Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 7, 2025 / 14:33 pm (CNA).
As officials carry out mass deportations across the United States, Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, is criticizing the Trump administration’s policy of deporting “as many immigrants as possible” without “distinguishing between true criminals and law-abiding persons.”
In a recent statement addressing Catholics in his diocese, Brennan said “some of you have told me that you were happy to support a presidential candidate who would install order at the southern border and keep out drug traffickers, terrorists, and violent criminals but that you didn’t expect this wholesale assault on the majority of immigrants, who work hard, are raising their families, and live peacefully in our communities.”
The bishop urged the government to prioritize deporting violent criminals rather than upstanding people, highlighting that entering the U.S. “without official government permission is a misdemeanor, a crime but a lesser one, on the level with loitering, public intoxication, and shoplifting.”
Brennan’s critique of mass deportations aligns with a number of other Catholic leaders including Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez, who recently said: “A great nation can take the time and care to make distinctions and judge each case on its merits.”
“On our journey to eternity, the Lord expects us to help one another,” Brennan said. “Why else would he command us: Love your neighbor as yourself and do unto others as you would have them do unto you?”
“In the light of these Christian principles, we the people must act,” Brennan declared. For example, Catholics can call for “less cruel” enforcement and can speak up “when we hear grossly inaccurate talk about undocumented immigrants being uniformly criminal, when only a few commit violent crimes.”
“As people of faith, we should pray intensely for God to touch the minds and hearts of our political leaders and move them to be more reasonable and humane in their policies; and for those who implement those policies to do so with respect for their fellow human beings.”
Brennan encouraged those enforcing immigration policies “to consider whether a specific action is morally justified,” because ultimately, “the final judge of our actions is God.”
Speaking of law enforcement officers, he said: “I recognize that they have sworn to uphold the law. Yet the manner in which a law is enforced matters. Those acting on the government’s behalf cannot escape personal responsibility for an unjust action with the excuse that it was ordered by their superiors.”
“That defense was not allowed during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals at the end of World War II,” Brennan explained. “The judges held that a soldier, guard, or official who authorized or engaged in gross violations of human rights was personally responsible for his acts.”
With that said, Brennan clarified: “What has been reported about excesses in immigration enforcement does not approach the horror of Nazi treatment of prisoners, but the principle of personal responsibility for one’s actions remains the same.”
“Our Church would have no martyrs if the highest good was to preserve one’s life. Some things are worth taking a principled stand for,” Brennan said. In tandem with bishops across the nation, Brennan called on Catholics “to affirm the humanity of all immigrants, regardless of legal status.”
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Spare us, your grace…. Where was your “blistering speech” about millions entering our country ILLEGALLY…
With the Bishop’s concern about parents and children being separated during ICE arrests, you’d think he could spare a few words for the thousands of unaccompanied children who went missing after crossing the border during the previous administration, and whose whereabouts and living conditions are still unknown. In fact, finding out what happened to the unaccompanied children should be a priority for Bishop Brennan and his brother prelates, given how much they say they care about immigrant families. Have any of the bishops speaking out against the current administration’s immigration policy mentioned those children?
Dear Brennan: The Catholic bishops lost the confidence of the Faithful when you molested our children and covered-up and protected homosexual priests who also molested our children. You bishops lost the confidence of the Faithful when you failed to take courageous stands to defend the full teachings of the Catholic Church. You bishops lost the confidence of the Faithful when you profitted financially by the unjust flooding of our country by illegal aliens. Some of us have just stopped listening to you. You have nothing to say to us.
Absolutely, good Diogenes. Well put.
May God save us from these craven, corrupt, incompetent leaders.
“when we hear grossly inaccurate talk about undocumented immigrants being uniformly criminal, when only a few commit violent crimes.”
The overwhelming majority of them have committed the crime of entering or remaining in the country illegally. I don’t see much of a defense for allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the country, if only they will make sure that their crimes are not violent. Could we make a similar deal for citizens, no jail time, if only the crime isn’t violent?
But it would help ICE a great deal, in prioritizing criminals, if the numerous sanctuary jurisdictions across the country would start cooperating with them at least to the extent of turning over illegal immigrants who have been charged or convicted of a crime. Perhaps some bishops could make that suggestion?
