EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – One in five Catholic families in the United States stands to feel the pain from mass deportations promised by the Trump administration, a coalition of faith leaders said on Monday.
That’s how many Catholics have a family member – a parent, a spouse, themselves – who is undocumented and could face deportation proceedings in the next four years, the leaders said.
Mark J. Seitz, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso and chairman of the Migration Committee of the U.S. Conference on Bishops, said the deportations will not only separate families but also send hard-working, God-fearing immigrants back to the crime, violence and poverty that made them flee to America in the first place.
“People are going to return to that situation but worse than before because they sold everything they had when they left. Now, they’re going with no resources to countries with economies in shambles,” Seitz said. Add the danger of organized criminal activity or a government that persecutes the opposition and, “people are going to die if this deportation effort continues at the level it is.”
Others said the deportations could decimate religious congregations at a time church membership in America is on a downward slide.
“We want churches to grow,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “Most evangelical Christians don’t want to see deportations on this scale of people who have not committed violent crimes, who go to our churches and who would be separated from their families.”
The coalition on Monday presented findings from a new report titled, “One Part of the Body.” It was sponsored by the Conference of Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, and World Relief.
“In the U.S., immigrants from various countries form integral parts of the Body of Christ. Most are lawfully present, but a significant share is vulnerable to deportation whether because they have no legal status or their legal protection could be withdrawn,” the report states.
Coalition members said they will urge churchgoers and American lawmakers who identify themselves as Christians to oppose the removal of those who came to the country without permission but have demonstrated willingness to work and otherwise have a track record of lawful conduct.
“The people who are coming are people who uphold values that we in the past have considered central to our country,” Seitz said. “It’s sad when people suggest these immigrants are a threat to the values of our country. From what I have personally witnessed [….] these are people that are very much reinforcing those values of faith and strength of family and love for their community.”
The leaders said they’re not opposed to securing the border but urge changes to the law so that the undocumented as well as those who were admitted through temporary visas may have a path to legal status.
They’re also concerned that America’s image as a beacon of religious freedom is being tarnished.
“There is a deep concern in the global Christian community of the perception that immigrant communities no longer welcome,” Kim said. “It is concerning because America has been seen as a place that protects religious freedom.”
The report states that 81% of immigrants in the U.S. with no lawful status or with temporary protections that President Donald Trump is threatening to withdraw are Christians.
“We don’t believe people voting for the present administration were voting for the extreme measures put into place now or did not realize the implications of those measures,” Seitz said. Those at risk of deportation are “literally their neighbors, the people they worship with on Sunday, who mow their lawns, fix their roofs and pick their crops.”