Vice President JD Vance and the Catholic Church — of which he is a member — are at odds over U.S. immigration policy.
With less than a week in office, President Donald Trump has begun swiftly implementing anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies, including removing protections for churches and schools that previously were off-limits for immigration raids.
Three prominent Catholic leaders issued a statement last week pushing back on Trump’s actions, which have been defended by Vance.
“Catholic health care, Catholic Charities agencies and the church’s other social service ministries work daily to feed, house, heal, educate and meet people’s needs in communities across our nation,” the statement says. “Through these ministries — together with the church’s responsibility to proclaim the gospel and celebrate the sacraments — we uphold the belief that all people are conceived with inherent dignity, reflecting the image of God. Through our parishes, shelters, hospitals, schools and other church institutions, we recognize that this dignity is not dependent on a person’s citizenship or immigration status. Moreover, the charitable services we provide are fundamental to who we are as Christians.
The statement quotes an earlier encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI that says, “For the church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being.”
“Turning places of care, healing and solace into places of fear and uncertainty … will not make our communities safer.”
The statement continues: “We recognize the need for just immigration enforcement and affirm the government’s obligation to carry it out in a targeted, proportional and humane way. However, non-emergency immigration enforcement in schools, places of worship, social service agencies, health care facilities or other sensitive settings where people receive essential services would be contrary to the common good. With the mere rescission of the protected areas guidance, we are already witnessing reticence among immigrants to engage in daily life, including sending children to school and attending religious services.
Bishop Mark Seitz
“All people have a right to fulfill their duty to God without fear. Turning places of care, healing and solace into places of fear and uncertainty for those in need, while endangering the trust between pastors, providers, educators and the people they serve, will not make our communities safer.
“Our organizations stand ready to work on a better path forward that protects the dignity of all those we serve, upholds the sacred duty of our providers and ensures our borders and immigration system are governed with mercy and justice.”
The statement was signed by Bishop Mark J. Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration; Mary Haddad, president of Catholic Health Association of the United States; and Kerry Alys Robinson, president of Catholic Charities USA.
On Sunday morning, Vance condemned the Catholic leaders’ statement while appearing on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, later reported by CBS News.
Trump’s various controversial actions on immigration and refugees are fulfilments of campaign promises, Vance said, and are necessary.
He took particular issue with the Catholic leaders’ statement on removing sanctuary protections from churches.
“As a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement,” he said. Vance is part of the most conservative wing of the Catholic Church that often finds itself at odds with mainstream Catholic theology on social justice.
Brennan asked Vance if he supported immigration agents going into churches and schools, “conducting a raid or enforcement action in a church service, at a school.”
Vance said he “supports us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they’re illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe.”
Brennan later asked: “You think the U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishops is actively hiding criminals from law enforcement?”
Vance did not answer the question. Instead, he responded: “I think the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has, frankly, not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for, and I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they’ll do better.”
Vance repeatedly painted the immigration question as being about chasing down violent criminals, even though statistically illegal immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than are American citizens.
And he accused the Catholic Church of caring about immigrants only to get federal aid that enriches the church.
“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people.”
Then he pivoted to talk about “the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide open border of Joe Biden.”
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