Cardinal Roger Mahoney.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahoney is getting attention for a blog post over the weekend in which he likened legislation passed in Arizona that would require law enforcement there to check the immigration status of those they stop to Nazi and Communist tactics.
The legislation has yet to be signed by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.
An excerpt:
The law is wrongly assuming that Arizona residents, including local law enforcement personnel, will now shift their total attention to guessing which Latino-looking or foreign-looking person may or may not have proper documents. That's also nonsense. 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. Are children supposed to call 911 because one parent does not have proper papers? Are family members and neighbors now supposed to spy on one another, create total distrust across neighborhoods and communities, and report people because of suspicions based upon appearance?
Various cities and states have tried such abhorrent tactics over the decades with absolutely no positive effect. Such laws have all been struck down by courts or repealed by wise citizens. Sadly, such laws lead to a new round of immigrant-bashing—usually in times of economic downturn.
Los Angeles is the U.S. city with the nation's largest Hispanic population, many of whom are Catholics.
The Catholic church has also been pushing for years for immigration reform, including a path towards legalization for immigrants who broke U.S. laws to enter or remain in the country. Millions of Americans oppose the church on this, however, denouncing attempts to give legal status to illegal immigrants as an amnesty and reward for law-breaking.
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