The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is on a collision course with the Trump administration over competing views on immigration and the role the government should play in caring for at-risk migrants, according to a statement the conference released this week.
This USCCB chastised the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for rescinding a policy that gave guidance on the care, custody and documentation of pregnant women they encounter.
Bishop Mark J. Seitz, of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration wrote, "It is deeply troubling and inexcusable that measures intended to ensure the basic safety of pregnant mothers and their young children while in government custody could be rescinded with such indifference toward the vulnerability of those involved.”
In early May, CPB Acting Commissioner Pete Flores issued an internal memo that declared four previous policies had been declared "either obsolete or misaligned with current Agency guidance and immigration enforcement priorities." One such policy was a 2022 mandate called the “Processing of Pregnant, and Postpartum Noncitizens and Infants," which set forth instructions for CPB, which included offering a medical assessment to all pregnant women and making sure breast-feeding mothers have access to privacy and rest facilities."
“This decision is all the more concerning as the [Trump] administration simultaneously ramps up family detention in place of safer, more cost-effective alternatives to detention," Seitz said.
"Let us be clear: protecting pregnant mothers and their children can never be considered 'obsolete.' This principle irrefutably extends to noncitizens in immigration detention, each of whom possesses an inviolable, God-given dignity that must be respected. We urge the Administration to reissue guidance that adequately reflects and affirms the increased standard of care due to this vulnerable population while in government custody," he added.
Time will tell how much a of conflict the Catholic church generally and Pope Leo XIV specifically will have with the Trump administration over the issue of illegal immigration. Vice President JD Vance and Border Czar Tom Homan had politely debated Pope Francis over immigration just prior to his passing. Although he has yet to address the issue publicly, Pope Leo’s brother John Prevost told the New York Times, “I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with immigration. I know that for a fact. How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.”