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.
And those laws include laws determining whether the person can be there in the first place.
He has certainly sinned, though his behavior upon ameliorating the immediate distress in which his family found itself would seem to determine the extent of that sin.
Of course, upon asking forgiveness for that sin, he would be commanded to sin no more.
Yes, indeed, immigrants are obliged to obey the laws of the countries they enter, just as all are obliged to obey the commandment and not to steal.
But just as the injunction not to steal is superseded by dire need in the case of the starving man or the man with a starving family, there are exceptional circumstances in immigration.
And that's what I was talking about:
“The illegal immigrant who comes to our country truly out of final desperation objectively breaks the law, but it may be that he does not sin.”
Certainly, the refugee from war who, to avoid death, crosses the international frontier between two states and enters illegally into a second state, objectively breaks the law of the second state. But I don't think most folks think that people in these circumstances have sinned, even though they may have been breaking the law of the land that they entered.
The question is whether or not the circumstances are sufficiently dire that objectively breaking the law becomes the final way one may preserve life and limb. Whether or not that is the case with any, or with a large number of illegal immigrants is beyond my knowledge. I'm only showing that Mr. Rubio is on the right track here:
“Hypothetically, if Marco Rubio were not an American citizen and could not provide food for his family, he says he would cross the border illegally to come to the United States.”
sitetest
Pope Benedict XVI:
At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity. “The challenge is to combine the welcome due to every human being, especially when in need, with a reckoning of what is necessary for both the local inhabitants and the new arrivals to live a dignified and peaceful life”