The Feb. 17 “State of Religious Liberty in the United States” report by the USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty listed the administration’s “steps to combat gender ideology” as one of the positive changes. The report expressed concerns about the administration’s mass deportation policies.
The USCCB’s 2026 report also warned of threats to religious liberty, citing alarming incidents of violence targeting Catholic institutions — such as a shooter opening fire on a school Mass in Minneapolis and a man armed with explosives outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
“All of these developments are taking place as Americans prepare to celebrate 250 years as [an] independent nation,” Archbishop Alexander Sample, the committee chair, wrote in the forward for the report.
“It is a fitting time to reflect on the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and how those ideals have shaped the unique culture that has grown over the past two-and-a-half centuries,” he continued. “For Catholics, it is an opportunity to reflect on how the Church has enriched American life.”
Gender identity
The committee noted that one of its biggest concerns in the 2025 report was “gender ideology,” but those concerns have eased due to executive actions taken under the Trump administration.
“Policies on gender identity implicate religious liberty when religious individuals and organizations are forced to defend their recognition of sexual difference,” it stated.
The report noted that Trump rescinded executive orders by former President Joe Biden, one of which had previously interpreted “sex” discrimination to include discrimination based on one’s self-asserted “gender identity,” which affected federal contracts and education policy on gender.
Trump went in the opposite direction, it noted, enforcing sex-based distinctions on “the biological reality of sex” rather than “gender identity.” He “took steps to protect girls’ and women’s sports” by separating male and female sports on the basis of biological differences, it added.
The report also commended the administration for investigating a state health department for allegedly “discriminating against faith-based organizations in the administration and/or enforcement of licensing requirements, including requiring any facilitation of sex-rejecting procedures.”
The bishops also expressed optimism about the work of the president’s Anti-Christian Bias Task Force, the Religious Liberty Commission, and the White House Faith Office.
Two decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court were also cited as positive developments for religious freedom.
In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court ordered a Maryland school district to let parents opt their children out of course material that was promoting gender ideology, the report added. In Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Commission, the court required the state to recognize a Catholic charitable organization as a religious entity.
The committee also stated that the inclusion of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill provides more choices for parents but that it also needs to be revised to provide more religious liberty protections to ensure that states do not discriminate against faith-based schools.
Areas of concern
The biggest religious liberty concerns expressed by the bishops were related to immigration policy.
It noted that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded guidelines that previously limited immigration enforcement at “sensitive locations,” including churches. Although the report stated there were not any known enforcement operations within Catholic churches, there have been a few arrests on church grounds, which has caused fear for some parishioners.
“Anecdotal reports suggest a drop in attendance at Mass in some dioceses and parish communities because of parishioners’ fears of [immigration] enforcement, whether at or traveling to and from church,” the report stated.
Some bishops have granted Mass dispensations to people who fear they may be deported.
The committee expressed concern about detainees and their ability to access the sacraments. It specifically cited the Broadview immigration facility in Illinois, where clergy could not get permission to enter for months. A court order required DHS to allow them to enter for Ash Wednesday and to accommodate them at later dates.
The report said that “while nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just … immigration system, there must also be basic agreement” on protecting immigrants’ dignity and sacramental access.
Other concerns cited by the committee included some states threatening the seal of confession by trying to force priests to report information about sexual abuse learned in confession, and state-level mandates that seek to force organizations to include abortion coverage in their health care plans.
By 
The US should simply adopt the Vatican’s policy. Frankly, I wish Trump would call them out on it.
