by Fr. Evan Winter
Hispanic Ministry
Pastor, St. John in Minden and Holy Family in Heartwell
This column is not about immigration.
Over the last few years, I have heard the stories of several illegal immigrants. People don’t just wake up and decide, “I’m going to move to the United States, and I don’t care what the law says.”
It takes a lot to work someone up to the point where they decide to sneak across an empty desert, get smuggled in with cargo, or invest in enough real and fake identification to get into this country and then overstay their welcome. They are often driven to make such a decision because of poverty or violence back home.
If I had a bunch of kids and no job, or if I were afraid that those I loved were likely to fall victim to gang or cartel violence, I’d be tempted to take desperate measures too! To these immigrants, it’s worth it to make the dangerous journey and then to be taken advantage of in the United States, just to get away from all that and to make a new start.
So, if this column isn’t about immigration, what’s it about?
When illegal immigrants come to me with their problems, they don’t usually want to talk so much about the poverty or the violence back home, or the hardships of the journey here. There’s often another suffering that burdens these people. It’s one that isn’t going to be fixed by simply relocating to another country, even if everything is done legally and smoothly.
When these people talk about what really weighs them down, they talk about the wounds that result from breaches of the sixth and ninth commandments. They talk about the times when someone they love sinned against marriage. Absent fathers, promiscuous mothers, wayward children, deviant relatives, unfaithful spouses, unfaithful selves: these things cause as much suffering, if not more, than the violence and poverty that these people are fleeing. And they carry these wounds wherever they go.
These issues aren’t unique to the Hispanic community, or the illegal immigrant community. These are problems in every country, and have the potential to cause suffering in any culture. But it is striking that, among people moving for reasons of poverty and violence, these pains are mentioned so often.
Sin isn’t always about who gets hurt. Who “gets hurt” by idolatry, the greatest of all sins? But sometimes sin is about who gets hurt. And isn’t it interesting that the very sins that the world most frantically wants to do away with—the sins against marriage—are exactly the ones that, in the immigrant experience, have very clear victims?
If you doubt the wisdom of the sixth and ninth commandments, I’ve got some immigrants for you to talk to. Talk to the smart immigrant with a grade-school education because her single mother didn’t make enough money for more schooling than that. Talk to the emotionally handicapped immigrant who was lonely half the year because his mother was too busy with other men to care and their father lived hours away.
Talk to the overwhelmed immigrant left to take care of four or five kids because her spouse left. Talk to the ashamed and regretful immigrant who feels this way because the kids they left now want nothing to do with them.
“Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery” and “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” exist to protect us from ourselves. And the relatively robust social services that exist in the USA aren’t a replacement for these two commandments. They just spread out the harm these sins cause among the social worker, the teacher, the therapist, the priest, and the taxpayer.
But there’s hope! The “other side” of this migrant experience is, in many ways, a bright one. Many of these same illegal immigrants, whether they are victims of these sins, causes of these sufferings, or both, don’t stop there. Instead, they know that God is able and willing to heal and to forgive. Experiences of healing and of deep personal prayer don’t necessarily make everything perfect, but they do bring people peace, joy, and love of their neighbors.
Repentance and the Sacrament of Confession can make even the most ashamed sinner into a happy saint. The process of seeking a declaration of nullity can (if it is successful) free someone from some spiritual elements of problematic previous relationships in order to build new, holier families. I’ve seen all these things happen, but the drama is extra special among the migrants. If you or someone you know is suffering in any of these ways, or guilty of any of these sins, reach out to your pastor! Whether you’re an illegal immigrant, a green card holder, a permanent resident, or a full citizen, come to the happiness and peace that a life with the Lord provides!
