'Upending American church life': Religious leaders slam Trump for 'inciting fear'

Donald Trump in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 2020 (Creative Commons)

A group of top Catholic leaders, including bishops and nuns, have condemned the Trump administration's policies, saying they are "tearing apart families, inciting fear and upending American church life."

Speaking on a panel at Georgetown University, the religious leaders pointed to hardline immigration policies as the reason people are staying away from school and church.

"The way that the immigration policies are enforced these days are not only destabilizing the life of the particular immigrant, but whole families, businesses, the life of children, whole communities, neighborhoods," said Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, of Washington, D.C. "What I'm seeing in people's eyes, is pain and a deep confusion. … Where do we go from here if we're not welcome."

Today, Menjivar-Ayala, the first Salvadorian bishop in the United States, who crossed the U.S. border illegally in 1990 after leaving his native El Salvador during the country's civil war, is a U.S. citizen.

"For me, it's very personal because I was a stranger and you welcomed me," he told PBS.

Migrant rights activist Sister Norma Pimentel said she was "moved to tears" after visiting families at a detention facility in Texas.

""I saw Border Patrol agents looking at us, and they, too, were moved and were crying," she said. "When I walked out of there, the officer turned to me and said, 'Thank you, sister, for helping us realize they're human beings.'"

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski agreed, saying, "The fact that we invite these detainees to pray, even in this very dehumanizing situation, is a way of emphasizing and invoking their dignity," he said. "More importantly that God has not forgotten them."

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