Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez issued the following statement today on the Supreme Court decision to review Texas v. the United States of America:
I am pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to take up the case of Texas v. United States of America.
I cannot speak to the constitutional questions in this case. I speak as a pastor. And as a pastor, I know that the situation is unjust and intolerable for millions of people who are forced to live in the shadows of our great country. Every day in our parishes and schools and neighborhoods, we see the rising human toll of our failure to enact comprehensive immigration reform, especially on families and children.
Nationwide, more than two million undocumented persons have been deported in the last eight years alone, including thousands who are mothers or fathers forced to leave behind their spouses and children. Millions more are living in constant fear that they too might be rounded up for deportation, that one day without warning they won’t be coming home for dinner and may never see their families again.
The executive actions at issue in this case are temporary and they are no substitute for the comprehensive immigration reform our country needs. But these actions would be a measure of mercy, providing peace of mind to nearly nine million people, including 4.5 million children.
People do not cease to be our brothers and sisters because they have an irregular immigration status. No matter how they got here, no matter how frustrated we are with our government, we cannot lose sight of their humanity — without losing our own.
Until lawmakers in Washington can find the humility and courage to set aside differences and seek a common solution, the Supreme Court may be our last best hope to restore humanity to our immigration policy.
Texas v. the United States of America is a lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General on behalf of 26 states challenging President Obama’s right to expand immigration programs to allow millions of undocumented individuals to remain in the United States and apply for a temporary work permit. In February 2015, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division issued an injunction against President Obama's executive action, delaying their implementation throughout the country; in May that decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Finally, a clear statement from a Bishop of a large and significant Catholic diocese in the United States speaking out strongly on the moral dimension of the irrational fears and bigotry currently being purveyed in this country against undocumented immigrants and refugees from violence and terror. Why isn't it a joint statement from every Bishop in the United States? Both the Old and New Testaments speak clearly to our obligations to the stranger, to the poor, to the dispossessed. Those obligations are not conditional on our self-interests. That's what makes "Christians" Christians. The "Christian right" has been turned into a misnomer.