Illegal immigration Archives

Bishop warns of ‘dumbed-down Gospel’ behind anti-immigrant stance
- Catholic News Service, Church in the US
- August 12, 2017
In an effort to deport more people than President Obama did, the Trump administration is focusing on immigrants who follow the rules and show up to their meeting with ICE to tell them their whereabouts. Criminals and people who pose a danger to society are too difficult to find so they are a lower priority.
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Supporters of young migrants ask for DACA protection at Washington rally
- Catholic News Service, Church in the US
- August 5, 2017
DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is under attack this summer as people enrolled in it wait with anticipation and fear to see what President Trump will decide to do with it. He campaigned on ending it, but has wavered somewhat on that stance.
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Judge blocks deportation of Chaldeans and other Iraqis
- Church in the US, Religion News Service
- June 25, 2017
Clarence Dass, an attorney representing many Iraqi Christians the U.S. government wants deported deported, said he was “ecstatic” over a court decision delaying the order. “When your life is on the line, each day is a victory. And in this case, 14 days,” Dass said. “We now have the breathing room to ensure that every individual detained has the proper motions filed and, ultimately, a chance to be heard. The work continues.”
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Archdiocese tells workers to ask ICE agents for warrants

Catholic churches across the United States have bee trying to decide upon the best course of action in protecting their parishioners who may fall into the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. In Albuquerque, for example, employees of the diocese have been given specific instructions on what to do in a raid.

Don’t send a mother who fled drug cartels back to Mexico, archdiocese pleads

The Cincinnati archdiocese called Maribel Trujillo-Diaz’s detention “cruel and unacceptable,” praising her as “a devoted wife and mother and outstanding member of her church and community. Her lawyer says she is the only person who can care for her 3-year-old disabled child, having received medical training to detect and treat seizures. Another of her children suffers from early-onset diabetes.

Claiming ‘sanctuary’ in the current immigration climate

Kevin Appleby, director at the Center for Migration Studies of New York, says that ultimately, law enforcement has the right to detain and deport a person, and if they have probable cause that someone’s in the church that they need to apprehend, they can step on to its property and do so. The term “sanctuary” has to be clarified so all parties know what it can provide, and what it can’t.