Excellent point about US adopting measures like those of the Pope’s Vatican against illegal aliens. The position of these bishops is evil and dangerous to us all. They protect people whose first moral act in this country is to disregard and violate our laws by entering illegally; then lowering wages for Americans, crowding schools, overtaxing health system, raising rents and housing costs, with 50% of illegal alien families on welfare, far higher than the average for non illegals (see below the information), not to mention the STEALING OF BILLIOS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS AS IN MINNESOTA AND CALIFORNIA (see information below), , or the crimes, such as
An illegal alien accused of raping and murdering 13-year-old Oscar Hernandez last year in the sanctuary state of California has been hit with additional child rape charges involving two other teen boys.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/02/12/sanctuary-california-illegal-alien-hit-with-more-child-rape-charges-after-allegedly-murdering-boy/
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking custody of an illegal alien accused of violently raping an 11-year-old girl at knifepoint in front of her younger sister in Georgia
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/01/28/ice-seeks-custody-illegal-alien-accused-raping-11-year-old-girl-knifepoint/
ICE Agents Arrest Illegal Aliens Convicted of Child Abuse, Manslaughter, Sex Crimes “While the media and sanctuary politicians continue to ignore American victims of illegal alien crime, our officers were arresting criminal illegal aliens,” the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/02/18/exclusive-ice-arrests-illegal-aliens-convicted-child-abuse-manslaughter-sex-crimes/
Sep 11, 2025 … A 37-year-old illegal alien from Cuba is in the Dallas County jail after he allegedly decapitated a man at an area motel.
Five-Time Deported Illegal Alien Charged with Kicking Baby to Death
Breitbart › Politics › 2019/04/25
Apr 19, 2025… A five-time deported illegal alien has been arrested and charged with kicking a four-month-old baby to death in Shelby County, Tennessee.
THE OFFICE OF THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS GENERAL CONFERENCE HAS RELEASED ITS ANNUAL STATE IMMIGRATION REPORT REVEALING THAT IN 2025, ILLEGAL MIGRANTS COMMITTED 2,183 VIOLENT OFFENSES, INCLUDING 41 HOMICIDES, 145 SEXUAL OFFENSES, 11 CHILD RAPES, AND MORE. Tennessee Releases Staggering Stats on Migrant Crime
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/02/02/tennessee-releases-staggering-stats-migrant-crime/
Mecklenburg County, NC: Arnol David Guebara is accused of kidnapping, drugging, and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl he met on Instagram for nearly three months from November 2024 to January 2025. He is now back in custody and on an immigration detainer hold after being released on bond last year. His bond was revoked after failing to appear for a court date. Guebara Is charged with Statutory Rape, Indecent Liberties with a Child, and Kidnapping.
https://x.com/ImmigrantCrimes/status/2022319629964583173
Over Half of Immigrant Households Are on Welfare, Far Surpassing American Households
More than half of immigrant-headed households are on one or more forms of taxpayer-funded welfare, far surpassing the welfare use of native-born American households, newly released analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies revealed.
JOHN BINDER
5 Feb 2026, 3:25 PM PST1,523
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking custody of an illegal alien accused of raping three children in Asheville, North Carolina. Juan Ramon Juarez-Talamantes, a 29-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, has been arrested by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and charged with three counts of statutory rape.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/02/11/north-carolina-ice-agents-seek-custody-of-illegal-alien-accused-of-raping-three-children/
Previously-Deported Illegal Out on Bail for Heinous Child Sex Crimes Caught at Airport in Sanctuary Oregon
Infowars.com ^ | February 12th, 2026 7:31 AM | Dan Lyman
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4366607/posts
Truck Driver Allegedly Behind Fatal 8-Car Accident Identified as illegal…
Breitbart › Immigration › 2025/10/22
Border chief Tom Homan says ICE has found over 3,000 missing migrant children in Minnesota
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/border-chief-tom-homan-says-ice-has-found-over-3000-missing-migrant-children-in-minnesota/
ICE Asks Miami to Not Release Criminal Illegal Alien who Violently Sexually Assaulted Uber Driver Before Causing Vehicle Crash in Miami
Release Date: February 6, 2026
Oct 22, 2025 … The suspected semi-truck driver behind an eight-car accident in California has been identified as an illegal alien from India.
Obama Judge Refuses to Give More Jail Time to Illegal Alien Who …
Breitbart › Politics › 2025/12/15
Dec 15, 2025 … A judge is refusing to add additional jail time to a sentence for a seven-time deported illegal alien convicted of raping a disabled woman.
