Immigration detention in the United States

Distinctly Catholic: Make the point unmistakably clear. These are not normal times, what is being done to these desperate people is the real crime, and the Catholic Church stands with them.

Cases document pregnant women in detention experiencing inadequate medical care, verbal and physical abuse, and stressful conditions that affect their health and that of their unborn children.

In May, Roberto Rauda, an undocumented immigrant, went to a New London, Conn., courthouse to pay a fine for carrying an open container of beer. Instead he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a routine sweep and ended up in the Bristol County House of Corrections in North Dartmouth, Mass.

Even before the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy led to the separation of families, religious groups cast a jaundiced eye on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Bipartisan disagreement on how to fix the country's immigration system led to failure once again as lawmakers on Capitol Hill turned down one immigration bill June 21 and postponed a vote on a second proposal, which also has a slim opportunity of passing.

The U.S. bishops "cannot, in good faith, endorse" an immigration bill submitted by the House's Republican leadership, said Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Migration.

Distinctly Catholic: The U.S. bishops seem clueless about their present moral situation. President Trump is attacking their spiritual children. Where is the united voice of the episcopacy in this country?

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