USCCB issues action alert: ‘Call on the US Senate to protect our Haitian neighbors’

June 30, 2026

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) asked the faithful to “call on the US Senate to protect our Haitian neighbors” from deportation.

The USCCB’s action alert, issued on June 29, follows Mullin v. Doe. In the 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration has the authority to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians whom an earlier Secretary of Homeland Security had permitted to live temporarily in the United States—in the Haitians’ case, since the 2010 earthquake; in the Syrians’ case, since 2012, because of repression under then-President Bashar al-Assad.

The action alert calls for support for S.4814, a bill sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) that would require the designation of TPS status for Haiti. The USCCB’s suggested message to senators states:

As a Catholic and your constituent, I urge you to protect the Haitian families who have been relying on temporary protected status by supporting S. 4814. It is simply not possible for hundreds of thousands of people to return to Haiti in a safe and orderly manner at this time.

Because of that, the sudden loss of their legal status and work authorization creates a moral crisis. Many American communities have also been benefiting from the economic and social contributions of these Haitians, especially as healthcare workers and caregivers, and they will be harmed as a result of this situation. Please prevent these families from needlessly being added to the undocumented population.

In a statement issued June 26, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration said that “revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people residing in our country creates a moral crisis when returning to their country of origin is not a safe or reasonable option.”

“If we are truly to affirm the God-given dignity of every human person, we as a nation cannot turn a blind eye to such an injustice and the impossible choices it will create for families and communities,” said Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas.

Bishop Cahill added:

Even if the Administration determines TPS is no longer warranted, deferred enforced departure remains a tool available to the President, and we urge him to exercise right judgement in this way. Forcibly sending families to dire conditions is a legacy all leaders should seek to avoid. To that end, my brother bishops and I also continue to call upon Congress to act—to meet this moment with the moral fortitude that is so desperately needed.

 

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Further information:

• Call on the U.S. Senate to Protect Our Haitian Neighbors (USCCB, 6/29/26)
• We Cannot Turn a Blind Eye to Injustice, Says Bishop Cahill (USCCB, 6/26/26)