USCCB welcomes Obama’s decision to defer immigrant deportations
November 21, 2014
The chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration has welcomed President Barack Obama’s decision to defer the threat of deportation of an estimated 4.7 million immigrants who are present in the nation illegally.
“Each day, the Catholic Church in the United States, in her social service agencies, hospitals, schools, and parishes, witnesses the human consequences of the separation of families, when parents are deported from their children or spouses from each other,” said Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle.
“We’ve been on record asking the Administration to do everything within its legitimate authority to bring relief and justice to our immigrant brothers and sisters,” he continued. “As pastors, we welcome any efforts within these limits that protect individuals and protect and reunite families and vulnerable children … I strongly urge Congress and the President to work together to enact permanent reforms to the nation’s immigration system for the best interests of the nation and the migrants who seek refuge here.”
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, the president of the bishops’ conference, said that “there is an urgent pastoral need for a more humane view of immigrants and a legal process that respects each person’s dignity, protects human rights, and upholds the rule of law.”
Quoting Pope Francis, the prelate added that “we ourselves need to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and refugees do not only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected, and loved.”
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Further information:
- USCCB Migration Chairman Welcomes Obama Administration Announcement Of Relief For Immigrant Families, USCCB President Cites Urgent Pastoral Need For A More Humane View Of Immigrants (USCCB)
- Obama unveils U.S. immigration reform, setting up fight with Republicans (Reuters)
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