The core contention of Young Catholics for Ordered Migration is that our leaders are teaching
and opining incorrectly— or rather incompletely— on the issue of immigration to the United States and the West more broadly. The obvious question, then, is, “what does the Catholic Church actually teach about immigration?”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in Paragraph 2241 states:
The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his
country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions,
especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.

Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.

Obviously, all immigrants are deserving of human dignity, for we are all made in the image and likeness of God. That human dignity includes the right to pursue sufficient means of provision for themselves and their families; moving to one of the more prosperous nations is a rightly ordered means to that end.

Concurrently, the nations receiving migrants who come in a lawful and orderly way have a duty under God to treat them with respect, afford them equal opportunity and justice, and protect them from persecution—as it has with all native-born citizens.

But the Church also recognizes the right of the host nation to impose reasonable limits. The phrase “to the extent they are able” acknowledges that resources are finite and circumstances preclude certain individuals or groups from being brought into the society promptly, or at all.

The United States is approaching $40 trillion in debt, with annual budget deficits approaching $2 trillion. Nearly 60% of our spending is on social welfare services, and another 15% is interest in our outstanding debt. We are not—by any stretch of the imagination—able to accept more foreigners that are a net drain on our nation.

Moreover, the Catechism explicitly allows for reasonable restrictions to ensure order and the common good of all citizens. Immigrants are necessarily subject to the laws of the host nation, which includes immigration laws; and they are bound to an equivalent duty to fully participate in
the society of the host nation.

This means there is no moral latitude for behaviors, customs, religious practices, or subcultures that disregard or conflict with the just civil laws of the nation. There is no moral latitude for racial or ethnic enclaves that discriminate against native citizens by language or cultural barriers. And
there is no moral latitude for ethnocentrism, sedition, or revolution by violence or otherwise.

Unfortunately, whether through a disproportionate spirit of complaisance or ideological capture, the Bishops and other Church leaders have neglected the entire second half of the paragraph, and even the aforementioned phrase, almost entirely. In nearly all published statements from the USCCB, all the way down to offertory prayers at Sunday Masses, political leaders and the lay faithful are told to welcome the stranger, without recognizing that the stranger must also ingratiate himself into the community.

The chief aim of our initiative is to reform that neglect through information and education. Our hope is that by the Grace of God and seeking truth in charity, the Bishops will broaden their understanding of the issue, engage our civil leaders with discretion instead of misdirected outrage, and preach the Gospel instead of political rhetoric.