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FRESNO, Calif. – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has signaled how it plans to respond to the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws going into the new year and beyond.
The bishops from all corners of the country met in Baltimore in November for the USCCB’s fall plenary assembly and issued a rare Special Message on the handling of immigration matters, including the detainment and deportation of immigrants.
The message called for “meaningful reform of the nation’s immigration laws and procedures.” And it comes as immigration enforcement is front and center under the Trump administration – which promised to carry out the largest domestic deportation campaign in U.S. history.
That promise from the administration has been met with support by those who voted for the president, and protest from those who have witnessed the operations being carried out in their communities. And it has broken a question out in the open about how the nation seeks to move forward with immigration, and what the role of religious institutions is on the matter.
Several high-profile cases have highlighted the immigration enforcement campaign, such as the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to a secretive maximum security prison in El Salvador despite court orders, and the detainment of even U.S. citizens caught in street operations by immigration agents.
The statement from the U.S. bishops emphasized the way immigration is not just a legal issue, but a moral one, according to Joseph Brennan, the bishop for the Diocese of Fresno who voted in favor. The diocese oversees more than 1 million Catholics in central California.
“We are sons and daughters of a God who loves us,” Brennan told KVPR’s Central Valley Daily podcast in response to a question about why the Catholic is willing to speak on immigration matters.
In their statement – which passed with 216 votes in favor, five against and three abstentions – the bishops said they “pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, where directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”
The bishops' message also reflects the broader direction of the Catholic Church under Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the U.S. Pope Leo has repeatedly emphasized the moral responsibility to protect migrants and refugees around the world.
In one of his first public statements on immigration since being elected, Pope Leo said in October that "Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
Pope Leo has called on governments and faith communities to reject policies that dehumanize immigrants and instead prioritize human dignity and family unity.
Pope Leo’s position on matters like immigration is bound to influence the U.S. Catholic leaders, who often cite Catholic social doctrine as the foundation for opposing mass deportations and advocating for humane immigration reform. Catholic social doctrine is rooted not just in scripture but in the Church’s roughly 2,000 year apostolic tradition.
This moral framework also shapes how individual bishops engage with public policy at the local level. Bishop Brennan, who serves as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, said he is aware of the fear that exists among the immigrant community in his diocese.
Brennan noted that immigrants “have their own voice,” but, in the current environment, they risk using it. In his role as bishop, he says he is compelled to be an advocate for their needs.
He said the Diocese of Fresno offers "accompaniment," or support for immigrants, as they navigate the landscape through various services offered at parishes. He said priests in the diocese understand the immigration issue deeply, since some of them had no legal status at some point and are now U.S. citizens.
Brennan said should an immigration agent approach a church in his diocese, the agents would be asked not to enter the sacred space but the church or parish would encourage the person being sought to cooperate.
The Trump administration has removed protections for schools and places of worship from immigration enforcement. Typically those places were off limits for enforcement. But Brennan said despite policy changes, churches have not lost their sacred meaning that “ought not to be violated.”
Some Catholic churches have made public displays to protest immigration policies. One church in Illinois displayed a Christmas nativity scene that was missing Mary and Joseph with a sign that said “the Holy Family is in hiding,” due to ICE activity.
