Under new rules adopted by the Obama administration last year, deportation will now be reserved for undocumented felons, national security risks or repeat immigration offenders. Undocumented immigrants guilty of only minor legal violations and who have long and substantial ties in the United States would have their deportation cases set aside. The policy shift addresses one of the major concerns of the U.S. bishops. They have long argued that immigrant families should not be broken up over small offenses. The change is “a potential seismic shift in enforcement,” said Geoffrey Scowcroft, an attorney who manages immigration legal services for Catholic Charities in Oregon. “We are in the very early stages of this, but this policy is as close to good news as we have seen in years,” he said. The Department of Homeland Security described the new discretion as a way to unclog immigration courts, which are now backlogged with more than 300,000 cases.
In 2012, Fewer Deportations Likely
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
In his message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Leo XIV encouraged parishes to put more effort into caring for the elderly.
Amid concern over immigration enforcement raids in the area, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, on July 8 issued a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass for the faithful if they fear for their well-being.
Father Joshua Whitfield of Dallas, Texas spoke to OSV News after the devastating flash flooding in Texas on July 4.
Although I had set out to answer the question, “Who is Pope Leo XIV?” the question I had succeeded in answering was “Who is Robert Prevost?”