Arizona illegal immigrant law is a Nazi measure says Catholic Archbishop Mahony

Posted on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 04:46 PM

Larger Text

E-mail

25 Comments

RSS

Archives

Looks like the Catholic Church has decided to relive its better days (when it was led by brave people like El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero).

The Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony (above) has come out swinging against Arizona's illegal immigration measure calling it something the Nazis would have been proud of.

He blasted the bill as "the country's most retrogressive, mean-spirited and useless anti-immigrant law."

"American people are fair-minded and respectful. I can't imagine Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation," Mahony wrote on his blog.

The measure would allow police to stop someone if they suspect them of being in the country illegally.

The bill does not specify what grounds the police would need but the implications are frightening.

The new measure would also require all immigrants to have their papers on them in the event they are stopped by police.

"The tragedy of the law is its totally flawed reasoning: that immigrants come to our country to rob, plunder and consume public resources. That is not only false, the premise is nonsense."

E-mail

25 comments

Previous Page 2 of 2 pages

Joanhugh | Apr 23, 2010, 10:01 AM EDT

If your Irish you have to be for the immigrants. When our parents and grandparents came there was no such thing as legal or illegal. People who wanted to come just came.

Report abuse

DLW12183 | Apr 23, 2010, 08:59 AM EDT

Tell him to clean up his church first before diving into politics. Have him tell the dead rancher, who was trying to help an illegal in medical trouble, that this law is not needed. Maybe it is time to boycott the Catholic church.

Report abuse

knockatee | Apr 23, 2010, 08:43 AM EDT

Nice to see the Catholic Bishop speak out on this. Maybe it's time to boycott Arizona as a vacation destination.

Report abuse

Doctorgeri | Apr 22, 2010, 07:37 PM EDT

Ask the Cardinal if he will send money to transport all the illegals to his diocese, where he can take care of them.

Report abuse

plasticpaddy | Apr 22, 2010, 07:19 PM EDT

Agreed KathleenBerrio, most of them didn't have any papers either and gained 'legal' status while in this country or applied for citizenship here in the US. Well done Archbishop and as a humanist it is not often that I say that!

Report abuse

gregwb57 | Apr 21, 2010, 07:09 PM EDT

You need to realise that illigal immigrents in Arizona is indeed a BIG problem!

Report abuse

IrishAndProud | Apr 21, 2010, 06:16 PM EDT

Oh, and btw I also do janitoral work -- you know, scrubbing toilets and hauling trash...the kind of stuff that you seem to think only illegals will do nowadays, because white gringo's like me will not. And I was doing it even BEFORE the economy tanked. Sorry to bust another pro-illegal lie, but that's the way it is.

Report abuse

IrishAndProud | Apr 21, 2010, 06:15 PM EDT

I don't know about YOU, Kathleen, but I was descended from LEGAL IMMIGRANTS (a redundancy), who actually followed the law and came here to be AMERICANS...not ILLEGAL ALIENS. Do you not know the difference betweent the two, a legit IMMIGRANT and an ILLEGAL?

Report abuse

KathleenBerrio | Apr 21, 2010, 05:08 PM EDT

We are ALL descended from immigrants. Our ancestors took the jobs no one else wanted, as do these immigrants. This sounds like a police state.

Report abuse

Monsoonman | Apr 21, 2010, 04:54 PM EDT

I applaud the Bishops sense of compassion, with other peoples money and livelihoods. So I suggest the Catholic church open up its vast coffers and start supporting all of these illegals...in Rome. Think for a minute, WWJD? Would he have built opulent palaces and churches for his own glory? Accumulated vast property, wealth and power? NO he would have given it away and lived a humble life. When the church starts living by a vow of poverty I will take seriously what its minions have to say.

Report abuse

Previous Page 2 of 2 pages