This morning (Jan. 14) I had breakfast with Archbishop Jose Gomez at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.  The breakfast was organized by Town Hall Los Angeles. www.townhall-la.org. The Archbishop was there to speak of his support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. I was invited to this breakfast by some of my friends from the Black American Leadership Alliance.

Photo: Dr. Herbert Baker is far left. I don’t know the young lady’s name. In the center is the Archbishop, Jose Gomez. I’m to the right of the Archbishop and then far right is James Spencer. Except for the Archbishop, the rest of us went on the bus trip to DC last summer for an anti-amnesty rally.

The Archbishop began by saying we are a land of immigrants, all of us are immigrants, including himself. He said he was born in Monterrey, Mexico and has been a citizen for the last 20 years. And we are also a country of laws and that there needs to be a compromise between the two. The children of “undocumented citizens” should not be held responsible for their parents’ actions. Twelve million are here illegally and are being denied basic human rights. I wondered what basic human rights he thought they were being denied. We provide them with free healthcare, school for their children, fire and police protection. If they have a child born here, they get section 8 housing, aid to dependent children, WIC, discounts on utilities, in-state tuition, etc.

Basically, the Archbishop gave the same Progressive reasons we should grant amnesty to “undocumented citizens.” Although he mentioned several times he believed in the rule of law, he had no serious solution to address the numerous laws being broken by illegal aliens living and working in America. I also wondered how his public support of an obviously political issue didn’t violate his tax exempt status.

The title of the Archbishop’s talk was, “Immigration and the Next America”.  He said, “Immigration is about more than immigration. It’s about renewing the soul of America.”  Apparently he believes the “Next America” is a third world Latin American country.  I believe the “soul” of America is the Constitution and the rule of law.

When Archbishop Gomez finished his speech and opened the floor to questions, I suspected this room of well-dressed people would be in support of his opinion. I was pleasantly surprised. There were people who voiced their support but the majority of the questions were respectfully in opposition. One person asked how we’d stop further illegal immigration if we granted amnesty again.  Dr. Baker of our group asked the Archbishop what he’d do about the Black communities who have such high unemployment due to illegal immigration and reminded him that Blacks have been pushed out of their neighborhoods by illegal immigrants.

Another person reminded the Archbishop that unemployment was higher than any time since the Depression.  Someone asked where the Archbishop got the twelve million figure. He replied that he was quoting a newspaper.

I thanked the Archbishop for coming this morning and then corrected him. I told him we are not all immigrants. I said Blacks didn’t immigrate legally or illegally. They were brought to this country against their will and were being harmed the most by illegal immigration. I thought we owed them jobs before illegal immigrants. I said California runs a $13 billion deficit yearly which is coincidently the exact amount illegal immigration costs California taxpayers every year. I asked the Archbishop how he justified giving our most precious gift, Citizenship, to people who have demonstrated a disrespect for our laws, our culture, our language and our flag.

He gave me a standard Progressive reply about balancing compassion with the rule of law. I have always been intimidated by people in positions of authority. Five years ago I would never have contradicted someone in his position. I’ve come a long way, baby.

James Spencer from our group had the last question. He reminded the Archbishop that the 1986 Amnesty bill was passed because we were promised there would never be another one. There were only 3 million then. He told the Archbishop he was a Catholic, educatedin Catholic schools and even attended the seminary for a few years. He said the Catholic Church also had laws. He  wanted a better life for his family, too, so maybe he should move into the Vatican. Everyone laughed. James said if he tried it they would stop him because they have laws, too. I thought that was a perfect end to the event.

Editor’s note: Churches were promoting this event. Example http://stjamesparish.org/Bulletin/documents/1-12-14.pdf  (page 6)

__________________________________