January 25, 2025

Bishop Byrne voices concern on immigration enforcement

NATIONAL
Staff Report

Migrant farmworkers attend an outdoor Mass Sept. 26, 2019, in Hatch, N.M. The Trump administration said Jan. 21, 2025, that it would rescind a long-standing policy preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals. (OSV News photo/Tyler Orsburn)

SPRINGFIELD – Springfield Bishop William D. Byrne issued a statement on Jan. 24 joining with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in expressing concern over the new administration’s plans to aggressively pursue an immigration enforcement policy.

“I am in full support of the statements issued this week by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding the intention of engaging in the enforcement of the new administration’s immigration policy”, Bishop Byrne stated.

He joined with bishops across the country acknowledging the needs for any nation to defend its borders stating, “in issuing these statements, the Catholic Bishops of our country recognize the need for new immigration legislation. We believe this goal is achievable through meaningful dialogue and the legislative process.”

Worcester Bishop Robert McManus also issued a letter echoing these concerns.

This national debate took place during a week many Catholics took to the streets in support of life. Catholic Church leadership acknowledge that the first Trump administration was a successful partner in rolling back pro-abortion government policies, specifically appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion in the United States. In their 2022 decision the justices returned to the states the ability to set their own abortion laws.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who is the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, reminded the new Trump administration that church teaching on the sanctity of life extends beyond just opposing abortion.  

In a Jan. 22 statement he wrote, “the Catholic Church is committed to defending the sanctity of every human life and the God-given dignity of each person, regardless of nationality or immigration status. Church teaching recognizes a country’s right and responsibility to promote public order, safety, and security through well-regulated borders and just limits on immigration. However, as shepherds, we cannot abide injustice, and we stress that national self-interest does not justify policies with consequences that are contrary to the moral law. The use of sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders,’ to deprive them of protection under the law, is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image.”

Pope Francis also weighed in on these concerns stating that, “no one will ever openly deny that [migrants] are human beings, yet in practice, by our decisions and the way we treat them, we can show that we consider them less worthy, less important, less human. For Christians, this way of thinking and acting is unacceptable.”

(Editor’s note, read Bishop Seitz’s letter at https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/executive-actions-will-subject-vulnerable-families-and-children-grave-danger-says-bishop .