(RNS) — Back in November, just a week after Donald Trump was elected to a second term as U.S. president, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chair of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ committee on migration, said the bishops would be cautious not to overreact to Trump’s immigration promises, as “the reality is different from the rhetoric.”
Now, one week ahead of Trump’s inauguration, after the administration has said it will cast aside a restriction on Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on sensitive spaces, including houses of worship, and after Customs and Border Patrol conducted a large-scale raid near Bakersfield, California, Seitz is taking a more urgent tone.
“We are at risk of losing part of our soul as a nation, so this is a time of great concern,” Seitz told RNS, saying immigration policy must acknowledge the importance of fundamental human dignity and inalienable rights.
Seitz, like many immigration observers, believes the Bakersfield area raid foreshadows the types of raids that might take place under the Trump administration, which made mass deportations a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign promises.
On Monday (Jan. 13), Seitz traveled to Newark, New Jersey, to join Cardinal Joseph Tobin, his archdiocese and Faith in Action, a multifaith community organizing group, at St. Lucy’s Catholic Church for a day of prayer and dialogue with immigrant families. After the event, Seitz went to visit the Statue of Liberty, which has “great meaning” for him, especially now, he told RNS en …