| The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is asking Catholics to contact their Members of Congress and urge them to ensure immigration enforcement respects human dignity and religious freedom for all.
While Congress continues to negotiate on Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the chairmen of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty and Committee on Migration sent a letter articulating the bishops’ concerns and requests regarding issues at the intersection of immigration enforcement and religious freedom.
In their letter, Archbishop Alexander Sample and Bishop Brendan Cahill echoed the special pastoral message adopted by the full body of bishops in November: “We recognize the legitimate role of immigration enforcement as one aspect of furthering the common good.” At the same time, the bishops made clear that the current “enforcement-only approach” to immigration conflicts with the Church’s call for enforcement efforts to be targeted, proportionate, and humane, with respect for human dignity and the sanctity of families serving as key measures of their validity.
Archbishop Sample and Bishop Cahill specifically underscored that the fundamental guarantee of religious liberty should be upheld for all people, including our immigrant brothers and sisters, regardless of individual legal status. Drawing on the Committee for Religious Liberty’s 2026 Annual Report on the State of Religious Liberty in the United States, the bishops underscored pressing concerns about enforcement, or fear of enforcement, at houses of worship and a systemic lack of access to religious and pastoral services for those in immigration detention.
The bishops urged Congress to demonstrate its support for religious liberty on a bipartisan basis by (1) ensuring respect for what are commonly referred to as sensitive locations, especially houses of worship, and (2) mandating consistent access to religious and pastoral services for all immigration detainees.
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