Statement from the Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville on the Separation of Immigrant Parents and Children


Please take time to read this statement from Bishop Flores who is the Bishop of Brownsville, Texas, a border Diocese to Mexico. His message represents the feeling and perspective of the  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

When we rip children out of the arms of their parents, we are ripping out the heart and soul of our Nation. Is this how we are making America great again?

—Rev. Michael Ratajczak

 

 

June 8, 2018

 

Statement from the Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville
on the Separation of Immigrant Parents and Children

 

The systematic separation of immigrant parents and children at the border is simply cruel. A nation has a right to secure its sovereign border, but that does not mean that it may use any means available to deter immigrants who seek to ask for asylum.

By jailing parents on what is usually a misdemeanor charge, parents who cross the border with their children are being separated from them. Thus, the government itself is creating the children’s status as “unaccompanied.” Lawyers and public defenders tell me that parents are not being told where their crying children are being taken.

This nation, for the sake of its soul, must learn to weep with these children, and all the children who are being instrumentalized and commodified in our midst. I urge the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Brownsville, and all persons of good will to write to the President, the Attorney General, and members of Congress, to insist that this manner of enforcement come to an end. I also ask that we as a community pray for families and children affected by this enforcement policy, and that our country’s laws be crafted and administered with human compassion.