Report: ICE Arrests 101 ‘Dangerous’ Illegal Alien Truckers … – Breitbart
Breitbart › Immigration › 2025/12/23
Four More Americans Killed by Illegal Alien Trucker in Indiana
Four more Americans have been killed by the open-borders policy supported by President Joe Biden, Democratic politicians, and many anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis and other cities.
NEIL MUNRO
5 Feb 2026, 12:12 PM PS
Dec 23, 2025 … There are now reportedly 101 fewer illegal alien truck drivers on California highways following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement …
Illegal Alien Accused of Random Shooting Spree on Tennessee …
Breitbart › Politics › 2025/05/02
ICE Arrests Over 145 Illegal Alien Truck Drivers on Indiana Highways
Breitbart › Politics › 2025/10/30
Oct 30, 2025 … Of those arrests, 146 illegal aliens were driving semi-trucks and more than 40 had been issued Commercial Driver’s Licenses. The states that
10 Years Later: Illegal Alien Who Killed Sarah Root Gets 20 Years in Prison
The illegal alien convicted of killing Sarah Root the night she graduated from college has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
JOHN BINDER
3 Feb 2026, 10:47 AM PST21
May 2, 2025 … Enoc Martinez, a 24-year-old illegal alien from Honduras, was arrested in Shelby County, and charged with five counts of attempted first-degree …
Sanctuary State Illinois: Illegal Alien Accused of Killing GOP Elected …
Breitbart › Politics › 2025/10/30
Oct 30, 2025 … Police say that 34-year-old illegal alien Edwin Pacheco-Meza of Honduras was driving a van on Oct. 24 when he crossed the center lane and struck …
ICE Busts Illegal Alien Pedophile Ring in Minneapolis – Breitbart
Breitbart › Politics › 2025/07/09
Jul 9, 2025 … Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested several illegal alien pedophiles and sexual offenders in Minneapolis.
Illegal Alien Accused of Killing 23-Year-Old National Guardsman …
Breitbart › Politics › 2025/11/19
https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2026/01/23/jd-vance-california-fraud-dwarfs-theft-federal-funds-minnesota/
California Fraud by Illegals Dwarfs Theft of Federal Funds in Minnesota by illegals
Vice President JD Vance revealed this week that about $7 billion worth of Small Business Administration (SBA) fraud has been discovered in California, an indicator the theft of federal funds across all departments in the Golden State could well exceed any other state’s. I think we have a fraud problem that is much worse in California than it is in Minnesota,” Vance said in an interview Thursday with Newsmax.
He continued, “I was talking actually to our small business administrator and I think she found probably a half billion dollars of fraud in Minneapolis and the broader Minnesota area. I think she’s found 7 billion dollars worth of fraud in California.”
Federal prosecutors have estimated that the total amount for Minnesota could top $9 billion in total, but that includes multiple federally funded programs such as food stamps, health care, and social services.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the sanctuary state of California has released more than 4,500 illegal aliens, several convicted of crimes like murder and child sex crimes, into communities rather than turn them over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Sanctuary State California Has Freed 4,500 Illegals from Jail, Including Killers and Sex Offenders
Two Violent Criminal Illegal Aliens Charged with Rape, Aggravated Sodomy, and Kidnapping of Woman in Kansas
Release Date: August 20, 2025
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/20/two-violent-criminal-illegal-aliens-charged-rape-aggravated-sodomy-and-kidnapping
ICE arrests violent criminal alien after sanctuary jurisdiction released him despite immigration detainer
Officers with ICE Baltimore arrested Rafael Aguilar, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras who was charged with attempted murder and convicted of second-degree assault after stabbing a victim in the back as the victim was walking home on April 19, 2025.
