IMMIGRATION AND THE “NEXT AMERICA”: PERSPECTIVES FROM OUR HISTORY

Our political debate about immigration in America frustrates me. Often I think we are just talking around the edges of the real issues.

Both sides of this argument are inspired by a beautiful, patriotic idea of America’s history and values. But lately I’ve been starting to wonder: What America are we really talking about?

America is changing and it has been changing for a long time. The forces of globalization are changing our economy and forcing us to rethink the scope and purpose of our government. Threats from outside enemies are changing our sense of national sovereignty.

America is changing on the inside, too.

We have a legal structure that allows, and even pays for, the killing of babies in the womb. Our courts and legislatures are redefining the natural institutions of marriage and the family. We have an elite culture — in government, the media and academia — that is openly hostile to religious faith.

America is becoming a fundamentally different country. It is time for all of us to recognize this — no matter what our position is on the political issue of immigration.

We need to recognize that immigration is part of a larger set of questions about our national identity and destiny. What is America? What does it mean to be an American? Who are we as a people, and where are heading as a country? What will the “next America” look like?

As Catholics who are faithful citizens in America, we have to remember that there is more to the life of any nation than the demands of the moment in politics, economics and culture. We have to consider all of those demands and the debates about them in light of God’s plan for the nations.

That means we have to bring a Catholic faith perspective to this debate about immigration. When we understand immigration from this perspective, we can see that immigration is not a problem for America. It’s an opportunity.

Immigration is a key to our American renewal.

A SENSE OF AMERICA’S STORY

One of the problems we have today is that we have lost the sense of America’s national “story.”

The American story that most of us know is set in New England. It’s the story of the pilgrims and the ...