Florida's Catholic bishops appealed to President Donald Trump on Monday to pause immigration enforcement activities during the Christmas holidays. The White House, in response, said it would be business as usual.
The appeal was issued by Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski and signed by seven other members of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"At this point, the maximum enforcement approach of treating irregular immigrants en masse means that now many of these arrest operations inevitably sweep up numbers of people who are not criminals but just here to work," the bishops said in a statement.
"Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families. Now is not the time to be callous toward the suffering caused by immigration enforcement."
Speaking to WLRN, Wenski said the conference was appealing for a stop to the "roundups" so that "people will be able to enjoy their families and go to church without fear, without anxiety."
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"People want to be together as a family, have a pause. We'd like to see the policies change," he said. "We'd like to see something else than just an enforcement-only tactic, but in the meantime, let's give a pause to this and let people enjoy Christmas."
However, in an email, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson did not mention the holiday season in her two-sentence reply to the request.
“President Trump was elected based on his promise to the American people to deport criminal illegal aliens. And he’s keeping that promise,” Jackson wrote, according to the Associated Press.
The request for a holiday "truce" followed the Vatican's condemnation last month of federal and local law enforcement treatment of migrants in the United States.
"When people are living good lives — and many of them (in the United States) for 10, 15, 20 years — to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least," is not acceptable, Pope Leo XIV said Nov. 18.
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Trump administration to "be generous in welcoming immigrants" in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, as reported by Politico.
Wenski: Time for a 'pivot'
The Florida bishops requested that all mass deportations and enforcement actions be halted until after the Christmas and New Year holidays to honor the sanctity of the season.
Wenski said the president had achieved his aims and that now it was time for a "pivot."
"The [southern] border is effectively shut down. [The president] deported a lot of bad actors, and at this point, he should take a victory lap and and pivot. And the pivot should be toward the economy," he said.
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"[Trump] promises the best economy ever, but you're not gonna have the best economy ever in this country without taking into account the labor force participation of immigrants; we need the immigrants."
Instead, Wenski said he has seen a ramp-up of the crackdown.
"Over the past several weeks, we see that the enforcement of the administration is really picking up. And they're picking up people that are not just criminals or dangerous people. They're picking up hard-working people that are trying to build a future for themselves and their children. And in the process, they're breaking up families," he told WLRN.
Wenski said he and other Catholic bishops are concerned about the psychological well-being of children, particularly those living in mixed-status households — families with legal U.S. residents and undocumented.
"The governor and the president shouldn't be the Grinch that stole Christmas this year," said
Wenski, who has established a reputation as an outspoken advocate of humane treatment for migrants.
Growing chorus of faith leaders nationwide
The Archdiocese of Miami, which serves one of the nation's most diverse and immigrant-rich communities, is joining a growing chorus of faith leaders nationwide. The appeal emphasizes that the "sacred season" should be a time for policies that reflect the core values of the faith.
In a statement accompanying the appeal, the Florida bishops noted it is "praying that decisions made during this sacred season uphold justice, mercy and respect for human dignity."
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced this month it had deported more than 605,000 undocumented immigrants since Trump took office in January, and 1.9 million had voluntarily "self-deported."
"DHS has prioritized removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens as part of the Trump administration's efforts to return law and order to the United States," DHS said in a statement.
Trump administration officials claim that 70% of undocumented immigrants arrested are "criminal aliens" — meaning they have been charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.
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