Statements

June 13, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS—On June 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit largely affirmed a nationwide preliminary injunction against implementation of sections of the Administration’s executive order that attempted to suspend and limit the U.S. refugee resettlement program and also attempted to ban the entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries. A statement from Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin, Texas, [...]

Below is the statement on the decision by the 4th Circuit Court, put out by Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), of which USCCB/MRS is a member organization: RCUSA is heartened that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling against the Executive Order that was issued on March 6th. In doing so,  it found that [...]

May 22, 2017 WASHINGTON—The chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Texas, offered his appreciation to Secretary John Kelly of the Department of Homeland Security for his decision to extend Temporary Protective Status for Haitians in the United States for six months but urged [...]

WASHINGTON—The Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, says that President Trump’s latest Executive Order still puts vulnerable populations around the world at risk. In a statement issued after the announcement of today’s travel suspension, Bishop Vásquez says that while we seek to maintain our values [...]

February 23 2017 WASHINGTON—On February 20, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued two memoranda implementing Executive Orders 13768 and 13767, relating to border and interior immigration enforcement.  In response to the memoranda, the Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, has issued the following [...]

WASHINGTON—On February 9, 2017, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a unanimous decision upholding a lower court's temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the implementation of several key provisions of Executive Order 13769. The TRO was put in place by the U.S. District Court for the Western [...]

January 31, 2017 WASHINGTON—On January 27, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order that, among other things: suspends issuance of visas and other immigration benefits to nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days; indefinitely suspends resettlement of refugees from Syria, which is also predominantly Muslim, subject to a possible exception for [...]

January 30, 2017 “When did we see you a stranger and welcome you?” Matthew 25:38 WASHINGTON— Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the USCCB, have issued the following joint statement regarding the recent executive order [...]

January  27, 2017 WASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump issued today an Executive Order addressing the U.S. refugee admissions program and migration to the United States, generally. The executive order virtually shuts down the refugee admissions program for 120 days, reduces the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States this year from 110,000 to [...]

WASHINGTON—Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Texas and chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Migration has issued the following statement in response to yesterday’s executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The executive order would deny federal funding for jurisdictions that choose not to cooperate with federal efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. Bishop Vásquez [...]