Prince George’s County released a criminal illegal alien charged with attempted murder and later convicted of assault
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-violent-criminal-alien-after-sanctuary-jurisdiction-released-him-despite
ICE Urges Charlotte Officials Not to Release Illegal Immigrant Charged in Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend
ICE said it lodged an immigration detainer immediately after he was arrested to ensure he is not released back into Charlotte neighborhoods without federal notification. By
Rudy Blalock
Published: 2/10/2026, 4:07:10 PM EST
https://www.ntd.com/ice-urges-charlotte-officials-not-to-release-illegal-immigrant-charged-in-stabbing-ex-girlfriend_1125315.html
MrsHess: Agree. Let us have up to $25,000 fine and up to four years in jail for illegally entering the United States just as the Vatican has for illegally entering the Vatican.
Could CWR possibly have a bishop comment on that Vatican policy?
I am so tired of bishops saying the immigrants [illegals] human dignity is not being respected. Respecting their dignity is made more difficult when the immigrant resists and when demonstrators [rioters] throw things at the law enforcement officers.
Really, the bishops seem to be the ones on the wrong side of the fence about everything related to immigration. I think they are really more concerned about their pocketbook – and Trump has hurt that big time with the scrutiny of NGOs — basically taking away funding for the ILLEGAL immigration various Catholic agencies have supported, with transportation and housing.
Trump administration gets credit for actions on gender policy. About time.
“[S]ex-rejection procedures”. Now you’re talking. Words matter.
I, for one, do not listen to what the USCCB bishops say. The USCCB is a politicized organization. National conferences of bishops have no authority in the Catholic Church.
The Catholic school I was educated in taught that congress made laws and the various departments were charged with enforcing those laws. If the good bishops disagree with this, then they need to address congress not President Trump who is only doing what the laws stipulate. It would be better if they (the bishops) spent their energy weeding out the sodomite pseudo priest that are causing so much harm to the church.
I don’t know why we faithful American Catholics continue to read USCCB policy position statements.
Particularly disingenuous are ideas like this: “The biggest religious liberty concerns expressed by the bishops were related to immigration policy.”
Ask what exactly does immigration have to do with religious liberty. Migrants are free to worship where and when they choose.
“It noted that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded guidelines that previously limited immigration enforcement at “sensitive locations,” including churches. Although the report stated there were not any known enforcement operations within Catholic churches, there have been a few arrests on church grounds, which has caused fear for some parishioners.”
US citizens or migrants reasonably do not fear arrest if they have done no wrong. What is the basis of the bishops’ concern since they themselves note there have been “…no[t] any known enforcement operations within Catholic churches,…”?
Many bishops have been or continue to be complicit or silent in committing or knowing of crimes committed on Church property. US bishops delude themselves about their moral authority to slather opinions about any topic of civil justice or law enforcement.
Would it not be far more constructive for the episcopate to bring to their discernment regarding immigration the consequences of unfettered illegal immigration to disadvantaged US citizens?
Is it not grossly irresponsible for the episcopate to deliberately ignore the poorly concealed intentions of the previous administration in encouraging and facilitating the unparalleled tsunami of unvetted aliens into our country? Conservatively 12 million crossed the border during four years of the Biden administration — other estimates are as much as 30 million. To contextualize, between 1900 and 1950 only 12 million legal and vetted immigrants were absorbed into the population. Then there is the issue of 350,000 unaccompanied children handed over to who knows who…slave labor and far, far worse.
Then there is the issue of our nation with a thirty-seven trillion dollar debt. It is simply inconceivable. To get a grasp of the enormity of such a sum regard that thirty-seven trillion seconds amounts to 1.17 million years. But then, the episcopates expertise with finances [and common sense when confronted in the not so different past with moral crimes] is not so great.
A significant number of men who constitute the American episcopate have abandoned reason in order to provide the façade of moral credence to the Democrat party. They engage a sophomoric protracted adolescent “discernment” to a grave crisis. Safe to say that those immersed in the governance of our nation, those who love our nation and its founding principles, have a deeper understanding of the consequences of unvetted immigration than any bishop. Some say the Democrat party as well upholds those founding principles – but it is clear that it doesn’t.
Soft Marxism is no substitute for Christian ethics. The solution for this problem is in the nations bleeding their populations into ours and into Europe.
Render to Caesar… [Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25].
