“Our Commitment to Stand with You During this Challenging Hour”

As your shepherds, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops are keenly aware of the recent immigration-enforcement actions across Louisiana affecting our communities. Such enforcement actions aimed at preserving order and ensuring community security are necessary for the common good. However, the current efforts appear to go well beyond those with criminal histories. 
 
Pope Leo XIV reminds us that at the heart of the Christian faith is an invitation to share in the communion of life and love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the first community and based completely on love. The Holy Father also challenged us to be a sign of hope by making the world a better place.
 
Considering Pope Leo’s message, no one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard throughout our communities in Louisiana in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement actions.
 
In the context of a gravely deficient immigration system, the detainment and possible removal of our neighbors, friends, and family members, particularly in ways that are arbitrary or without due process, represent a profound social crisis before which no person of goodwill can remain silent. The situation is far from the communion of life and love to which this nation of immigrants should strive. 
 
We want to assure all of those affected by actions which tear at the fabric of our communities of Louisiana the solidarity of your pastors. Louisiana is a hub for federal detention centers and has three immigration courts with a significant volume of cases. We provide needed pastoral care in the detention centers as much as possible.
 
As your shepherds, your fear echoes in our hearts and we make your pain our own. Count on the commitment of all of us to stand with you in this challenging hour. 
 
Let those motivated by the urgency of the current moment to work for just and humane solutions to these immigration challenges know of the commitment and goodwill of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops.