President Donald Trump 
Catholic bishops from the United States and Mexico have spoken forcefully against the climate of fear for migrants and others which has arisen in America since the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
In separate gatherings, prelates made statements to denounce “the exclusion and marginalisation” which threaten to divide families and punish the most vulnerable.
In a joint statement from the biannual meeting of the Tex-Mex Border Bishops – drawn from 20 dioceses flanking the US-Mexico border – the prelates urge a kind response to the reality of migration.
“We have seen the pain, the fear, and the anguish suffered by the persons who have come to us and who have to live among us in the shadows of our society…We can sense the pain of the separation of families, loss of employment, persecutions, discrimination, expressions of racism, and unnecessary deportations that paralyse the development of persons in our societies and the development of our nations, leaving them empty and without hope.
Human dignity
“Regardless of one’s migration condition, the intrinsic human dignity that every person possesses must be respected in the person of the migrant…It is essential that governments adopt policies that respect the basic human rights of undocumented migrants.”
Meanwhile, at a major gathering in California, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego urged delegates at the US Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements to “become disrupters” of any plans causing division within America.
“President Trump said he was the candidate of disruption,” the bishop said. “Now we must all become disrupters.
“We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our communities to deport the undocumented, to destroy our families. We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies. We must disrupt those who train us to see Muslim men and women as a source of threat rather than children of God.”