Um, which “law-abiding” illegal aliens are you talking about, Bishop Brennan?
Because, like, when you come right down to it…
There ain’t any.
It’s against the law to cross the border illegally, you see. In fact, that’s what the word, “illegal” means.
(Sigh.)
And, now that I think about it, how come you bishops didn’t seem to mind when the porous borders resulted in the deaths of more than a hundred thousand Americans each year due to the fentanyl smugglers?
Hmmm?
I’m sorry, but this statement of yours is illustrative of the reason I have such a low opinion of American Catholic bishops. Really, really, *really* low.
Where is/was the criticism of the Biden administration which created the present situation?
I don’t know where Bishop Brennan is getting his information from but I hear what he’s saying.
I think even in a practical, utilitarian way we would be wasting taxpayer money shipping back hardworking people from our workforce.
But if those illegal immigrants are in fact gang members, drug dealers or traffickers they need to be deported ASAP. And our border needs to remain secured in the future.
It’s a shame that we can’t find a humane solution but at the same time be aware of the involvement of organized crime at our borders and our cooperation with that when we don’t enforce border security properly.
I don’t want to see Catholics become immigration Karens or channel the inspector from Les Miserables. But we shouldn’t be led by naivete either.
I would argue that deporting illegals is more cost effective in the long run. Deportation is cheaper than paying relocation, housing, and food costs, since many illegals are not self-supporting.
I would like to see LEGAL immigrants who are hoping and planning to become American citizens continue to be allowed to enter our country in fairly large numbers.
We desperately need them to do the WORK of our country, especially health care (nurses, lab techs, etc.), and manual labor (welding, construction, etc.), as well as continuing to staff our law enforcement and military, teach in our schools, and of course, raise families–hopefully BIG families–and attend our churches (and give their tithes and offerings along with their various services)!
The population in the U.S. has decreased alarmingly as people are not having large families, or ANY children at all! (For this reason alone, abortion should be banned or at least, very limited, mainly to those women whose lives are truly in imminent danger).
Although some people don’t really care, many of us do–there are a lot of fast food restaurants that are currently staffed to the bare bones! I know of a Taco Bell in a busy suburban area that only has 3 people working at any given time–I’ve stopped buying at that Taco Bell because the quality of the food is pretty awful (often burned, dried-out tortillas, skimpy on the lettuce, missing the sauce, etc.)–it’s a shame, because Taco Bell has generally been The Place to go if you don’t have a lot of money to spend!
It’s not just Taco Bell–fast foods are designed for many employees each doing one task (the grill, the counter, the drive-thru, keeping the dining area clean (although nowadays, few people dine-in nowadays, but go through the drive-thru).
Sit-down restaurants aren’t faring much better with their staffing needs, and the salaries that they are asking (to make up for the increased workload) are quite high–comparable to the salaries that many health-care professionals earn!
As for health care–yikes! For a year, the clinic I use, in a fairly-wealthy area of my suburb, has not had a DOCTOR–just APNs (which are very good!). Many hospitals are so short-staffed that they now attempt to send tests out instead of doing them on site–but the reference labs and facilities are also short-staffed!
And then there is law enforcement, the various first responders (e.g., fire fighters), and the military–these are not seeing a lot of applicants.
There simply aren’t enough CHILDREN being born to take over for all the Boomers and Millennials! We hard-working Baby Boomers are dying off–but our kids (the Millennials) are aging, too, and many are suffering the maladies of our modern age–obesity, joint disorders (often due to obesity), various nervous conditions, etc.
And sadly, many of the current children are so addicted to their screens that they essentially are living in a fantasy world, with little thought given to “how they will earn a living after their parents have aged and passed away?”
We need our immigrants, who often come to this country with skills and the desire to work and become full-fledged Americans! We need their traditions, music, and culture to enrich our Melting Pot!
But we do need to make sure that any immigrants are entering our country with GOOD intentions and have plans to attend school, learn as much of our language as they can (but not give up their own language and rich traditions!), become active in our communities, be good neighbors, and obey our laws! At this point, we don’t have enough people to support those immigrants who plan to just relax and live off of charitable giving and government aid programs.
Yes, Mrs. Sharon we need immigrants to fill the gaps in our workforce. Hopefully in the future they can come here legally & safely.
