Sacrificing Our Nation’s Fundamental Commitment to Humanitarian Protection Will Not Sustainably Reduce Migration, Says Bishop Seitz
WASHINGTON – While reiterating support for bipartisan cooperation that leads to immigration reform, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso also asserted that the bill now before the U.S. Senate is “flawed, both in terms of substance and form.” In a letter to Senate leadership, Bishop Seitz, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, expressed serious concerns about some of the migration-related provisions included in the Senate’s version of the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024” (H.R. 815).
Taking no position on the overall measure, Bishop Seitz stated:
“We welcome and encourage genuine bipartisan cooperation to address the challenges of our time, but we believe this effort to make sweeping changes to immigration law—particularly in the context of this supplemental funding bill—is flawed, both in terms of substance and form… [S]everal changes proposed in this bill would unjustly undermine due process and pave the way for avoidable and potentially life-threatening harm to be inflicted on vulnerable persons seeking humanitarian protection in the United States. As shepherds committed to defending the sanctity of human life and upholding the God-given dignity of all, we implore you to reject those changes.”
In his letter, Bishop Seitz addressed several specific provisions that warranted concern, including those that would severely limit due process for noncitizens, make it even more difficult than it already is under current law for those with bona fide asylum claims to pursue protection in the United States, and create the opportunity for harmful, arbitrary, and counterproductive treatment of vulnerable persons. “We cannot achieve the necessary reform of our immigration system without authentic bipartisanship,” Bishop Seitz concluded, calling for a “transparent, well-informed, bicameral, and truly bipartisan approach” to immigration reform.
The full letter can be read on the USCCB website
The Council on National Security and Immigration (CNSI) released a statement reaffirming opposition to the impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ahead of the House vote on the articles of impeachment.
“Blaming Secretary Mayorkas for the current U.S. border crisis and seeking his impeachment is a misguided approach, especially when Republicans and Democrats have been working together on much-needed border policy that could become true reform.
“The impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas would divert attention and resources away from actual progress, and would do nothing to secure the border, ensure the humane treatment of migrants, or reduce processing backlogs. A vote for impeachment would instead set a harmful precedent and disrupt longstanding norms.
“This impeachment, based solely on policy disagreements, will exacerbate existing polarization and risk undercutting our national security. As the articles of impeachment come to the House Floor for a vote, we urge members to vote no.”
Nancy Treviño, Director of Power at Presente.org: «In the face of dangerous rhetoric from extremists in Congress, Latine and migrant communities uphold our core values of compassion and justice. The House Majority’s attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas seeks to validate harmful and deceptive ‘invasion’ and ‘great replacement’ rhetoric. This sets a perilous precedent, endangering migrant lives and undermining the principles that should guide our nation. We are united against hate, advocating for a society built on empathy, inclusion, and respect for human rights.”
Robert Heyman, Assistant Director of Policy and Government for Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua: «Letting a politics of fear and xenophobia guide how we make decisions about border policy is foolish whether it is the U.S. Senate deciding to embrace unworkable crackdowns on families seeking safety, or the House pursuing impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas on a basis completely detached from reality. Such naivety will never lead us to an orderly, safe, and humane border and will only fail the American people. There is another problem, though, as we see this politics of fear going from being stupid to inflammatory–dehumanizing innocent families in ways that open them up to violence and death, undermining communities with conspiracies, making hatred the currency of the day, and blinding us to our own bad behavior. As President Roosevelt warned so presciently 90 years ago, ‘we have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ Let us hope this country will still heed that message.»
