Catholic Cardinal Calls Trump's Immigrant Family Separations 'Immoral'

Elise Foley
Updated

A top Catholic bishop condemned the Trump administration’s immigration policies on Wednesday, calling the separation of immigrant families “immoral” and saying a recent change in policy “will erode the capacity of asylum to save lives.”

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made the statement during the organization’s spring general assembly. It’s the latest criticism from within the Catholic Church directed at the harsh immigration enforcement tactics under President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, DiNardo focused on two parts of Trump’s border crackdown: the “zero tolerance” policy for illegal entries that leads to children being split from their parents and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision earlier this week that “generally” asylum-seekers should not receive relief on the basis of domestic or gang violence.

“At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life,” Cardinal DiNardo said at the assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, urging “courts and policymakers to respect and enhance, not erode, the potential of our asylum system to preserve and protect the right to life.”

He also called on the government to stop the separation of families at the border, saying he agrees with Bishop Joe Vásquez, who leads USCCB’s Committee on Migration. The administration claims it must separate families who cross the border illegally so parents can be prosecuted, often for only misdemeanors, rather than putting them in immigrant detention. Immigration officials have already pulled away hundreds of children from their parents, who in many instances haven’t been told where their kids were taken to.

Cardinal DiNardo said the U.S. should use discretion to keep young children from being “exposed to irreparable harm and trauma” of being split from their parents.

“While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety,” he said. “Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”

The United Nations office for the high commissioner for human rights similarly condemned family separations as “counter to human rights standards and principles” earlier this month.

But Trump administration officials have remained steadfast that its policies are necessary to deter unauthorized immigration. This includes both migrants who enter illegally and even those who come legally seeking safety at ports of entry. The administration argues they should stay in other countries instead.

“The world will know what our rules are, and great numbers will no longer undertake this dangerous journey,” Sessions said earlier this week. “The number of illegal aliens and the number of baseless claims will fall. I’m confident that’s true. A virtuous cycle will be created, rather than a vicious cycle of expanding illegality.”

Trump himself has simultaneously pushed for harsh tactics at the border and claimed they are not his fault when criticized. He has repeatedly falsely claimed Democrats enacted laws requiring him to split up migrant families.

The asylum and family separation policies are not the first to garner criticism from Catholic leaders. Vice President Mike Pence, in his previous role as governor of Indiana, attempted to ban Syrian refugees from his state against the urging of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, which ultimately helped families resettle over his objection.

Last year, Catholic leaders criticized Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, that allows nearly 700,000 undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as kids to stay and work. (That decision is currently largely blocked in the courts and DACA holders can keep and renew their protections.)

Pope Francis said in September that Trump should continue the policy as a “pro-life” matter.

“I have heard it said that the president of the United States presents himself as a man who is pro-life, and if he is a good pro-life [man] then he will understand that the family is the cradle of life, and that it must be defended as a unit,” Francis said.

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April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”
At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 
On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”
On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”
At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”
At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”
At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”
At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”
On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.