US Bishops’ New Immigration Chairman Ducks and Weaves on Critiques From Catholics

In November, Bishop Brendan Cahill was elected as the new chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) immigration committee, succeeding El Paso’s Bishop Mark Seitz.  U.S. bishops, ardent supporters of massive immigration for over the past twenty-five years, have been vocal opponents of President Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts. But a recent poll revealed that a majority of American Catholics — especially those most sacramentally active — support President Trump on immigration.

In an effort to help bridge the gap between the bishops and the faithful, the National Catholic Register recently conducted an interview with Bishop Cahill, asking him to respond to some common critiques of the bishops’ positions and messaging on immigration.  In the paragraphs below, we offer some of our own reactions to Bishop Cahill’s statements.

HUMAN DIGNITY: Cahill states that the “question of immigration follows the reality of the dignity of the human person, who receives value from God Who created us.”  The human dignity argument is a popular diversionary tactic frequently employed by U.S. bishops.  No one opposed to unfettered migration has argued that migrants lack human dignity.  But just because each person has inherent human dignity does not give them a license to violate U.S. immigration laws or avoid the consequences of being deported. Cahill fails to acknowledge the God-given dignity of U.S. citizens to be protected against an unregulated invasion of their nation.

DIALOG: Bishop Cahill states that “dialogue with any administration, regardless of party, is always important to the bishops.” Cahill went on to say that the bishops “have begun undertaking dialogue in various forms with this administration.”  But the reality on the ground says otherwise.  Tom Homan, President Trump’s Border Czar and a faithful Catholic, was asked this past week whether U.S. Bishops had reached out to him to discuss the immigration crisis.  “Absolutely not”, said Homan.  “I would love to sit down with them.”

SELECTIVE OUTRAGE: Bishop Cahill was asked “why the bishops are responding so forcefully now, when they did not speak out during the Biden administration’s non-enforcement of immigration laws?”  Cahill responded by stating “The bishops have spoken consistently on immigration across multiple administrations, Republican and Democratic alike.”  But the only time U.S. bishops raised immigration concerns during the Biden administration were during Biden’s feeble attempts to limit illegal immigration, such as the Remain In Mexico policy and restrictions placed on certain asylum seekers.  Where were the bishops’ concerns about Biden’s failure to secure our borders? Or why did the bishops fail to speak-out when Biden suspended DNA checks and criminal background checks for sponsors of unaccompanied minor childern? The reality is that bishops had NOTHING BUT PRAISE for Biden’s open borders policies, as evidenced by their following statements from the USCCB:

• USCCB Migration Chairman Welcomes Administration’s Actions to Rebuild Immigration System, Restore Due Process, and Recognize Human Dignity of Immigrants and Refugees
• USCCB Chairmen Affirm Administration’s Order Ensuring All Persons Included in Census and Apportionment
• Bishop Seitz Expresses Gratitude for U.S. Catholic Community’s Life-Saving Contributions to Refugee Resettlement
• As Legislative Stalemate on Immigration Reform Continues, Longtime Undocumented Residents and their Families Deserve Protection, says Bishop Seitz
• U.S. Bishops’ Migration Chairman Welcomes Administration’s Continued Commitment to Refugee Resettlement, Urges Congress to Maintain Bipartisan Support

In stark contrast, we have never witnessed a time in the history of our nation when Catholic Bishops have expressed so much vitriol towards an administration as in the case of their response to Trump’s enforcement of our immigration laws.  We can only conclude that bishops are seeking retribution for being cut-off from the over $3 billion in federal grants they received under the Biden administration to help facilitate the illegal invasion of our nation.

Is it any wonder that U.S. bishops have exactly ZERO credibility with faithful Catholics on the issue of immigration?
 

TAKE ACTION: Tell Bishops to Stop Enabling and Defending Illegal Immigration.