The episcopate had best be about its vocation to nurture the faithful.
When will some common sense come to bear upon any of the ruminations of the episcopate? They appear to be unable to address the real catastrophe presently upon the Church but they want to run the country?
The bishops do not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration. Numerous evils and lawlessness accompany the latter. From Francis on down the line, the bishops assume that all migrants are good law abiding families. We know that isn’t true. Some are criminals, drug dealers, etc who commit more crimes when they get to the U.S. The church has actively assisted illegals in getting settled in the US, even employing them. Loving our neighbor does not mean facilitating their illegal behavior – no guilt trip please. Nor does it mean cooperating in evil.
The bishops give lip service only to securing the border. Innocent Americans have died at the hands of illegals. The bishops say nothing about them.
I dont believe we owe Illegals “protections” of any sort, and I wish the Bishops would butt out of American Politics. Maybe they should concern themselves more about the families whose lives have been devastated by the illegals who killed or injured their loved ones with murder, drug pushing, sex trafficking, rape, pedo crimes and killing families wholesale by driving big rigs and not knowing what the traffic signs say in English. Or, yes, be concerned about the Liberal leftist politicians trying to damage the seal of the confessional by forced crime reporting. Or handle the issue of those Catholic politicians who vote pro-abortion but still go to communion. Maybe they can clean up their own responsibilities as Bishops before they try to tell us what to do.
Thank you, LJ.
All these Bishops are doing is causing a division with their one-sided “reports”. Legal immigration is the key. Open borders are dangerous and yet they continue to champion the dismissal of laws and the constitution. Little by little they will cease to be a credible witness to Catholics. Thank God for the handful that stand up for OUR rights!
“Well-said,” writers before me. You’ve covered points regarding our current political system I’d have made . . .
Ahh, the satisfaction of knowing hereby within these articulate posts- that wisdom in the Holy Ghost’s gift is alive and well and coming forth from you, the Body of Christ, the Church- aforementioned writers! Many thanks! I’m off to Mass to pray and offer reparations for the world this Lent🙏⛪️🎶M
“Attacking trans gender policies.” Last year, Trump issued an order to inept DOD/DOW Secretary Hethseg to identify and remove “ALL” TGs from the US military regardless of their performance. An Admiral executed the order only to find that most TGs had exemplary records.
AP: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a memo released late Thursday, reinstated orders issued earlier this year that said “expressing a false gender identity divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the RIGOROUS STANDARDS necessary for military service.”
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-troop-ban-hegseth-pentagon-45c8eeec86c3148eadf63ff8d709f00b
I know little about TGs. I have acquired some of what I saw in church, politics, and the press. They were classified as queers. A plague on society. Then, I came to Jesus with his defence of the harlot, ready to be stoned to death. John Chapter 8… “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw the stone.” Jesus showed empathy. Do we?
Given all that, I feel there is one serious dogmatic flaw. Our broad efforts to evangelize anyone who fails to reveal their true gender. That is if we can find them. I interpret that edict as a form of isolation by society. And, in many cases, the parents have accepted their child with abundant love.
Trump is truly a mysterious and dangerous paradox. His policies sway one way and then the other. He has been called a TACO.”Trump always chickens out.” I could not go so far as to identify the depth of his digressions. Ink. Perhaps a more important “attribute” is his violations of the law.
Ex: Unlawfully threatening tariffs, even against our prime ally, Canada. Then reverses course recinding the order in disgrace. Today, February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, upending a central plank of his economic agenda
Sinfully dissolving the USAID program. (Two billionaires deciding to withdraw food and medical aid to Africa’s poorest starving children).
The fate of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) hangs in the balance after Trump and Musk signaled plans to effectively shut it down. The food and medical supplies are rotting on warehouse decks!
Did we hear anything from the USCCB? I have some more INK.
The USCCB should stay in its own lane. If they were running the government our country would be belly up in a matter of weeks.
The USCCB should stay in its own lane. Stay focused on their vocation and call to preach the Gospel. Allow the laity to sort through the details of public policy.