Yet, the bishops' argument suggests a conundrum. Citing the post-9/11 terror threat, the bishops call for "thorough checks" of border crossers. "Certain security actions are a necessary response to credible terrorist threats, such as improved intelligence sharing and screening, enhanced visa and passport security, and thorough checks at the United States-Mexico border," they wrote.
Then, however, they criticized U.S. "border-blockade initiatives" that, with the "tripling of Border Patrol agents," "reinforced fencing" and other resources, have largely curtailed illegal entry into the United States along certain sections of border. "Rather than significantly reducing illegal crossings, the initiatives have instead driven migrants into remote and dangerous areas of the Southwest region of the United States, leading to an alarming number of migrant deaths," say the bishops.
So, here is the moral dilemma: On the one hand, if we leave the border open and fail to do "thorough checks" on the masses crossing illegally, we leave our country open to terrorists who could murder many thousands of people. On the other hand, if we block only certain sections of the border, we direct illegal alien traffic toward other sections, where their lives may be at risk.
How can we optimize both the security of our country and the safety of would-be illegal immigrants to the United States?
We can do something that may be politically incorrect, but that occupies high moral ground: blockade the entire border. Build a double border fence all the way from San Ysidro to Brownsville, and patrol it well. Where geography prevents construction of a physical fence, deploy other resources in sufficient number to shut down illegal crossings.
Surely, a nation that can build cruise missiles and stealth planes can master the old-fashioned civil engineering to build -- not a wall -- but a very good fence between nations that ought to be very good neighbors (President Fox's and Secretary Derbez's absurd rhetoric notwithstanding).
Then, when our border is secure, we can have a national debate about crafting new immigration rules that can be enforced with all the vigor just laws deserve.