Statement
of Roger Cardinal Mahony
Archbishop
Emeritus of Los Angeles
on
RECENT ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
April
12, 2018
As
archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, with the largest
immigrant population of any metropolitan area, I strongly oppose recent actions
announced by the Trump administration to target our immigrant brothers and
sisters with new enforcement initiatives that undermine the due process of law
and sow fear within immigrant families and immigrant communities.
This
fear was illustrated on Easter Sunday when two teachers told me after Mass that
increasingly young boys and girls just start crying during class. The reason?
They are terrified that when they return home either their mother or
father will be gone. How can we do this
to innocent children?
In
the FY 2018 omnibus budget bill recently passed, the administration failed to
win funding for additional border patrol and ICE agents, detention beds, and
for the construction of a new border wall.
These funding decisions represented the will of Congress and the
majority of the American public, as a majority of US citizens oppose mass
deportation schemes and a 2,000-mile wall along our southern border.
Regardless,
the administration has announced new steps to militarize the border and to
remove due process protections from asylum-seekers searching for protection in
our nation, including the use of National Guard troops at the border, the
detention of all asylum-seekers until their court hearing, and annual quotas
for cases for immigration judges.
Moreover,
the administration is intending to introduce legislation to remove protections
from unaccompanied alien children arriving at our border and otherwise restrict
asylum-seekers in their ability to win asylum protection. And, of course, the administration continues
to pursue an ill-advised border wall, which will drive desperate migrants into
remote portions of the desert and possibly to their deaths.
Taken
together, these steps could severely weaken our standing as a safe haven for
the world’s persecuted and a nation based upon fairness and the due process of
law.
This
is in addition to the administration’s ending of the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrival (DACA) program, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for numerous
at-risk populations, and weakening of the US refugee programs, among other
initiatives. It is clear that this
administration is pursuing a war on immigrants, both the undocumented and legal
immigrants.
Enough
is enough. Catholics and all Americans
of good will should stand up against these policies as contrary to America’s
values and interests. We should not be
transformed from a welcoming society, which has benefited our nation for
centuries, to one which is intolerant and hostile to those seeking protection
and a better life in our nation. This is
not the American way.
In
his recent Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et
Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), Pope Francis teaches us that being open to
and welcoming migrants is a path toward holiness. He also states that migration is not a
secondary issue but should be a primary concern for Catholics and others who
seek holiness.
Along
with many of my fellow brother bishops, I call upon Catholics and all who
cherish our nation’s immigrant heritage to oppose these draconian immigration
policies and to stand against rhetoric which dehumanizes our immigrant brothers
and sisters.
In
the Gospel of Matthew, Christ teaches us to “welcome the stranger,” as in the
face of the migrant we see the face of Christ.
We are at a pivotal point in our country’s history, where we can follow
the call of Christ or remain silent and complicit in policies which cause
suffering among our fellow human beings.
Let
us work together with all religious groups to proclaim the truth that
immigrants and refugees who arrive in our nation are not criminals, but are
contributors to our great country, and, like all Americans, are drawn to the
values we all share: liberty, justice,
and the pursuit of happiness.