In an August 2 legal update, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services office renewed its criticism of restrictions put in place by the Biden administration earlier this year on non-Mexican asylum seekers.
“The US Catholic bishops have called on leaders and all people of good will to see in vulnerable asylum seekers more than numbers encountered at the border or noncitizens to be processed but persons created in the image and likeness of God,” the legal update stated, while acknowledging that “Catholic teaching recognizes the right of countries to implement just laws to regulate migration at their borders.”
“This right is subject to consideration of the common good and respect for the sanctity of human life,” the update continued. “Consideration of the common good incorporates a nation’s responsibilities to its citizens, as well as its obligation to those who find themselves in need. Moreover, Church teaching further requires that the due process rights of migrants be acknowledged and preserved.”