Who wants to keep workers undocumented?

Published: October 3, 2013

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily Sept. 29.

“Woe to the complacent in Arkansas! Lying on their king-size beds, comfortable couch potatoes, they eat barbecue and drink beer, but are not concerned about the injustices perpetrated against their fellow human beings. Therefore, they will be the first to be punished their life of leisure will come to an end!”

That’s basically what God is saying through the prophet Amos translated to today:

“Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches (king size beds) they eat lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall (barbecue) ... They drink wine from bowls ... yet are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! Therefore, they shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton revelry shall be done away with” — their life of leisure will come to an end.

And of course, the point of God’s message through Amos is the same as Jesus’ message in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus in today’s Gospel: open your eyes, your heart and your wallet to the needs of the poor and oppressed now, while there’s still time — because otherwise God will punish you in this world and in the next. If you ignore the poor at your doorstep: watch out, the tables will soon be turned. That’s a very strong message, but that’s what God is saying in our Scripture readings today.

We Americans benefit from the exploitation of others and not just people working in the sweatshops of China and India, but also right here in Arkansas. Many of you know that most undocumented immigrants are paid very poorly; for instance in some places those who work on the chicken farms. But many people have no other options and life was even worse in their country of origin and they do have to feed their families, so they endure this exploitation, and we benefit from this violation of their human rights when we buy that cheap chicken in the grocery store.

As you know, I have spoken out on many occasions regarding human rights of immigrants and the need to create a realistic system that reflects the economic and social realities that underlie most immigration.

Well, in our first reading today Amos reminds us that there is another element to the story that we almost never hear anything about, namely: the owners of some businesses like having 12 million workers whom they can exploit. They don’t want our restrictive immigration laws to be enforced because they need the workers, and they don’t want the law to be changed because then they would have to pay them more — and here American workers have a legitimate complaint: their wages are undercut by this cheap labor.

Comprehensive immigration reform would erase this disparity and thus benefit all workers, not just the immigrants. The mistreatment that undocumented immigrants suffer does harm to all of us. We are a single human family.

The next two Saturdays there will be two marches and rallies in support of comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship: in Rogers Oct. 5 and in Little Rock Oct. 12. Full details are in your bulletin this weekend — where to gather and at what time, etc., and I want to encourage you to come and participate — let your voice be heard!

We have an obligation before God to correct injustices and to be the voice for those who have no voice.

“Woe to the complacent in Arkansas! Lying on their king-sized beds, comfortable couch potatoes, they eat barbecue and drink beer, but are not concerned about the injustices perpetrated against their fellow human beings. Therefore, they will be the first to be punished, their life of leisure will come to an end!”

Audio files from Bishop Taylor’s homilies are regularly posted in English and Spanish on the diocesan website. Listen to them here.