Catholic Bishops in the US remain hopeful about the future of immigration reform in the country. This is despite concerns over the impending inauguration of President-Elect, Donald Trump, whose anti-immigration stance was a key part of his Presidential election campaign.
Bishop, Joe Vasquez from Austin, Texas, says it is important for Catholic Bishops to make an effort to engage with the new administration and that it is vital Bishops know what is happening in the US to be able to address all possibilities. Confidence in the future was also expressed by the US Bishops Conference president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo from Galveston in Houston. He thinks the time may be just right to pursue their goals with a new administration and a new Congress.
Conference officials and leading Bishops spoke to the press on 12 January in honor of Migration Week, a celebration almost half a century old, which encourages the Church to contemplate the circumstances faced by minors, immigrants, refugees, and the victims of human traffickers. Bishop Vasquez says that they would not want to start their conversation with the new administration on rhetoric about the building of a wall between the US and Mexico, which was a cornerstone of the Trump Presidential campaign.
Vasquez says that the Bishops are advocates for humane policies and laws and that they want to help undocumented immigrants who came to the US as minors and to keep families together.