Lawful Assistance

To the Editor:

I would like to thank Msgr. Kevin Sullivan for providing clear understanding of a Christian response to the humanitarian crisis now taking place on the southern border of the United States, where more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America are seeking asylum from violence and crime in their native countries.

Msgr. Sullivan, in CNY’s Aug. 7 issue, makes clear that while the Catholic Church has responsibilities to these young children, it is not in favor of lawbreaking by illegal immigration. However, he clearly tells us that the Church’s position of assisting these young people is upholding, not breaking, U.S. law! Specifically, the Church’s role, through Catholic Charities, is assisting these young people in complying with a 2008 law passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by a Republican President, George W. Bush, to halt child trafficking. That law specifically requires the United States to allow minors from Central America to seek protection in the United States and not be subject to immediate deportation as is the case with Mexico.

Msgr. Sullivan clearly reminds us that our U.S government, in cooperation with Catholic Charities, is proving a safe haven for those young people seeking to be free from abuse and violence in their native country. Being a Christian is not always easy; especially when we hear Jesus tell us that Catholics who welcome the stranger, the aliens, in His name, welcome Jesus.

Joseph Delaney

Staten Island