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Employment Slow to Rebound

Blurb

Many commentators assume that, because there are economic indicators that the “great recession” has ended, workers are back to work and our national and regional troubles are at end. Far from it. Nationally, we lost 8.7 million jobs in this recession, and subsequent job growth has reduced that by only a fifth, to 7 million jobs.1 Assuming national growth at the April 2011 level of 244,000 jobs a month, it would take almost two and a half years to erase that remaining job deficit and years more to reach full employment due to continuing population growth.

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Millions of Gulf South workers face still greater challenges

By Fred Kammer, S.J.

Catholic Social Thought and Unemployment

Blurb

With millions unemployed in this economy, it is important to understand how Catholic social thought considers unemployment. It is not just another “economic indicator.” Unemployment undermines a just society since work is at the heart of the social question.

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By Fred Kammer, S.J.

With millions unemployed in this economy, it is important to understand how Catholic social thought considers unemployment. It is not just another “economic indicator.” Unemployment undermines a just society since work is at the heart of the social question.

A Welcoming Church

Blurb

On August 25, 2008, the small town of Laurel, Mississippi was the site of the largest single workplace site raid in U.S. history. Early that morning hundreds of Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) agents swooped down on the Howard Industries plant in Laurel, which produces electric transformers, and began rounding up workers. Anyone who appeared to be of Hispanic origin was separated from other workers and escorted outside to a fenced yard. In the midst of such terror, a small Catholic church became the center of solace and assistance.

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Mississippi congregation reaches out after devastating immigration raid

By Sue Weishar, Ph.D.

U.S. Xenophobia and Racism - The Presence of the Past

Blurb

Current anti-immigrant sentiment, largely focused on the influx of Mexican and Latino newcomers—and the fact that Latinos, along with African Americans and Asian peoples, are projected to represent a majority of the U.S. population by 2042—decries the fact that, in the words of former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan “they are taking our country away from us.”1 The fear, bluntly stated, is that “they”—Mexicans and Latinos—will erode “our”—white European—power over U.S. identity. Buchanan articulates only the most recent U.S. American antiimmigrant animosity that finds deep roots in the nation’s history.

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By Dr. Alex Mikulich, JSRI Research Fellow

Capitol Comments: The Death Penalty is a Respect Life Issue!

Blurb

In a 2002 Pew Research-sponsored presentation at the University of Chicago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was asked if he thought the use of the death penalty would ever lead to the execution of an innocent person. His answer was “…of course it will. I mean, you cannot have any system of human justice that is going to be perfect.”

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By Andrew Rivas, J.D., Executive Director, Texas Catholic Conference, Member, JSRI Advisory Board

In a 2002 Pew Research-sponsored presentation at the University of Chicago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was asked if he thought the use of the death penalty would ever lead to the execution of an innocent person. His answer was “…of course it will. I mean, you cannot have any system of human justice that is going to be perfect.”

A More Humane System

Blurb

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security operates the largest detention system in the world.1 During FY 2010, almost 400,000 immigrants were detained in a patchwork of facilities—mostly penal institutions— in more than 300 locations run largely by county or state law enforcement authorities or private contractors with little direct federal oversight2—at a cost of $1.77 billion.3 Reports of abuse and neglect of immigrants in detention facilities across the country are numerous and disturbing.4

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Community-Based Alternatives to Immigration Detention (Part I)

By Dr. Sue Weishar, Migration Specialist

Child Poverty, Rural Poverty, and "Deep Poverty"

Blurb

The figures released in September by the U.S. Census Bureau from its 2009 American Community Survey give us multiple angles from which to view the poverty of the five states of the Gulf South. If we just look at the overall numbers of people living below “the poverty line”—a measure considered too low by many experts—we see figures1 reflected in this table with the overall U.S. and regional numbers.

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By the Rev. Fred Kammer, S.J.

The figures released in September by the U.S. Census Bureau from its 2009 American Community Survey give us multiple angles from which to view the poverty of the five states of the Gulf South. If we just look at the overall numbers of people living below “the poverty line”—a measure considered too low by many experts—we see figures1 reflected in this table with the overall U.S. and regional numbers.

It's Criminal! The Consequences of Mass Incarceration without Social Justice

Blurb

Americans tend to believe, as a matter of common sense, that sending men to prison prevents crime. Persons who are “behind bars” can’t commit crime. “Get tougher on crime” political rhetoric and legislation is often reinforced by the argument that “only if that recently released prisoner had not been freed, this particular crime would not occur.”

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By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.

Americans tend to believe, as a matter of common sense, that sending men to prison prevents crime. Persons who are “behind bars” can’t commit crime. “Get tougher on crime” political rhetoric and legislation is often reinforced by the argument that “only if that recently released prisoner had not been freed, this particular crime would not occur.”

Twenty-first Century Jungle: Displaced Workers in the New Transnational Economy

Blurb

“To lose a leg is not to lose one’s dreams,” Ms. Olga explained. We were visiting her clinic at the border of Guatemala and Mexico, where men and women convalesce after losing a limb in their attempts to hop a train north. Ms. Olga provides a glimmer of hope to those who might otherwise have lost everything, offering shelter from criminal gangs, corrupt authorities, and dangerous transport that afflict workers seeking the American dream.

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By Aaron Schneider

“To lose a leg is not to lose one’s dreams,” Ms. Olga explained. We were visiting her clinic at the border of Guatemala and Mexico, where men and women convalesce after losing a limb in their attempts to hop a train north. Ms. Olga provides a glimmer of hope to those who might otherwise have lost everything, offering shelter from criminal gangs, corrupt authorities, and dangerous transport that afflict workers seeking the American dream.

Immigrants as People, Not Files!

Blurb

Earlier this year, I participated on a panel of immigration attorneys speaking to law students about immigration law careers. One panelist recalled her final days of clerking at the immigration court located within the federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana. During a break in the docket, the immigration judge for whom she worked asked if she would be continuing her career with the government. The attorney responded that she did not think so and that during her clerkship it had been difficult to witness the deportation of families, the separation of children from parents, and husbands from wives. The judge thought for a moment and replied, “Yep, if you’re gonna think of ‘em as people, you can’t work for us. They’re files!” This article is not intended to impugn the integrity of immigration judges or others who do government work. I have met fine men and women who serve as judges or other immigration employees. However, this sentiment of immigrants being files or non-human or not like “us” is pervasive in the national immigration debate. It subtly, and at times not so subtly, influences our country’s attitudes and policies regarding immigrants.

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By Fr. Tom Greene, S.J.