MIAMI SHORES, FLA. (WSVN) - Florida’s Catholic bishops have asked President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis to hit pause on the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement during part of the holidays.
The letter from the religious leaders is the latest in a continued campaign by the church to try to convince the government to be more humane when it comes to their treatment of immigrants who come to the Unites States illegally.
Many of the bishops in the U.S. who have been appointed by the Pope have been critics of the president.
“Don’t be the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said in a news conference held Monday.
Wenski, along with the rest of Florida’s Catholic bishops, called for a pause on immigration enforcement during the holy week of Christmas.
“That could help a lot to lower the temperature in our nation, but also it will help the families of our community to be able to gather together and celebrate Christmas with their families,” Wenski said.
The letter was penned by the church’s leadership in Florida. It pleads with Trump and DeSantis for a pause, citing the border being secure and the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have already been deported or have left voluntarily.
Pope Leo XIV has publicly taken a pro-immigrant stance.
“I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely,” he said previously in a statement to the press.
The pontiff supported his bishops who have criticized Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
“When people are living good lives — and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years — to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least, and there’s been some violence, unfortunately, I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they’ve said,” the pope said.
“Give people these two weeks to be with their families without fear of being arrested or taken into custody and ending up at ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ at Krome or other places to await deportation,” Wenski said. “It’s a very simple request: a pause during the Christmas holidays.”
Two recently appointed religious leaders have also shown a shift in views on immigration, with New York bishop-elect Ronald Hicks, and Palm Beach bishop-elect Manuel De Jesus Rodriguez
“The church supports the authorities efforts to enforce migration laws, but the church is also all for the respect due to the human dignity of migrants,” said Rodriguez.
Wenski was also asked whether he thinks he will receive a response from either the president or the governor or whether their plea will be convincing. He said he is hopeful that the Christmas spirit is a powerful one.
“The majority of people that are being removed are people with no criminal records. Give us a pause, let people celebrate the holiday in peace with their families, and without fear.” said Wenski.
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