Bishops issue new calls for recognition of immigrants’ human dignity and immigration reform

In response to increased immigration enforcement measures throughout the country, two U.S. Catholic bishops have issued fresh statements affirming the human dignity of immigrants as children of God and calling for immigration reform.

Both prelates said Americans should understand why people flee their home countries in search of a better life while acknowledging the nation’s right to enforce its immigration laws. The current situation, however, is unjust, immoral, and must be fixed, both men emphasized.

On Aug. 3, the centennial anniversary of the elevation of San Antonio to a metropolitan archdiocese, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller released a pastoral letter expressing the Church’s solidarity with migrants and calling for the “careful and well-formed moral discernment of every Catholic conscience” in response.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 1, Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, issued a statement in which he reminded the faithful of the “inherent human dignity” of every person.

Gruss said the current “challenge” facing the United States, which has “consistently received immigrants, refugees, exiles, and the persecuted from other lands” throughout its history,…