How Pope Francis is wrong about immigration

In his prepared remarks to Congress, Pope Francis says the following about immigration. How it's wrong will be described after the quote:

Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions. On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children? We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).

This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.

Much of that relies on the strawman argument that opposing massive or illegal immigration is based on animus towards immigrants and illegal aliens. He also engages in cheap emotionalism. He has to rely on those because he doesn't have anything else.

It's not just "thousands" that are coming north, but several millions. At one point, around 14% of Mexico's working age population lived in the U.S. That indicates a serious problem with Mexico, and one that certainly won't be fixed by just letting Mexicans move to the U.S. If water is flowing through your roof, you don't just stay up all night swapping in buckets: you figure out why the roof is leaking and solve the actual problem. The Pope's solution won't solve the problem, it will just make it worse.

Let's say the U.S. had elites who were even more corrupt than they are now, and we had an economic downturn as bad as the Great Depression. How would we want our neighbors to apply the Golden Rule? By just letting millions of Americans move to Canada or Mexico? That would probably be good for most of those Americans who could move to Canada, but what about everyone else?

Would that solve the problems in the U.S.? No it wouldn't, and if the U.S. elites wanted fewer mouths to feed it would enable those corrupt elites. Instead of being forced to come up with better policies, the elites would continue with policies that contributed to the problem in the first place.

What about those left behind, would it solve the problems they face? No, they'd continue to face the same problems that caused other Americans to go to Canada. In fact, all those people leaving would make it less likely that the problems would be solved: there would be fewer restive people in the U.S. that the elites had to take into account. Sure, Americans in Canada might send money home, but that's as much a replacement for real industry as candy is a replacement for real food. But, that money would provide an incentive for U.S. elites to keep allowing Americans to move to Canada. See remittances for more, and also note that U.S. elites are trying to profit from illegal immigration by taking a cut of those remittances; see Federal Reserve.

What about Canadians? Would they appreciate millions of Americans moving to their country and making it more American? Wouldn't all those Americans moving in illegally (and thus forced to do lower-skilled work) lower wages for lower-skilled Canadian workers? Would Canadians have the right to complain or would they just have to shut up and take it?

Imagine that it's winter and some Americans freeze trying to cross into Canada. Where's the Pope's compassion for them? Wouldn't those who encouraged Americans to cross into Canada illegally be like someone encouraging someone else to jump across a dangerous chasm? See false compassion for more on that aspect, as it relates to those religious leaders who in effect encourage Mexicans and others to cross the dangerous desert. The policies of those who encourage or enable illegal immigration - as Pope Francis does - lead to more border deaths, not fewer.

We should apply the Golden Rule to immigration. We should just do it correctly: by strictly enforcing our immigration laws in order to restore order. That's the only way to "respond as best we can to their situation" and ours.