Two top US Catholic bishops have called for accountability and transparency in immigration enforcement, following a series of deaths during ICE operations across the country that have raised urgent questions about the use of deadly force, Aleteia.org reported.
Bishop Daniel Garcia, chairman of the Subcommittee on Promoting Racial Justice and Reconciliation of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Brendan Cahill, chairman of the Migration Commission, issued a statement on July 20 saying that “actions that belittle or disregard the dignity of any person or group of people must never be normalized in our society“.
The statement comes after at least nine people have died during immigration enforcement operations since the current administration implemented the new strategy. The latest case was a 26-year-old Colombian man shot and killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13. The shooting came less than a week after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national whose family said he was working to obtain legal status, was fatally shot by an immigration agent in Houston, Texas, on July 7.
His family said he was on his way to a construction job. Federal authorities said he tried to run over an agent with his car. The government's version has been repeatedly challenged by witnesses, relatives and in some cases by video evidence.
The bishops called for the "legitimate role of civil authorities to apply the law in a humane manner and with respect for fundamental human rights, including the right to life and due process," while insisting that "the power of the state must always be exercised within the framework of the moral law."
The bishops called for "meaningful reforms" to the immigration system and asked for prayers for those killed, their families and "for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric, racial prejudice and violence."