.jpeg)
PROVIDENCE — Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., joined 17 brother U.S. Catholic bishops last week in signing a statement on recommended reforms to immigration enforcement in the U.S.
The statement addresses the concerns of border pastors and beyond concerned about the impact of the Department of Homeland Security’s recent and ongoing enforcement activities against individuals and families who are without legal status in the U.S.
“I signed on to the statement from the ‘Border Bishops’ because the border has moved,” Bishop Lewandowski said in an interview with Rhode Island Catholic.
“It is no longer that place of immigration enforcement at the US-Mexico border. It’s at parks, workplaces, commercial and rec centers, schools and churches, big cities and small towns, right at the front door of people’s homes. Now, we’re all on the border.”
While the signatories in the statement acknowledge the right and duty of a sovereign nation to enforce its laws, they said they also believe that those laws should be upheld in a manner that protects the God-given human dignity and rights of the human person.
The statement offers eight policy recommendations designed to protect the rights and recommendations of immigrants and their families, including restoring the ability for bona fide asylum seekers to apply for that protection at the U.S.-Mexico border once again as they had been allowed to in the past.
“Denying them this right leaves them in dangerous conditions and situations, subject to abuse by criminal organizations,” the bishops indicate in their statement.
“Access to asylum at the border should be fully restored. We also oppose the arrest and detention of law-abiding refugees who have been lawfully admitted to the US, as has been proposed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”
The bishops also advocate for sensitive locations, such as places of worship, schools and healthcare facilities, to be protected zones from immigration enforcement activities.
“From our perspective as pastors, we have found that members of our flock have decided not to attend Mass or access the sacraments of the Church because of the fear of immigration enforcement,” the bishops say in their statement. “We consider this an issue of religious freedom—a right enshrined in both the U.S. Constitution and international covenants.”
The statement also calls for due process to be restored in the immigrations system, including the right to appear in court, ideally with the benefit of legal representation, and strongly urges that immigrant families be kept together, with children not being separated from their parents as they have been under recent government enforcement actions.
The bishops also affirm their belief that immigrants and their families who are contributing to the common good should not be targeted for removal.
“Many immigrants have been here for decades,” Bishop Lewandowski said. “They are our family, friends, coworkers and neighbors. We worship with them on Sunday. They are good people contributing to the wellbeing of our country. Let’s find a way to help them stay and legalize their status.”
The bishops also call for intimidation and enforcement tactics that create fear in communities to be halted and for detention standards to be enforced as new facilities — such as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida — are being constructed to house migrants swept up in the crackdowns while they await deportation.
“Jesus’ command to ‘love our neighbor’ places demands on us,” Bishop Lewandowski said.
“In Church and public discourse, we need to shift the focus from politics to Jesus’ divine command, emphasizing empathy for the outsider, the stranger, and the migrant. This is not a political argument. It’s called living with Faith, practicing Faith. ‘Treat others as you would have them treat you.’”
The bishops’ final point in their statement asks Congress and the administration to fund reintegration programs for deportees, and to address the root causes of irregular migration—the lack of economic development, climate degradation and conflict and insecurity in sending nations.
Investing in reintegration programs, they contend, will ensure that immigrants can safely and humanely reintegrate into their original homes and support themselves and their families in dignity. And they assert that immigrants should not be deported to third countries.
“Justice, compassion, genuine care, and welcome should guide immigration policy, even for nations with secure borders,” Bishop Lewandowski said, noting that one statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops isn’t enough to achieve this, nor are individual statements from diocesan bishops across the country.
“Catechesis and preaching in individual parishes won’t achieve this. Even social services, immigration legal counsel, and outreach are only part of the solution. This requires a movement. We need to flood Washington, D.C., with advocates and advocacy for immigration reform.”
And Bishop Lewandowski plans to do just that this week.
On March 5, he will lead a Pilgrimage of Prayer and Advocacy to Washington, D.C., where he will be joined by 35 priests, deacons, religious and lay people representing the Diocese of Providence.
Upon arriving, the group will split into five teams, four of which will meet with members of Rhode Island’s federal delegation in their Capitol Hill Offices, while the fifth will represent the diocese at Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with fellow pilgrims from dioceses and archdioceses from the northeast.
Rhode Island Catholic will be reporting on the pilgrimage from the nation’s capital for the March 12 edition.
