EL PASO, Texas (ChurchMilitant.com) – The U.S. bishops’ conference migration chairman is praising a new initiative by the Department of Homeland Security, while seemingly calling for open borders.
Bp. Mark Seitz
Monday, El Paso bishop Mark Seitz lauded the family reunification plan enacted by the DHS last week and advocated for more changes to U.S. immigration policies.
In a USCCB statement, Seitz remarked, “Unfortunately, what the need for such programs demonstrates is that backlogs continue to pose untenable challenges for aspiring immigrants who seek to avail themselves of the limited legal pathways currently available, whether family- or employment-based in nature.”
“This is why my brother bishops and I, along with the vast majority of civic leaders and the American public, know immigration reform is ultimately the only true and sustainable solution to these challenges,” the Texas bishop declared. “We continue to urge Congress to come together on a bipartisan basis to achieve this, a difficult, but not impossible, task, as demonstrated by recent measures such as the Dignity Act.”
The new DHS program is available to nationals of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who have family members legally dwelling in the U.S. According to the DHS, “These processes … will allow vetted individuals with already approved family-based petitions to be paroled into the United States, on a case-by-case basis.” The parole can reportedly last up to three years “while they wait to apply to become a lawful permanent resident.”
Alejandro Mayorkas
“These new processes promote family unity and provide lawful pathways consistent with our laws and our values,” commented Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “The department has proven that the expansion of safe, orderly and lawful pathways, combined with strong enforcement, is effective in reducing dangerous, irregular migration to the United States.”
In January, Bp. Seitz met with Joe Biden at the border. The El Paso diocese’s communication director, Fernando Ceniceros, claimed Seitz framed the border issue as a pro-life issue to the fake-Catholic president.
Seitz attempted “to call attention to the humanitarian side of the crisis” and informed pro-abort Biden “that the life of the migrant is a life and should be something that should be valued as a pro-life situation, as a pro-life matter.”
Critics claim the bishops’ constant push for immigration is motivated by baser concerns, as illegal aliens have proven to be a great source of income for the Catholic Church in the United States.
According to the USCCB’s 2021 annual financial statement, the bishops received over $67 million from “government contracts and grants” for “migration and refugee services.”
In fact, nearly half of the USCCB’s budget comes from the federal government.
In an article by Complicit Clergy titled, “Are U.S. Bishops Complicit in the Trafficking of Migrant Children?” the author details, “During the Trump administration, Catholic organizations received an average of $212 million annually in federal immigration funds. Under the Biden administration, this amount mushroomed to nearly $600 million in 2022, a nearly three-fold increase from the Trump years.”
“This explosion in government funding,” the report continues, “corresponds directly to the dramatic increase in illegal aliens crossing our southern border during the Biden administration.”
The bishops’ complicity in human trafficking due to their advocacy for illegal immigration was the subject of Wednesday’s Vortex.
Michael Voris detailed, “The bishops continue to create an environment whereby children can be exploited, trafficked by cartels and sexually exploited all under the cover of immigration.”
“The open-borders policy of the Democrats is one of the many policy items the bishops are in complete lockstep with them on,” noted Voris, adding, “Why wouldn’t they be? They get hundreds of millions of dollars from D.C. each year and then they spirit illegal immigrants all over the country.”
Some close to the border situation have deemed Catholic Charities USA “the illegal immigrant travel agency” for their work in “repurposing” migrants.
The bishops’ support for left-wing political goals is what prompted the new Deposit of Faith Coalition, consisting of Church Militant and other Catholic organizations. On July 20, the coalition will host a prayer rally and press conference in Washington, D.C, which will be livestreamed by Church Militant.
Expert speakers will explain how the bishops’ agenda is anti-gun, anti-border, anti–fossil fuel, and anti-free speech.
The coalition contends that “the U.S. bishops need to be cut off from U.S. taxpayer dollars” and that the “Church belongs to Jesus Christ, not the U.S. Catholic bishops — and certainly not the Democratic Party.”