STATEMENT by CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY
PARDON OF FORMER SHERIFF ARPAIO
I am deeply troubled and disgusted by President Trump's
pardon of Joe Arapaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona. The
former sheriff's tenure was marked by racial profiling, harassment of our
Latino brothers and sisters, and the disruption of immigrant communities.
He created fear and terror among so many immigrants, and not just in
Arizona. Children here in California
were afraid to go to school because of what they heard from Phoenix. He defied a court order to discontinue to round
up immigrants and to detain them in inhumane conditions.
Rather than upholding it, President
Trump's pardon flouts and undermines the rule of law. It also sends a dangerous
signal to law enforcement throughout the country that they, too, can ignore due
process and profile and harass persons of color, especially Latinos. This
pardon rekindles the fear and terror so rampant among our immigrant peoples. The police need good relationships with
immigrants, and our immigrants need an understanding and helpful police force
to protect them.
It is clear that the President and his administration is
intent on deporting as many immigrants as possible, regardless of their due
process rights and the equities they have built in our country. In line
with this goal, I am also troubled that the president may remove
protections from young immigrants who qualify for the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. I urge him to find the moral
courage to preserve the DACA program and to defend it rigorously in federal
court.
May all Catholics and people of good will raise
their voices and stand up for our immigrant brothers and sisters during
this difficult period in their lives and in the life of our country.
[August
28, 2017]
[This
Statement reflects only the personal views of Cardinal Mahony as Archbishop
Emeritus of Los Angeles]
