WASHINGTON—On February 20, 2017,
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued two memoranda implementing
Executive Orders 13768 and 13767, relating to border and interior immigration
enforcement. In response to the
memoranda, the Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the USCCB
Committee on Migration, has issued the following statement:

“We recognize the importance of ensuring
public safety and would welcome reasonable and necessary steps to do that. However, the two memoranda issued by
Secretary Kelly on February 20th contain a number of provisions
that, if implemented as written, will harm public safety rather than enhance
it. Moreover, taken in their entirety,
the policies contained in these memoranda will needlessly separate families,
upend peaceful communities, endanger the lives and safety of the most
vulnerable among us, breakdown the trust that currently exists between many
police departments and immigrant communities, and sow great fear in those
communities.

The DHS memoranda
eliminates important protections for vulnerable populations, including
unaccompanied children and asylum seekers. They greatly expand the
militarization of the U.S./Mexico border.
Taken together, these memoranda constitute the establishment of a large-scale
enforcement system that targets virtually all undocumented migrants as
‘priorities’ for deportation, thus prioritizing no one. The memoranda further seek to promote local
law enforcement of federal immigration laws without regard for the existing
relationships of trust between local law enforcement officials and immigrant
communities. The engagement of local law
enforcement to enforce federal immigration law can undermine public safety by
making many who live in immigrant communities fearful of cooperating with local
law enforcement in both reporting and investigating criminal matters.

I urge the
Administration to reconsider the approach embodied in these memoranda, just as
it should reconsider the approach it has taken in a number of executive orders
and actions issued over the last month.
Together, these have placed already vulnerable immigrants among us in an
even greater state of vulnerability.

Moving forward, we
remain steadfast in our commitment to care for and respect the human dignity of
all, regardless of their immigration status. During this unsettling time, we will redouble
our work to accompany and protect our immigrant brothers and sisters and
recognize their contributions and inherent dignity as children of God.”

.—

Keywords: U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, Committee on
Migration, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Secretary John F. Kelly,
immigration enforcement, Trump Administration, memoranda, migration, vulnerable
populations, asylum seekers, deportation, law enforcement, public safety,
immigrant communities.

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Media Contact:
Judy Keane
202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops