Overview
- Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski led eight Florida Conference bishops in urging President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt arrests through the Christmas season, with some reports noting a request through Epiphany on Jan. 6.
- White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said deportation operations will proceed, emphasizing that the president is keeping his promise to remove criminal illegal immigrants.
- The bishops argued the border is secure and that current roundups increasingly sweep up non‑criminal workers, citing claims of more than 500,000 deportations this year and nearly two million voluntary departures.
- Reuters reported that the administration rescinded limits on arrests near churches, hospitals, and schools and that government data show more arrests of people without criminal charges than under prior administrations, with enforcement expected to expand in the new year.
- DeSantis’s office offered no immediate comment, while church leaders point to pastoral concerns and detention conditions at facilities such as the Everglades site known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”