CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic bishops of California this week released a statement expressing their support of the Texas bishops and the Annunciation House, a migrant shelter that TX Attorney General Ken Paxton recently filed a lawsuit against.
Paxton announced on February 20 that he filed a lawsuit against the Catholic volunteer-run shelter, located in El Paso, after his office “reviewed significant public record information strongly suggesting” that the House was “facilitating illegal entry to the United States, alien harboring, human smuggling, and operating a stash house.”
“It is shameful that the Texas Attorney General would file suit against Annunciation House in El Paso,” the California Bishops Conference stated on February 27:
For a country that was founded by immigrants from Europe seeking religious freedom and tolerance, we find the actions of the Texas AG abhorrent in attempting to curtail the work of people of faith.
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso last week also criticized the lawsuit, arguing that the House “has been an effective, compassionate local response to a complex and broken immigration system”…. Shortly after Seitz’s response, the other bishops of Texas issued a statement in support of Seitz.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana issued a statement on February 26, published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), expressing his support of Seitz and the other Texas bishops.
“The California Catholic Conference’s Executive Committee stands in solidarity with Bishop Mark Seitz of the Dioceses of El Paso, Texas, as he defends the Church’s right to practice its faith and implement the corporal works of mercy,” the California bishops stated:
…The Annunciation House has accompanied migrants for nearly 50 years, partnering with local and federal law enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol.
For the AG to claim the nonprofit is responsible for ‘worsening illegal immigration’ shows a lack of fundamental understanding of the gravity of immigration as a humanitarian concern and unjustly attacks a long-standing partner in relief efforts.
The bishops added that because they also minister to a border state, they “appreciate the humbling and complex immigration challenges our country faces.”
“At the same time, we are committed to the same solutions that the Texas bishops have declared: to remain committed to praying and working for a secure border, to protect the vulnerable, and for just immigration solutions to protect all human life,” they concluded.
