NEW YORK – Facing what he calls the “chilling and frightening reality” of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States, Cardinal Roger Mahony is encouraging America’s Catholic bishops to raise their voices.

“The pending ominous initiative to round up and deport some eleven million undocumented immigrants across the country is a chilling and frightening reality,” Mahony, the archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles, told Crux, noting the impact deportation policies will have on mixed families in the United States – those where some family members are citizens and others undocumented.

“Devastating repercussions will occur with a massive deportation assault,” he said. “Family disruptions will become our reality, and family members may be separated for even years.”

What follows is Crux’s conversation with Mahony, which includes his perspective on how bishops nationwide should respond. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Crux: As a native Angeleno who eventually became Archbishop of Los Angeles, you’ve spent most of your life in the City of Angels. Are there similarities between the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies you see today, and what you’ve seen in Los Angeles over the years?

Mahony: Sadly, this intense focus on immigrants as the cause of so many woes in our society is nothing new here in California.

Go back to 1858 when the California Chinese Exclusion Act was implemented across the State.  A similar Federal law was enacted in 1882. … In the 1930s, laws were passed in California that forbade Filipino immigrants from marrying except with another Filipino.

In 1994 Governor Pete Wilson fostered many anti-immigrant proposals following the recession of 1993.

I recall vividly when Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. sponsored in the 109th Congress H.R. 4437 that would inaugurate herculean measures to search for, apprehend, and deport undocumented immigrants back in 2006. The bill passed the U.S. House on December 16, 2005 [239 to 182]. What made this bill so frightening was that it specifically made aiding any undocumented immigrant either a misdemeanor or felony. For us in the Church, the broad interpretation included all and any aid or assistance.

So even suggesting that offering them the Sacraments of the Church, or including them in any spiritual or pastoral program, could be construed as a misdemeanor or felony. It was even suggested that giving Holy Communion to an immigrant could be deemed a misdemeanor with penalties for the priest or minister.

How did you respond to H.R. 4437 after it was enacted in 2006?

At a special Mass in our Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in 2006 I publicly declared that none of our parishes, schools, institutions, or clergy and lay personnel would abide by the provisions of H.R. 4437.

I urged that our refusal to participate was based on our Gospel duty to see the image of God in each and every person, and to refuse to participate in any public effort to denigrate that dignity through punitive measures: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me [Matthew 25:35-36]’.

Since so much opposition was growing in 2006 against such overtly punitive measures, many of us in Los Angeles organized the largest pro-immigrant March in the history of the country.  Some 500,000 marched peacefully on March 26, 2006, in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who were being threatened.

As you know, anti-immigrant policies have become more commonplace across the country in recent years, as has anti-immigrant rhetoric. In your opinion, how should American bishops respond?

If today I were an active Arch/Bishop of an Arch/Diocese, I would not hesitate to raise my voice and invite our Catholic Community to join me in understanding the role of the Church in government efforts to consider certain principles:

  • The role of the United States government is to control our borders, and in harmony with Federal laws, to expel convicted criminal immigrants back to their country of origin.
  • The role of the Church is to provide spiritual and pastoral ministries to all our people, regardless of immigration status. The Church is not an instrument of the government to provide information to government officials concerning the immigration status of our parishioners.
  • The Church does not have, nor does it retain, the immigration status of anyone who comes for spiritual and pastoral assistance.
  • The Church will not reveal any records concerning parishioners’ private information such as place of residence and other personal information.
  • The Church will remain vigilant if it appears that Border Patrol or other immigration authorities are making themselves present near our Churches and other Church program facilities. Since the Church has many parishes serving particular immigrant groups, the Church must object if unwarranted intimidation appears.
  • Family unity is a key component of our ministry to all people, including immigrant families. We must object to threats towards family unity.
  • The Arch/Diocese welcomes collaboration with civil and other organizations which exist to promote family unity, the legal rights of all peoples, and combined efforts to create a comprehensive immigration reform to end the many piecemeal efforts to control illegal immigration.

The Catholic Church has always been a faithful member of society, but it has not hesitated to raise our voice when the least among us are singled out for undue treatment under the principles of Jesus and the Gospels and our tradition of standing with the most vulnerable in our midst.