WASHINGTON—The
President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Cardinal Daniel
N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston as well as the Chairman of the USCCB Committee
on Migration, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, and Chairman of the USCCB
Committee on International Justice and Peace, Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of
Homeland Security, John F. Kelly, urging him to defer deportation of those persons
to Iraq, particularly Christians and Chaldean Catholics, who pose no threat to
U.S. public safety.

The letter has been sent to specifically address the
pending deportation of dozens of Christian and Chaldean Catholics in Michigan
and Tennessee.

While the bishops recognize that some of the individuals may
have orders of deportation because they have committed criminal offenses in the
past, they are gravely concerned that they would then be sent back to a country
where religious persecution and persecution against ethnic minorities remains
an ongoing threat. The letter states that “the fact that they have a
significant risk in experiencing persecution, and even possible bodily harm
because of their faith is, from our moral perspective, an important factor to
be weighted in the calculation to deport.”

The full letter to Secretary Kelly can be found
here: https://justiceforimmigrants.org/uncategorized/1287/

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Secretary John F. Kelly, Cardinal Daniel
N. DiNardo, Bishop Joe
S. Vásquez , Bishop Oscar Cantú, Committee on Migration, Committee on
International Peace and Justice, Christians, Chaldean Catholics, deportation,
legal refuge, refugees, religious persecution, ethnic minorities.

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Media
Contact
Judy
Keane
202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops