Catholic Bishops Urge Supreme Court to Protect Due Process for Deportees

6:14 PM ETDeveloping

Faith Desk

In Short: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked the Supreme Court to strengthen due process rights for noncitizens facing deportation, citing Catholic teaching and constitutional principles.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to enhance due process protections for noncitizens undergoing deportation proceedings, according to reports. The USCCB and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) argue that such protections are essential to uphold human dignity and safeguard the common good, aligning with Catholic teachings.

In a legal filing, the bishops stated, 'Indefinite confinement without individualized review by a neutral tribunal is anathema to our constitutional system and the ordered liberty it enshrines.' They also argue that these protections are consistent with American principles and good governance.

The petition comes in relation to the ongoing case Genalo v., and follows a recent appeal to President Trump to end mass deportations of Haitians, a stance that reflects a hardening in the bishops' position on deportation policies impacting nearly one in five U.S. Catholics.

In a separate development, the U.S. Ukrainian Catholic bishops have called for Masses and prayers to be offered on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, emphasizing the need to reflect on the lessons of that day and seek peace amid a fractured global landscape.

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“Twenty-five years have elapsed since that day and yet the chilling images remain etched in our minds,” said the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the U.S., led by Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A.
Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a Sept. 9 statement that “faith lifted us up and sustained us” during the attack and its aftermath.
In their pastoral letter, the U.S. Ukrainian Catholic bishops called on their priests to celebrate a “panakhyda,” a prayer service for the souls of the deceased, for 9/11 victims on either Sept. 11 or 13.
Multiple Masses marking the somber milestone will be offered throughout New York and its surrounding counties, according to The Good Newsroom, the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York.
In their pastoral letter, the U.S. Ukrainian Catholic bishops said that Christians “must do more than remember” the horrors of 9/11, and reflect on its profound lessons about evil, goodness and the faith-filled choices that lie between the two.
“September 11 confronts us with the terrible reality of the capacity of fallen humanity for evil,” said the bishops.
The letter’s language marked a notable hardening in tone from the U.S. bishops’ conference, though Coakley also wrote that he was “humbly” appealing for Trump’s assistance.
Last November, the U.S. bishops’ conference released a special pastoral message calling for an end to “indiscriminate mass deportation,” a sign of how seriously the conference is taking deportation policies that could impact nearly 1 in 5 U.S. Catholics directly or through their family.

Sources

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