On immigration, the US bishops see only one side

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 19, 2025

Looking at the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce US immigration laws, and the sometimes violent reactions, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, speaking as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) perceives “a profound social crisis before which no person of good will can remain silent.”

Well, we can all agree that the immigration problem has attained the proportions of a crisis. But why is the USCCB speaking out now? The problem has been evident for many years. Our bishops did not see it as a “profound social crisis” when hundreds of thousands of unvetted immigrants were pouring unchecked across our southern border, and hundreds of unaccompanied children were disappearing. No, at that time, when the border was most porous, the USCCB and Catholic Charities and dozens of local Catholic organizations were taking in millions of dollars in government contracts to “resettle” the immigrants. They were too busy then to complain about the evident flaws of the immigration system.

But now that public protests have become organized—and in more than a few cases have become violent—Archbishop Broglio informs us that the immigration system is dysfunctional. Moreover, he tells us:

The many actions of protest throughout the country reflect the moral sentiments of many Americans that enforcement alone cannot be the solution to addressing our nation’s immigration challenges.

True. For several decades now, politicians of all stripes have agreed that the American immigration system should be reformed. Our country is affluent, with room for more citizens, and historically the US has been extraordinarily generous toward newcomers. Nevertheless, the number of people who want to come live in the US greatly exceeds the number that we feel we can reasonably accommodate. We can and should have a sober national discussion about how many immigrants we should accept, what standards we should set, what demands we should make on those who want to become Americans.

But before that argument can even begin, we must attain control of our own borders. It doesn’t matter at all what our immigration laws say, if those laws are routinely flouted. It doesn’t matter how many legal immigrants we will accept, if illegal immigrants stream across the border with impunity.

So while Archbishop Broglio is right to say that enforcement is not the ultimate solution to the immigration crisis, nevertheless enforcement is a necessary first step toward any solution. First stop the flood of illegal immigration; then decide how best to manage the flow of legal immigration.

Archbishop Broglio laments the “chronic lack of opportunities for legal status for our immigrant brothers and sisters.” Here he is clearly referring to immigrants who have not achieved legal status—in other words, immigrants who are currently in the US illegally. He thus lends weight to the complaint made by the Trump administration: that Catholic agencies have encouraged people to enter the US without proper authorization, and work out the legal details once they are—illegally—here.

The USCCB president resents “unfounded accusations against Catholic service providers, who every day endeavor to provide critical support and care to the most vulnerable.” But his very statement reinforces my concern that the accusations are actually on target. And frankly, the American Catholic laity has learned through painful recent experience to be suspicious when bishops insist that charges are “unfounded.”

“Count on the commitment of all of us to stand with you in this challenging hour,” Archbishop Broglio assures immigrants. For whom is he speaking when he says that “all of us” will stand with the immigrants? For the members of the USCCB? For all American Catholics? Because insofar as his statement is critical of the Trump administration’s enforcement drive, he is making a political judgment, a prudential judgment, on which good Catholics can and do differ.

Should all immigrants, legal or illegal, be treated with the respect that human dignity demands? Certainly. And so should all law-enforcement officers who are carrying out their sworn duty. “Law enforcement actions aimed at preserving order and ensuring community security are necessary for the common good,” Archbishop Broglio affirms. So perhaps “all of us” should also stand in solidarity with the ICE agents who were being pelted with rocks in Los Angeles last week.

What happened in that city was, without a doubt, symptomatic of a “profound social crisis,” a breakdown in the social order, aggravated by local politicians who flatly refused to cooperate with federal law-enforcement efforts—just as, in the Jim Crow era, southern mayors and governors defied federal desegregation efforts. Archbishop Broglio acknowledges the existence of the crisis this time, but sees only one side of the picture.