Some Catholic leaders blasted Donald Trump after his decision to move military forces to the border to stop the migrant caravan.
Catholic leaders in Texas criticized President Donald Trump’s April 4 announcement that he would be deploying National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
In an April 5 tweet, San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said Trump’s move was a “senseless action and a disgrace on the administration.” He also said the decision to send troops to the border demonstrated “repression, fear, a perception that everyone is an enemy, and a very clear message: We don’t care about anybody else. This is not the American spirit.”
The Diocese of El Paso’s Commission on Migration similarly criticized Trump’s decision, saying in an April 4 statement that the plan was “morally irresponsible and dangerously ineffective.”
The statement, signed by Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso and co-chairs of the committee, Lily Limon and Dylan Corbett, also said the action was “a hurtful attack on migrants, our welcoming border culture and our shared values as Americans.”
The next day, Bishop Seitz issued his own statement on Trump’s announcement, calling it a “rash and ill-informed action” which he asked the president to reconsider.
“It is time for Mr. Trump to stop playing on people’s unfounded fears,” he added, noting that he lives on the border and his city is “one of the safest in the country.”
The bishop said the troops will “find no enemy combatants here, just poor people seeking to live in peace and security. They will find no opposition forces, just people seeking to live in love and harmony with their family members and neighbors and business partners and fellow Christians on both sides of the border.”
The Mexican bishops’ conference also responded to Trump’s action tweeting April 5: “It’s very dangerous for our Mexican and Latin American people to have a semi-militarized border,” saying migrants could be executed just trying to cross the border.
This is a ridiculous claim by these bishops. The military being sent to the border was simply to stop the caravan from coming into the United States. They have no right to cross the borders into America and claiming they do is nonsense. This caravan posed a massive threat to American sovereignty. Not only could they be infiltrated by ISIS or any of the cartels but they also are far too large to assimilate properly. The only way to ensure the safety of Americans and these migrants is helping them in their home country.
