Illegal immigrants 'are not free-loaders,' says Guatemalan bishop

Catholic News Service ^ | 04.13.05 | Agostino Bono

[Coleus]

Illegal immigrants 'are not free-loaders,' says Guatemalan bishop

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Illegal immigrants "are not free-loaders" but hard-working people who are seeking better lives for their families because social and economic improvements are not readily available to the Latin American poor, said a Guatemalan bishop.

"Some call them 'illegals.' But according to the market model, they are better described as entrepreneurs without assets, pursuing the American dream," said Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini Imeri of San Marcos, Guatemala.

"They work hard, often in several jobs, supporting a way of life that many take for granted," he said April 13 in written testimony delivered before the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

Bishop Ramazzini testified at a hearing on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, between the United States and five Central American countries. Negotiators for the six countries have agreed on a text, but the accord still has to be ratified by the United States and several other countries.

Better salaries and better working conditions are the main reasons Latin Americans come to the United States, he said.

Working conditions in Central America will only get worse under the proposed free trade agreement, as this pact threatens "to lock in a much lower level of protection for workers and their families," he added.

"Poor working conditions make for bad economics. Without enforceable labor rights that are part of trade agreements with sanctions for noncompliance applied to them, we will not raise standards of labor and standards of living in my country," said the bishop.

"I know of repeated instances where workers were treated in a way that would be against basic labor law in the United States," he said.

"Industrial workers, equipped with the basic rights to have a say in the workplace, were key to the growth of a middle class in your nation," and formed "a key element in making the United States the economic powerhouse it is today," said Bishop Ramazzini.

"This is not happening in Central America and it will not happen as long as hundreds of thousands of workers are suppressed, not empowered, at the workplace," he said.

Guatemala is among the 10 worst Latin American countries regarding unequal income distribution and needs to develop a strong middle class for economic and political stability, he said.

In Guatemala, 56 percent of the population is poor and 16 percent is extremely poor, he said.

Policies governing trade need to be integrated with development programs if life for the poor is to improve, he said.

"Trade policies need to be complemented by institutional reforms and a broader development framework that affords each person their right to participate in a market that is fair and compassionate," he added.

Bishop Ramazzini also questioned whether Guatemalan farmers could compete with subsidized U.S. agricultural products if tariff barriers were dropped.

"Our farmers are hard-working" but they "cannot compete against the U.S. Treasury and the $170 billion subsidies granted in your farm bill of 2002," he said.

Almost 25 percent of Guatemala's gross national product comes from farming, he said.

The bishop also questioned the long-term benefit of CAFTA to poor countries, saying its approval could override more favorable terms being negotiated worldwide by the World Trade Organization.

"It is widely expected that low-income developing countries, such as Guatemala, will be afforded 'special and differential treatment' under World Trade Organization rules currently being negotiated," he said.

"CAFTA will likely trump such measures that are designed to allow developing countries the time and space to foster integral human development," he said.

Rather than concentrating on making it easier for goods to cross borders, trade pacts "must look at trade policies from the bottom up -- from their impact on the lives and dignity of poor families and vulnerable workers across the hemisphere," he said.

Bishop Ramazzini's testimony is the latest in a series of efforts by Latin American bishops to criticize aspects of free trade agreements being promoted by the United States.

Last June, Bishop Ramazzini was part of a delegation of Central American bishops visiting the United States to discuss their criticisms of CAFTA with church and government officials. Last July, the Central American and U.S. bishops issued a joint statement outlining objections.

In February, a delegation of bishops from the Andean countries in South America visited the United States to air similar criticisms.

Church officials have said that they are not opposed to the concept of free trade, but are objecting to specific treaties they have judged to be prejudicial to the Latin American poor.

[TomGuy]

Ironically, a few hundred Minute Men (a.k.a., vigilantes, per our President) almost stopped the flood of illegals in the border section where they 'watched'.

Evidently, AG Gonzales, if that is the best you and the Bush admin can do, maybe you both should consider early retirement. America deserves better. And you both took an oath to defend The Constitution. With the flood of illegals, you aren't.

[Cultural Jihad]

Perhaps, they will get ill and I'll bring them to the hospital and pay their bill. I'm a Republican . . .

Conservatives judge people as individuals. We leave the group-gripes and group-identity-politicking to the labor unions and liberals.

