US bishops support calls to keep immigrant families together

American Catholic bishops joined various faith groups in calling on the US Supreme Court to give temporary relief to undocumented persons in the country who are eligible for deportation.

“Courts have repeatedly recognized that there is a public interest in maintaining stable families and communities,” the bishops said in an amicus brief filed on March 8.

“Family unification is an integral consideration in the application of immigration law,” read the brief. It said that children can suffer “emotional and social harm” resulting from the deportation and even detention of their parents.

in “extreme cases,” families can break up entirely with the children going into foster care. “The impact on children here could not be clearer,” the brief said, adding that fear of deportation also drives families away from public spaces, and thus harms the public interest.

The administration of President Barack Obama has earlier issued the “Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents that delayed the deportation of millions of undocumented people in the United States.

The action granted parents with children born in the US, and thus citizens or lawful permanent residents by birthright, a stay on their deportation if they met certain conditions like having lived in the US for at least five years.

Sources

Catholic News Agency
Angelus News
Independent Catholic News
Catholic News Service/catholicphilly.com
Image: CNA

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News category: World.

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