TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Bishop Looking To Stop ICE Raids

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 22, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop is calling on U.S. authorities to halt mass immigration raids and says agents who refuse to participate in such raids on moral grounds deserve to be treated as conscientious objectors.

Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin asked for a blanket moratorium on immigration raids in Rhode Island until the nation adopts comprehensive immigration reform. Tobin made the requests in a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston.

The letter was sent Tuesday and publicly released Thursday.

"We often ask, 'What would Jesus do?'" Tobin said in an interview Thursday. "I know for sure what Jesus would not do, would be to sweep into a community, gather up large numbers of people, separate them from one another and deport them to another country. In my own mind, in my own conscience, that's crystal clear: Jesus would not do that."

Tobin's action comes during a heated debate over illegal immigration in heavily Catholic Rhode Island. Authorities recently raided six courthouses looking for illegal immigrant maintenance workers and Gov. Don Carcieri, himself a Catholic, signed an order requiring state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.

"We believe that raids on the immigrant community are unjust, unnecessary, and counterproductive," the bishop's letter says. It urges individual federal agents to consider the morality of their actions and refuse to participate if their conscience dictates.

ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the agency respects Tobin but thinks his diocese "would be better served by helping individuals to comply with the law or working to change those laws rather than asking law enforcement agents not to enforce it."

Carcieri questioned Tobin's logic.

"If you choose to become a law enforcement officer, you swear to uphold the laws of the state and the nation," Carcieri said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called U.S. immigration policies "morally unacceptable," saying they keep families divided and encourage the exploitation of migrants.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT