Separate that family but not this one

On Monday, the Archdiocese of Atlanta called on the Obama administration to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Speaking on behalf of one million Georgia Catholics, Archbishop Wilton Gregory lauded the administration for issuing work permits  and deportation reprieves to illegal immigrants.  However, the Archbishop wants more. He used familiar arguments about keeping families together as his main reason to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Archbishop Gregory's website page states, “we find it unacceptable that children are separated from their parents and families or begin each morning wondering if this is the last day they will see their mother or father or siblings.”

It is ironic that the Archbishop is so concerned about illegal alien family separations.  Archbishop Gregory wants to protect those that cross America's borders or overstay their visas in violation of our nation's immigration laws. But to focus on one side of an argument and not address the other is simplistic. The inconvenient truth that the Archdiocese doesn't mention is that the crime of illegal immigration separates families—not U.S. federal immigration laws.

One especially poignant case that demonstrates the need to enforce immigration law is Dustin Inman's. Dustin was a 16-year old killed by an illegal alien drunk driver on Father’s Day weekend in 2000. Twelve years later, his family is still trying to bring the illegal alien perpetrator to justice.  I wonder too what the Archdiocese would say about Felix Dominguez Ortega, another illegal alien from Mexico? In August 2011, Ortega killed two Georgia teens while driving intoxicated at over 70 MPH. A third case is that of convicted sex offender, Ricardo Martinez-Gomez who re-entered the the United States from Mexico after being deported three times. Martinez-Gomez's most recent conviction came when he sexually abused a child under 11 years old. He was sentenced on December 1^st in the US District Court in Albany, GA.

Family separation is just one of the many unpersuasive arguments illegal immigration advocates use to defend aliens' behavior. The Archbishop argues against family separation but ignores the plight of families whose loved ones have been killed or whose lives have been forever altered by criminal aliens.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta must exude the same empathy for illegal aliens' true victims as he does for immigration law violators. Within its own Atlanta backyard, the Archdiocese ignores evidence that its illegal immigration advocacy is harmful and irresponsible.