As national debates over immigration intensify, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese spoke at the Notre Dame Law School on November 17 about the impact on religious freedom from increased enforcement efforts.
Rhoades, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Religious Liberty, spoke just days after the USCCB issued its first “Special Message” on political issues in 12 years, responding to changes in U.S. immigration policy.
“We truly do recognize our nation’s responsibility to regulate its borders and to have a just and orderly immigration system for the common good,” Rhoades said in his lecture. “We note that without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation.”
But immigration enforcement as it’s currently being administered, the bishops argue, threatens the human dignity that the Church advocates and infringes on the right to worship.
The following are selections from the bishop’s remarks:
On the need for a compassionate approach to immigration:
We must not ignore others, including those who are our own Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters around the world whose freedom is denied and also those whose lives are even at risk for practicing their faith. It’s heartbreaking that so many who had the hope for religious freedom by immigrating here are now without that hope. Some of them came because they were in higher poverty, or they were fleeing violence. I know Central Americans who have told me the reason they came into our country illegally was because their children were being coerced into drug cartels. And if they didn’t join, they’d be killed. Well, what would I do as a parent? I’d want to get them out of that situation. So these are really human issues.
On the impact of detaining people based on race:
Racial profiling creates fear, it creates anxiety and it’s unjust. Just because someone speaks another language or looks different, they are suspected of being illegal. And there have been a lot of reports of that, sadly. We have a lot of good people — parishioners who are immigrants — who have talked to me about their fear and anxiety.
On the USCCB’s advocacy for the rights of religious charities to serve people without discrimination based on immigration status. State attorneys general in Texas and Indiana, for example, have targeted such services, which the bishops’ organization considers a threat to religious liberty and human dignity:
The right to be able to provide food, to be able to provide shelter, to be able to help people in very difficult situations: that’s the call of the Gospel. So immigration enforcement should never infringe on those things, and that’s what we’re emphasizing right now.
On the refusal of clergy who have sought to bring Communion and other religious services to those held in detention centers in Florida and Illinois:
As new immigration operations begin and new temporary detention centers are erected, these kinds of threats will persist. So we will need to continue to insist on respect for the fundamental rights of immigrants, including the right to religious liberty and the right of the Church to serve and minister to immigrants.
On the Trump administration capping refugee admissions at 7,500 for 2026, a reduction from the previous limit of 125,000:
As we think about the threats to religious freedom in our nation, we must not forget the very dire situation of millions of people persecuted for their faith throughout the world, including millions of Christians. I’m very saddened by the extremely restricted refugee policy of our present administration that has so severely reduced the number of refugees admitted into our country, including people suffering severe religious persecution. There are so many victims of religious persecution in refugee camps and in very terrible situations who will not be able to come to the United States. I find this extremely troubling.
On transcending the politics of immigration:
There are some who are so taken by the ideology of the left or the right that what the Church says is secondary to their ideology. That’s very troubling, because I’ve always said, be Catholic first, be a disciple of Jesus first before being a Democrat or being a Republican.
Michelle Cuneo is an associate editor of this magazine.