A coalition of 20 American Catholic bishops and religious leaders of other confessions has signed a letter urging legislators to vote against a budget bill, due to the provisions to increase the financing of the application of the immigration law.
“From our diverse perspectives of faith, the moral proof of a nation is how those who need support most,” says the letter. “In our opinion, this legislation will harm the poor and vulnerable of our nation, to the detriment of the common good.”
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Among the signatories of the letter are Cardinal Robert Mcelroy of the Archdiocese of Washington DC, and Cl Cardenal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. Bishop John Dolan de Phoenix, Archbishop Paul Etienne de Seattle, Archbishop Mitchell Rosconski of St. Louis and Bishop Jaime Soto de Sacramento, California, also signed. California.
In addition to the bishops, other signatories of the letter include the leadership team of the sisters of the mercy of the Americas. Some Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Muslims and Jewish religious leaders also signed the letter.
“Our faith organizations have long favored the creation of legal means for migration and a legalization program for immigrants who have lived in the United States for years and have contributed their hard work to our economy,” says the letter. “We believe that the adoption of these policies, instead of the implementation of a mass deportation campaign, would not only benefit immigrant workers and their families, but would be the best thing for our nation.”
The Budget Reconciliation Law, called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”(A large and beautiful bill), includes an increase in funds for the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) and the Customs Office and Border Protection. The proposal includes money for deportations, hiring more ICE agents and the border patrol, the construction of a border wall and several other measures of application of the immigration law.
An earlier version of the bill would have penalized the states for offering medical benefits to immigrants found in the country illegally, but this was eliminated from the current version of the Senate that is in consideration. Other changes proposed to Medicaid, including work requirements for suitable beneficiaries, remain in the proposal.
“We believe that the changes made by the United States Senate to legislation are insufficient and do not significantly mitigate their adverse effects,” says the letter.
The letter criticized the financing for “a mass deportation campaign”, which, according to them, “will separate American families, will harm US and immigrants citizen children and sow chaos in local communities.” He warned about “migratory raids throughout the country”, which, according to the authors, would harm “workers immigrant families essential for our economy.”
According to the letter, the increase in funds could also harm the communities of faith. The authors pointed out that the Government “has eliminated the places of worship of their list of sensitive locations, allowing ICE agents to enter them for the purpose of application of the law.”
“We have already witnessed a reduction in assistance to many of our religious services in our denominations, since the threat of the application of the law has deterred many families to practice their faith,” he attests to the letter.
In addition, the letter expressed concern for the border wall proposed between the United States and Mexico, which, according to the authors, “will push migrants to the most remote regions of the border and cause an increase in migrant deaths. It would also harm the local environment along the border and force desperate asylum seekers who seek security to depend more and more dependent on people.”
The authors of the Charter also criticized the reforms proposed to the Medicaid and Food Assistance programs, saying that they would harm “low -income citizens and legal residents, including asylum applicants and refugees, bringing them to greater poverty”.
Andrew Arthur, former immigration and current member of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), criticized the interreligious letter in an interview with CNA, Ewtn News English agency. He said the letter supports the “amnesty” for immigrants in the country illegally.
CIS defines itself as a “pro-immigrant, but low immigration” studies center. The group is aligned with many of the migratory policies of US President Donald Trump.
“They do not want any application of the immigration law because they want to legalize the status of all those in the country illegally,” said Arthur, who is Catholic, to CNA.
Arthur also was skeptical of the suggestion of migratory raids in places of worship, saying: “They never refer to any real action of application of the law that has taken place in Catholic churches.” He said that it is possible that a dangerous criminal can be the objective of an action in a church, but that “it is not as if they were going to sweep the Sunday Mass looking for people.”
On the issue of the border wall, Arthur said that a barrier “would deter people from entering the United States.” He pointed out the high rates of migrants who already hire traffickers, saying that “they put their lives and security in the hands of criminals”, and that a border wall makes it “less likely that people come” illegally by this method or any other.
Chad Pecknold, professor of theology at Catholic University of America, also expressed his dissatisfaction with the letter, noting that he does not mention the teaching of the catechism that a country has the right to regulate its borders.
“The broad and ecumenical religious statements that oppose the policies of a democratically elected government are curious things,” said Pecknold. “The authors are clearly aligned with a political party and not with another. They make spurious statements about how the bill will separate families, and seem to completely ignore that nations have the right to defend their borders and the duty to enforce their laws.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Tyler Arnold
Tyler Arnold is a reporter of the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has published in various media, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative and The Federalist.