Overview
- Meeting in Baltimore, the bishops approved the message 216–5 with three abstentions, rejecting “wholesale mass deportation” and urging an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence.
- They cited troubling detention conditions and tactics that have included arrests near churches, hospitals and schools after prior safeguards were rolled back.
- The statement describes a “climate of fear,” noting parents who fear arrest during school drop‑offs and families already separated.
- While acknowledging a nation’s duty to regulate borders, the bishops called for “meaningful immigration reform” and criticized the arbitrary removal of legal status for some migrants.
- The message echoes recent criticism from Pope Leo XIV and coincides with the election of Archbishop Paul Coakley as chair and Bishop Daniel Flores as vice chair.