A deacon from San Diego told his parishioners last week to deport voluntarily after the United States government revoked his resident status.
As reported, the deacon made the announcement at St. Jude Shrine of the West during the Masses of September 14. The local media They reported that the cleric arrived in the United States at age 13 and served the community of St. Jude for approximately four decades. According to reports, he will return to Tijuana, Mexico.
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Local reports did not identify the deacon. A diocesan representative told CNA that the news was precise, but the diocese said he could not identify the deacon and that he was handling the matter in private.
The representatives of the St. Jude parish did not answer the questions about the announcement.
Deacon’s self -export is announced in the middle of a wave of intensification of the application of immigration laws throughout the country, while the Trump administration works to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Catholic and Christian defenders have criticized the intensification of the application of the law. Before his death, Pope Francis declared in February the American bishops who, in the midst of deportations, the faithful “are called to consider the legitimacy of public norms and policies in the light of the dignity of the person and their fundamental rights, and not vice versa.”
Meanwhile, in spring, religious leaders, including the United States Catholic Bishop Conference and the National Evangelical Association, They regretted The possible impacts of mass deportations on Christian families in the United States.
“A significant part of immigrants who are part of our body are vulnerable to deportation, either because they have no legal status or because their legal protections could be withdrawn,” said leaders.
In some cases, priests have faced deportation or loss of their legal status due to changes in migratory norms.
In Texas, a Catholic priest born in Mexico, who served in the diocese of Laredo, Texas, for nine years, left the United States Last month because his residence application was denied and his visa as a religious worker was about to expire.
Catholic defenders have repeatedly warned that changes in the United States visa standards have caused an imminent crisis in which many priests based in the United States will be forced to leave their ministries, return to their countries of origin and remain there for long waiting times.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, he told Ewtn News In August that the Trump administration is “committed” to addressing that issue.
“We will have a plan to solve it,” Rubio said. The details of that plan have not yet been published.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne is a senior editor of Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.