Today, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a public letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan criticizing the immigration bill that Ryan negotiated with the House Freedom Caucus and so-called Republican moderates. As the letter notes, “As written, this bill contains several provisions that run contrary to our Catholic social teaching.”
The letter states that the bill would:
- “Undermine asylum protections by significantly raising the hurdle applicants face during the ‘Credible Fear’ review;
- Lead to increases in child and family detention through the proposed changes to the Flores Settlement;
- Eliminate protection for unaccompanied minors through the proposed changes to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA);
- Not include protection for the larger Dreamer population, as other bills, such as the USA Act, the Recognizing America’s Children (RAC) Act, and the Dream Act;
- Make sweeping cuts to family-based immigration; and
- Allow for unilateral implementation of a safe third country agreement without a bilateral or multilateral treaty or agreement.”
The entire letter is worth the read, available online here.
