What Is the Lesser of Two Evils? by Donna Sines

Many Catholics were probably shocked that Pope Francis encouraged his flock to choose the lesser of two evils in this November’s elections for president: Kamala Harris’s support of abortion versus Donald Trump’s cruelty to immigrants. From a Catholic perspective, what could be worse than abortion? What was the pope thinking? His reasoning may be more related to the long-term impact of cruelty to migrants and the inevitable potential for escalation to violence.

Case in point: cruelty coupled with racism is alive and well in Springfield, Ohio, a small town that welcomed Haitian immigrants to improve its economy and sustainability. Springfield had a declining population. It needed both employees and consumers to stimulate its economy. With the welcome mat out, Haitians legally resettled in Springfield, went to work, opened businesses, and sought to build a better life. The Haitian immigrants weren’t fleeing a potato famine or war but tyranny and poverty. This legal-migrant model is what every Republican claims to want of immigrants. The Haitian immigrants acclimated and were self-sufficient, law-abiding, contributing newcomers to the US.

Springfield’s Haitian people were leading quiet, productive lives until—without evidence, and on the national debate state with tens of millions of Americans tuned in—the former president accused them of eating household pets. It is unimaginable that a candidate for president would accuse a subset of European immigrants of eating cats and dogs. But black or brown Haitians are easy targets for Trump and his surrogates. With or without any thought for the implications, they continue to lie, perhaps to endear themselves to a racist fringe. When these accusations were rebuked, proven to be untrue by local officials, Trump doubled down and continued to disparage the Haitians, causing needless fear of a minority group of immigrants at the same time.

Life is no longer normal in the little town of Springfield. Bomb threats at city hall, government buildings, and schools have all been reported. Cruel memes keep the story front and center. In workplaces and schools, co-workers and children now question the newcomers. Is there anything crueler to do to an innocent group of people? Their American dream has become a nightmare, thanks to candidate Trump and the embrace of his entire party.

This is just a taste of the cruelty one might expect under a second Trump Administration. The former president promises to round up millions of immigrants for mass deportation, and has not ruled out the construction of deportation camps. When questioned during the debate about what this would look like and how it would be undertaken, he did not answer. Asked if he would order the military to imprison immigrants, he still gave no answer.

Immigration is a major campaign issue. The man who killed a bipartisan immigration bill does not describe those crossing the border as scared, desperate families and individuals fleeing poverty, gangs, war, and genocide. These same issues might have driven immigrants to escape to the United States for generations. All of us can trace our roots back to immigrants with one thing in common: hope. The US was proudly described as an immigrant nation. Instead, immigrants today are portrayed as the enemy, criminals, mental patients, rapists, murderers, terrorists, and dealers of fentanyl. According to Trump, they are responsible for increased crime and inflation, and they are taking “black jobs.” When debate moderators pushed back and reported that, according to FBI statistics, crime has been down over the past five years, Trump disagreed without any proof. Illegal immigrants are to be feared, certainly not embraced. Lies and fear can do a lot of damage.

There was a dark period in the not-so-distant past when an influential governmental leader blamed a group of people for all of society’s ills. They were dehumanized, rounded up, and put in camps. What followed was the ultimate cruelty. The most horrendous acts and crimes against humanity ended with the death of six million Jews.

During the Trump Administration, cruelly separating children from their parents was seen as an immigrant-deterrent strategy. Now, nearly a thousand kids remain separated from their parents because record-keeping was not a priority. When you dehumanize a people, cruelty is a predictable byproduct. What brutality will result in camps holding millions of scared, hopeless people thought to be America’s enemies? What is the lesser of two evils when you compare abortion to a potential immigrant holocaust?

The promise of a better life sits in New York Harbor. Lady Liberty is inscribed with the words Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. With conflicts, genocide, hunger, and poverty around the world, a new generation of immigrants is testing the American resolve. As Christians, are we the Good Samaritans, or are we something else?

The Haitian immigrants in Springfield are confused and the pope is telling Catholics to vote the lesser of two evils. How are you going to vote? ♦

Donna Sines is a lifelong Catholic who has over 34 years of experience in community building, working with organizations to put together effective collaboration and turn input into outcomes. She is a freelance writer, convener, facilitator, and consultant. She serves as CEO of Community Vision Consulting and currently resides in Florida. 

Image: Tom Coe / Unsplash