[Cultural Jihad]

Lets call them what they really are....CRIMINALS and anyone that supports this type of criminal activity is a criminal also.

Ah, so you've never driven past the posted speed limit, eh? If so, then you are a . . . CRIMINAL!

[ArmyTeach]

Sorry, Bishop Imeri, but it's our country We don't tell you how to run your country, and we establish the rules in our own.

[Ajnin]

Ah, so you've never driven past the posted speed limit, eh? If so, then you are a . . . CRIMINAL!

You're absolutely right CJ. Murdering, child molestation, rape, fraud and gangbanging are exactly the same as violating the speed limit.

[B4Ranch]

Compare the differences.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalfindings.html#Balance

[Happy2BMe]

" Oh, man, I heard Gonzales say that today on the news and I darned near had a conniption fit. Lying through his teeth..."

====================================

A friend of mine has a saying about the art of lying and liars:

"I would never make a good liar because I could never remember what lie to tell to the right person to cover up for all my other lies."

When it comes to immigration reform or border control, that seems to be the problem of the current regime - remembering which lie to tell the the right person at the right time.

[raybbr]

With free trade, all the trading partners and their people will prosper.

Prove it. Show me one instance in the history of civilization where a) there was true free trade and b) everybody prospered.

Free trade is a theory that has never been tested. Yet, we in the U.S. are asked to prove this theory regardless of the consequences.

[DumpsterDiver]

Will some sort of international wealth transfer have to take place for this to happen?

Of course not. Through taxation you will be involuntarily invested in "entrepreneurs without assets, pursuing the American dream" and the dividends you earn will become part of your privatized Social Security retirement account. All will be well, comrade, all will be well.

[Roy Tucker]

I am a Catholic, but listening to bishops on trade policy is like listening to a Mexican explain the fine points of ice hockey.

[texastoo]

Actually, the Bishop has it right. He is against CAFTA. I really don't care what he calls his people as long as he is against CAFTA. With the signing of CAFTA, it will mean more and more illegals.

[junta]

What's wrong with their countries and why don't these "hard working" people fix them?

[JarheadFromFlorida]

[[If you are here illegally then you are stealing our birthright. A birthright purchased with the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors.]]

And not only that, after they are here long enough and are granted amnesty, they are then elligible for all of the affirmative action programs that give them preference over native born white Americans and even veterans like me. This actually makes me sick to my stomach to know that somebody that actually broke they law can get preferential treatment just by doing so. This illegal invasion WILL stop.

[TheForceOfOne]

Alvaro, if you like them so much you have them, bring them into your home. Build a free hospital and put out the word to come live with you. Don't spend other peoples money, spend your own.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Illegals themselves put in more than they take out. However, it is their children that are costing the taxpayers.

[1rudeboy]

There is a correlation between economic liberty and prosperity.

[Dane]

Prove it. Show me one instance in the history of civilization where a) there was true free trade and b) everybody prospered

There is economic precedence where restricted trade deepened econmoic woes.

The enactment of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs during the depression.

[jackbenimble]

Saying illegal immigration is good for the economy is like saying 911 was a boon for the building industry in lower Manhattan.

Absolutely correct. The defining difference between the first world and the third world is labor scarcity. In the first world we don't have quite enough and that is a good thing because it means that working people get treated decently, paid well and it results in a strong middleclass. In the third world there is far too much labor and the result is poverty, exploitation and a two tier society.

The more third world labor we import the more we look like the third world. Hence my tag line.

[jackbenimble]

We could just start annexing the provinces of Mexico and make them states!! Then they would have to pay taxes just like we do!

It is hard to wring money out of a rock and these places are dirt poor which is why the people are fleeing. We would be taking on a huge welfare burden and at a minimum all 100 million of those people would be collecting the Earned Income Tax Credit and food stamps just like they do in Puerto Rico.

West Germany tried this with East Germany and to-date the experment has been far from satisfactory.

[halfright]

Best comment I've heard all day....

Illegally coming over border, they get free medical treatment for life? While vets and other less fortunate in our own country go without??

50' wall from Brownsville to the Pacific Ocean and Maine to BC. Come over, under, around , or through that wall ILLEAGLLY and you are an invader.

Semper Fi