For decades, Florida’s bishops, along with their counterparts across the United States, have consistently urged Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform. Church teaching affirms a country’s right and responsibility to promote public order, safety, and security through well-regulated borders and just immigration policies. However, the solution to the nation’s inadequate immigration system must come at the federal level, not through fragmented state policies.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has outlined six key elements of reform, rooted in Catholic social teaching and the Church’s teachings on migration:
- Enforcement efforts should be targeted, proportional, and humane.
- Humanitarian protection and due process should be ensured.
- Long-time residents should have an earned pathway to citizenship.
- Family unity should remain a cornerstone of the U.S. system.
- Legal pathways should be expanded, reliable, and efficient.
- The root causes of forced migration should be addressed.
Recent USCCB Immigration Statements
The USCCB has issued the following statements in response to recent immigration-related actions by the Trump administration:
- USCCB Statement on Its Work with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
- “Human Dignity Is Not Dependent on a Person’s Citizenship or Immigration Status”
- Executive Actions Will Subject Vulnerable Families and Children to Grave Danger, Says Bishop Seitz
- Statement of Archbishop Broglio on Executive Orders Signed by the President
Resources from USCCB:
January 24, 2025, Initial Migration-Related Executive Actions of the Second Trump Administration
