The Catholic bishops of Florida had asked for a breather during the holidays. ‘Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families,’ Archbishop Thomas Wenski said.
By Catholics for Catholics
Despite an appeal by the Catholic bishops of Florida, the White House said it will continue to enforce immigration policies throughout the Christmas holidays.
The appeal to hold a pause on immigration enforcement to President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was sent by Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, and signed by seven other members of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, according to Fox News.
“The border has been secured,” Wenski wrote. “The initial work of identifying and removing dangerous criminals has been accomplished to a great degree. Over half a million people have been deported this year, and nearly two million more have voluntarily self-deported.”
“At this point, the maximum enforcement approach of treating irregular immigrants en masse means that now many of these arrest operations inevitably sweep up numbers of people who are not criminals but just here to work,” he continued. “It should be noted that a significant majority of those detained in Alligator Alcatraz have no criminal background.”
Though the White House did not directly tackle the plea for a Christmas breather, it did say that enforcement activities would be ongoing.
“President Trump was elected based on his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens. And he’s keeping that promise,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Wenski remarked that immigrant raids sometimes include people with legal authorization to be in the U.S. and that surveys show Americans believe immigration sweeps are just too much.
“Eventually these cases may be resolved, but this takes many months causing great sorrow for their families … A climate of fear and anxiety is infecting not only the irregular migrants but also family members and neighbors who are legally in the country,” Wenski said.
“Since these effects are part of enforcement operations, we request that the government pause apprehension and round-up activities during the Christmas season,” Wenski said. “Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families. Now is not the time to be callous toward the suffering caused by immigration enforcement.”
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
