US bishops criticize Trump’s executive orders on climate, death penalty and immigration

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Wednesday criticized some of President Donald Trump’s initial executive orders on key issues, including immigration and capital punishment, warning that it could be done harm to “the most vulnerable among us.”

Upon taking office on Monday, Trump signed a series of executive orders that included tough restrictions on immigration, a directive in favor of the death penalty, withdrawal from a key global climate pact and an order that affirms the reality of biological sex.

USCCB President Bishop Timothy Broglio said in a statement Wednesday that he disagreed with some of the orders, calling them “deeply troubling.”

“Some provisions contained in the executive orders, such as those focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, the expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm to the most vulnerable among us,” wrote Bishop Broglio.

Regarding the executive order on biological sex, Bishop Broglio agreed with Trump.

“Other provisions of the executive orders can be seen in a more positive light, such as the recognition of the truth about each human person as a man or woman,” said Bishop Broglio.

Bishop Broglio emphasized that neither the Catholic Church nor the USCCB are aligned with “any political party.” The teachings of the Church “remain unchanged” regardless of political leadership, he said.

The prelate pointed to the Jubilee Year of 2025 and said the American bishops prayed that “as a nation blessed with many gifts, our actions demonstrate genuine care for our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, including the unborn, the poor, the elderly and sick, and migrants and refugees.”

“We are hopeful that the leaders of our country will reconsider those actions that ignore not only the human dignity of a few, but of all of us,” the archbishop said.

The USCCB said it would post more information about the executive orders on its website.

Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement It represented the second time that the president withdrew the country from the global environmental pact; the first time it withdrew from the agreement was in 2020. Then-President Joe Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021.

Trump’s order in favor of the death penalty was largely seen as a rebuke to Biden’s previous policies on the death penalty, including a 2021 moratorium on federal executionsas well as Biden’s commutation of the death sentences of 37 federal death row inmates in December 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump’s immigration orders were the culmination of several years of political promises to crack down on illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border. The president has promised to implement major deportations of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.