Connecticut Bishops Issue Letter on Immigration Issues

Hartford, CT - Catholic church leaders in the state called for “a complete overhaul of existing immigration policies” in a letter to the faithful dated July 10, 2019 that has been included in area Roman Catholic church bulletins.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

These past months have been marked by escalating tensions at the southern border. Most recently we were confronted with the tragic images of the drowning deaths of Oscar Martinez and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie Valeria, who were fleeing the dangers of El Salvador for the safety of the United States. Other immigrants have crossed the border with their lives, but have been captured and are now detained in overcrowded conditions as a result of political gridlock in our nation’s capital.

We, the Catholic Bishops of Connecticut, urge our government to act for a complete overhaul of existing immigration policies. Those responsible in government need to undertake an examination of conscience as to what they have done and have failed to do when it comes to respect for human persons and the enactment of fair and balanced legislation. This overhaul needs to ensure a welcome for immigrants in keeping with our history and laws as a land of immigrants as well as the integrity of our borders.

READ: The full letter from the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference »

In recent decades U.S. governments led by both of our major parties have fallen woefully short of enacting immigration reform and of honoring the basic humanity of migrants and refugees. According to the U.S. Border Patrol, over the last twenty years there have been an average of 357 immigrant deaths annually in our southwest border sectors. The governments of other nations also need to be encouraged and aided where necessary to remedy the conditions that force people to flee their homeland.

As one nation under God, not only founded by immigrants, but made what it is in large part by immigrants, the United States can and must do better. Those fleeing the hazardous conditions of their homeland to make the perilous journey to the safety and freedom of America are currently facing treatment that undermines our shared values of freedom and belief in human dignity.

We urge everyone to work and pray for a better way forward in addressing this humanitarian crisis.

The letter is signed by Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, Archbishop of Hartford; Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport; Most Reverend Juan Miguel Betancourt, SEMV, Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford; Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, Bishop of Norwich; and Most Reverend P. Paul Chomnycky, Eparch of Stamford.

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The Connecticut bishops’ stance aligns with a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops guide which is titled, “Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration and the Movement of Peoples”

Some excerpts:

Both the Old and New Testaments tell compelling stories of refugees forced to flee because of oppression...Catholic social teaching is realistic: While people have the right to move, no country has the duty to receive so many immigrants that its social and economic life are jeopardized.

For this reason, Catholics should not view the work of the federal government and its immigration control as negative or evil. Those who work to enforce our nation’s immigration laws often do so out of a sense of loyalty to the common good and compassion for poor people seeking a better life. In an ideal world, there would be no need for immigration control. The Church recognizes that this ideal world has not yet been achieved.

But the U.S. Bishops also say current immigration policy "that criminalizes the mere attempt to immigrate and imprisons immigrants who have committed no crime or who have already served a just sentence for a crime is immoral...In the Bible, God promises that our judgment will be based on our treatment of the most vulnerable. Before God we cannot excuse inhumane treatment of certain persons by claiming that their lack of legal status deprives them of rights given by the Creator.

The letter was Distributed by the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference, a public policy and advocacy office.