I have read the “Special Pastoral Message” on Immigration issued by the U.S. Catholic Bishops who are the leaders of the American Church. While I can understand their concerns the Pastoral Message misses the point as I will soon explain. The message states “Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons.” It then states the “Church’s teachings rests on the foundational concern for the human person created in the image and likeness of God.”

As a Catholic I fully agree with those statements and also that we have a compassionate God and that God’s priority as is the Church’s is for those who are most vulnerable whether they be the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger.

However, reading further I noted this sentence stating, “We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures.” The bishops like many other bureaucrats never clearly state what needs to be reformed or suggest alternatives but that is perhaps an indication that there is less unanimity in the conference and amongst Catholic laity than they wish to admit.

Frankly, their position on immigration reform sounds very much like the Democratic “Biden era” excuse that all we need to do in order to fix immigration is to convince “hard hearted” Republicans to join with us to pass a new immigration law to solve the border problem.

The Catholic Church’s consistent position is that while nations have a right to control their borders that it must be carried out with justice and mercy respecting the human dignity and the rights of all including undocumented migrants. Every time I read about that “responsibility” I have always had the suspicion that our bishops want it both ways: control your border but please don’t be too controlling. Sadly they express no clear concern for the human dignity of those innocent Americans who have suffered or been murdered at the hands illegal migrant criminals.

In the special pastoral message, the Bishops condemned several tactics used by the Trump administration including “indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” By Sept. 23, the administration claimed that a combined 2 million illegal immigrants had left the country through a combination of over 400,000 formal deportations and an estimated 1.6 million “self-deportations.” Of the 400,000 formal deportations almost all were criminals convicted of crimes that include murder, rape, child trafficking and child molestation

The bishops also criticized the Trump administration for “creating a climate of fear and anxiety” through the employment of certain enforcement tactics and the “vilification of immigrants” through dehumanizing rhetoric. In my view, the Biden administration’s tragically incompetent handling of immigration has justified enhanced enforcement by ICE agents, supported by other agencies descending on cities and neighborhoods unannounced to arrest dangerous illegal migrants in order to make our nation a safer place.

 The bishops attacked Trump’s use of dehumanizing rhetoric, such as referring to migration as an “invasion,” for contributing to a general atmosphere of xenophobia and fear, which also impacted public safety and community relations. During the Biden administration I and many others had the distinct impression that our southern border was being invaded as proven by the pictures of huge columns of people marching through Mexico on their way to the border or the time when a large number of illegal migrants attacked National Guardsmen in an attempt to forcibly cross the Texas border.

The Bishops also criticized inhumane conditions in detention specifically at “Alligator Alcatraz in Florida. Here are the facts. All detainees have access to medical care. While spurious claims were made about worms in food, and overflowing toilets that was not true either. At Alligator Alcatraz, detainees claimed there was an unchecked spread of illness and flooding. Further a claim was made that Detainees don’t have access to lawyers at Alligator Alcatraz.

That allegation is false. The facility maintains a physical space for attorneys to meet with their clients. Additionally, Florida established an email address for attorneys to submit requests to speak to the specific illegal aliens. How many bishops made the trip to Florida to inspect the facility or did they, as seems likely, rely on reports in the New York Times, on NBC or CBS?

I have to ask why the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis was not criticized. Biden stopped the construction of the border wall that made it more difficult for illegal migrants to cross the border. The administration’s failure to detain or promptly remove most illegal aliens, instead releasing millions into the U.S. interior through the use of “mass parole” programs that were a violation of immigration law and placed a severe burden on local communities and taxpayers.

The administration also broadly expanded asylum eligibility to include claims like domestic violence or gang activity, which did not meet legal standards, and of overusing its parole authority to bypass the legal immigration system without congressional approval.

The record-high number of illegal migrant encounters is evidence of the “catastrophe” created by the Biden administration’s policies, raising concerns about national security, public safety through fentanyl smuggling, and the exploitation of vulnerable migrants by cartels by forcing them to do their bidding to pay for assistance in crossing the border. 

Finally, the catastrophic illegal migration crises that characterized the Biden years make me wonder how our bishops can heap so much criticism on Trump’s handling of immigration in the pastoral message with absolute silence on Biden’s reckless border policy?

In conclusion lest someone question my criticism of the Catholic Church I was born and raised a Catholic, graduated from a Catholic high school, Catholic college, have a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from the late lamented Christ the King Seminary, taught religions education, ran a religious education program, worked for the then diocesan Office of Church Ministry for a number of years and remain for want of a better term, an observant Catholic.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com