I appreciate Taco Bell but you can find much better & cheaper tacos at Hispanic markets that serve food. Or food trucks. We are blessed to have a few of those in our area. Plus they have a whole assortment of sides & condiments to choose from.
Brennan is entitled to his opinions, so long as he (unlike hundreds of other bishops) is not personally profiting from the USCCB supported human tracking across our southern border. However, in this case, I believe his opinion is still worthless. No nation on earth gives permanent residency to those who have illegally entered. Brennan has no right to impose financial obligations on his fellow citizens. The nation is financially bankrupt. Illegals must go home, NOW.
To see just how little this bishop understands about the illegal immigration crisis in America today, just read his pastoral letter on immigrants released in 2023. It is a preposterous, shallow and totally ignorant portrayal of the situation, and further proof that our bishops are divided between those who are outright corrupt and those living in a fantasy world, totally disconnected from the lives of ordinary people. https://dwc.org/12-01-23-bishop-brennans-pastoral-letter-on-migration/
A few months back the Border Control met with Republicans in Congress to explain that to do the job completely would require a Trillion dollars over a period of ten years. And, that the budget is something like one-tenth of that amount, maybe less.
So, IF the current effort is even partly a monthly numbers game (like the failed “body-bag” metric in the Vietnam War?), THEN a still more discriminating approach should be figured out. Get all of the really bad guys before any of the farmworkers. The national deficit is part of a calculus looming over every federal program.
And, in our polarized environment, it’s probably not helpful for dialogue to rhetorically mention Nuremberg and the Nazis, even if then to walk it back into a very general principle of personal responsibility.
Where financial common sense and compassion meet.
“Get all the really bad guys first” sounds good in theory but it’s an idea that doesn’t survive contact with reality. If it were possible to identify and locate all the “really bad guys,” then go and arrest them, why aren’t we already doing that for crime-plagued inner cities? The fact tbat we aren’t indicates that it’s not a practical possibility.
The problem is that people who commit serious crimes look more or less like other people, barring any obvious markers such as prominently-placed gang tattoos, so they blend in with the crowd. Plus, they are someone’s father, mother,brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent. You might assume that family members and relatives woukd turn them in, but the reality is far more complicated and difficult.
Then, there would have to be an agreement on who the “really bad guys are,” but I doubt there’s any actual agreement on who falls into that category, given the reality of sin and the resulting complexity of human behavior. As an example, I support deporting people who received a deportation order and ignored it, or who were deported but returned, whether or not they were convicted of a violent crime, and even if they are nice, good people. Because they are living a lie. My position is supported by the law (it’s a felony) but from what I have read and heard, others do not support it and view it as a grave injustice. Then, there are serious crimes that are not violent, such as embezzlement and other tyoes of fraud that rob others of their income. So that needs to be figured in.
I’m inclined to leave law enforcement decisions to the professionals, with oversight and review.
“not a possibility?” Or just that it is easier to round up poor, peaceful, hard working people at their jobs, churches, schools, etc. than to go into the Bronx and round up armed, violent Trinitarios?
I think we should allow legal entry into the USA of immigrants. God knows I need people to clean my toilets and mow my lawn for less than the minimum wage. I intend to pay them cash so they can avoid having to pay taxes and, with that, their wages approximates what the minimum wage would require paying them. Hurry up and get them here; my grass is growing higher by the day.
I know some US citizens who would be glad to be paid cash to mow your yard. That’s how it works in my neighborhood.
🙂
Unfortunately, there are far too many who look at illegal immigration as a source of indentured servitude. I favor a LEGAL -fully-vetted- migration of people treated with the dignity that all persons deserve. The kind of migration favored by our bishops is one where people stealthily sneak into our country, hide from the law which they have violated and are viewed in the most undignified manner. Our bishops are part of the problem I’m afraid because they pay allegiance more to the Democrat Party and its political platform than they do to Jesus Christ.
Just wondering, all of you total enforcement fans out there, do you have a portrait of Kristi Noem in her body armor with a machine gun up there on the wall next to the Sacred Heart? How about our Mother of Perpetual Help?
Sometimes I’m puzzled about Miss Noem’s fashion choices but surely protective body armor is a good thing for those involved in law enforcement ? Some rural sheriff’s departments can’t afford that, which is a shame.