Trump is expected to revoke the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s long-standing policy restricting the arrest of unauthorized immigrants at or near houses of worship. Some religious leaders protest what they say represents an impending threat to religious freedom. The so called “sensitive locations” ban, stops the arrest of these immigrants at or near hospitals, schools, and even funerals and weddings.
10 Arizona faith leaders, including Catholic Bishops Edward J. Weisenburger of Tucson and John P. Dolan of Phoenix , put their concerns in an op-ed column published in the state’s largest newspaper. They said “Of special concern to us are reported methods of detention and deportation that might include raids on churches, houses of worship, hospitals, schools and other locations associated with meeting basic human needs.”
The piece also said “We find it unacceptable that undocumented persons might be intimidated from going to a church and thereby exercising their right to the practice of religion.” In an additional statement to the news, Bishop Weisenburger said, “The 10 signatory Arizona bishops — or equivalent faith leaders — acknowledge our nation’s right to humane and legal immigration enforcement.
“However, we also acknowledge that immigration enforcement efforts that violate basic human rights, or our nation’s Constitution, must not be undertaken or threatened.” He continued “Our nation’s founders recognized the free and unimpeded exercise of religion as a foundation upon which a Great Democracy would be built.” Bishop Weisenburger stressed the importance of the human dignity of both migrants and citizens.
He went on to say “Moreover, a host of international entities acknowledges that freedom of religion is a basic human right. Any attempted arrests at or near sensitive locations such as churches or schools would be an infringement not only on that basic human right of undocumented persons, but also would entail a violation of the rights of our own citizens.”
“Our churches teach that our doors must be open to all who wish to embrace our religious practices — an essential element of our constitutional right to the free exercise of religion,” the Bishop explained. “To impede, or threaten to impede, our brothers and sisters from worshipping with us based solely upon their immigration status would entail a government interference in our own citizen’s religious practice, preventing our members from fulfilling their God-given mission.”
“It is our hope that all those associated with immigration enforcement on the federal, state, or local levels will acknowledge the human dignity of those they encounter, observe their basic human rights, and undertake no efforts that violate the rights of United States citizens to the free exercise of our teachings and deeply-held religious beliefs” Weisenburger stressed.
“As the Catholic Church in the United States, we are entering a unique moral moment,” Corbett, founder and executive director of the Hope Border Institute, predicted, “when we will be called to oppose counterproductive and unjust deportation policies which indiscriminately target our fellow parishioners, the students in our Catholic schools, and those who receive services from our Catholic Charities agencies.”
“Bishops and faith leaders across the country are right to point out the religious liberty implications, and our Catholic institutions need to prepare,” Corbett went on to say. “Our freedom to be the body of Christ is at stake — to be a place of welcome and healing, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all persons, and to be a sign of reconciliation and mercy in a broken society.”