Without doubt, Bishop Thomas Tobin's recent letter to immigration officials asking for the cessation of raids against illegal immigrants certainly raised some eyebrows.

It should not have. The church has always considered itself the voice of moral conscience. Whether it is to speak out against abortion or the death penalty, both practices sanctioned by law, prelates challenge the view that what is legal might not always be right. In this case, in effect, the Bishop is saying that what is illegal may not always be wrong.

Directing his attention to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, the Bishop further calls on the agents involved in rounding up illegal immigrants to evaluate their own activities and to consider refusing to do their job. The bottom line to his directive is to present to the law enforcement officials the notion that their legal action in following the implementation of the law is morally bankrupt. Here's where the Bishop does overstep and rightly should be criticized.

Every country has the right to protect its borders. Theoretically, a country that would be overrun by population surges would soon lose its own national identity. One has only to look at ancient Rome to see how its far-flung empire led to its demise when the Romans could not forge an identity given the language and cultural divide of its "citizens." ICE officials, therefore, are performing an honorable task and should not be scolded for doing their respective duties.

Immigration laws are designed to protect families that come legally, hence relatives have a one upmanship on the list to come to the U.S. There is a moral issue where people who do the right thing by seeking entrance based on law are denied a visa because the amount of illegal people have to be counted to keep the absorption rate. While somebody may scoff at the "absorption" argument, it is anything but a laughing matter. Dropouts from school, particularly minorities, cannot find employment even at minimum wage. Employers would rather hire illegals since they pay below minimum wage, don't pay taxes or workers comp for workers and can generally intimidate the work force by threatening deportation unless the workers kowtow to 12-to-14-hour days without overtime. In sum, the U.S. citizen who is black or Hispanic who is here legally gets shafted since he cannot get even a low-paying job. Meanwhile, they and their families become public charges since they are unemployable, which should have been an avoidable burden for taxpayers.

Another moral dilemma is the inherent slavery system, which exploits illegal immigrants. The Bishop fears calling for the enforcement of the laws against employers since he doesn't want the illegal immigrant out of a job. By this silence, however, the Bishop in effect condones a system which by its nature oppresses the poor as surely as the days of slavery in the United States with poor wages and working conditions and curbs on freedom because of inherent coercion.

There also is another "strange silence" among the clergy. Bishops should be speaking out against the foreign policies of this country that exploit people on foreign turf. In Mexico, for example, using the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. agribusiness displaced 2 million independent Mexican farmers across the border by underselling them. After impoverishing these workers, the U.S. businesses took over their land and rehired the original farmers at far less pay then that which they were making when they owned their property. Rather than have people flock here for the American dream, bishops should be advocating for policies that allow the "American dream" to occur on foreign soil because of just trade agreements. Focusing on only what happens in the United States is incredibly short-sighted.

The bottom line is that most illegals working here are exploited and have become the new slaves. As long as enforcement against employers is winked at, the apartheid continues. The bigger picture is to enforce the law, insist on legal immigration where foreigners have rights against recalcitrant employers since they are legally in the country, and fight for foreign policies that lift the tide of economic development for everybody. At least the ICE officials are standing for these predicates. They are taking a moral stand as it is and should not be upbraided.

- Violet is an attorney and former state attorney general.