parishioners of St. Bridget. Our state of North Carolina is also feeling the anti-immigrant crackdown but nothing like the scale in Iowa. The crackdown on immigrants is not at all surprising but the militaristic approach is shocking. What I found most shocking was the subsequent response of the U.S. attorney in northern Iowa. He called the raid "an astonishing success" and necessary to "maintain the integrity of the immigration system." These responses are either defensive rationalizations, or simply morally bankrupt. All this is done in our name. Have we lost our moral compass? As a nation of immigrants we ought to be shocked. As Catholics we need to stand up and protest in the name of God's justice and fidelity.

(Fr.) JOSEPH MADDEN, OFM Conv

Pittsboro, N.C.

* I read with dismay of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on the meat plant in Postville, Iowa (NCR, June 13). Your publication put a human face against anti-immigration rhetoric that we have come to see permeate and infuse the American psyche. I am a recent immigrant from Ireland. You all love me, especially around March. I am white and I speak English. So I have been told by locals that I'm OK. Why should I be welcomed with open arms and a Pakistani or Nigerian person who is far more qualified than me to be here is ridiculed and dismissed? So, it goes back to the same story: race.

LISA O'REILLY

Baltimore