A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security \u2013 which oversees immigration enforcement, border security, detention and deportation \u2013 said the real moral evil is people who kill Americans after entering the country illegally.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen borders have deadly consequences. We will continue to fight to stop another senseless tragedy from happening to another American family,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Seitz\u2019s letter also seeks to reassure frightened immigrants that the Catholic Church stands with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent months, I have heard your fears, sufferings and worries about deportation. I have heard the stories about families being separated and of members being taken away from our community,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n
He cited people \u201csnatched away\u201d as they appeared at immigration court proceedings, workers taken from construction sites in El Paso, and parents who can\u2019t go to jobs because the government took away their work permits. He also cited the deaths of three people at Camp East Montana, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center at Fort Bliss.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: \u2018Beacon of hope\u2019: El Pasoans hopeful Pope Leo XIV embraces Francis\u2019 message on migrants, respect for all people<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTo those of you affected by hatred and discrimination and afraid of what comes next, know that the church stands with you. As your Bishop, I carry your pain daily in my heart and in my prayers. I stand with you,\u201d the pastoral letter said. \u201cOur Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, told me personally to stand in solidarity with suffering migrant families and not to remain silent. I will do everything I can to uphold the God-given dignity of every person in our borderlands community.\u201d<\/p>\n But the most pointed message in the letter is aimed at El Paso Catholics working in the Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection and ICE, as well as with contractors running detention centers.<\/p>\n More than 415,000 El Pasoans identified as Catholic in 2020, accounting for more than three-fourths of El Pasoans who were affiliated with a church, according to a study by the Association of Religion Data Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seitz said in the letter that law enforcement and immigration enforcement agents perform vital work to keep the community safe.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the death of those in immigration detention is unacceptable. An unjust immigration system that leads to deadly outcomes is destructive of our shared humanity,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cMass deportations will not make our communities safer. They separate families, divide neighbors and threaten our economic wellbeing. While we do need significant immigration reforms, it is an injustice to make families, children and the vulnerable pay the price of our inaction,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n Seitz said \u201cthe current national campaign of mass detention and deportations is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed, with prayer, peaceful action and acts of solidarity with those affected.\u201d<\/p>\n For those working as part of mass detention and mass deportation efforts, he said: \u201cI promise the pastoral support of our priests, chaplains and myself as you navigate the demands of conscience with sincerity. You are also in my prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n Seitz has long been a leader among U.S. bishops on immigration issues. He recently completed a three-year term as chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration.<\/p>\n In a 2017 pastoral letter<\/a>, Seitz called the nation\u2019s broken immigration system \u201ca wound on this border community. It is a scandal to the Body of Christ in El Paso.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s pastoral letter is Seitz\u2019s third since becoming El Paso\u2019s bishop in 2013. The other was written in 2019<\/a>, in the aftermath of the racist attack that killed 23 people that year at an El Paso Walmart. He said \u201cracism is really about advancing, shoring up, and failing to oppose a system of white privilege and advantage based on skin color.\u201d<\/p>\n Seitz\u2019s latest letter never mentions the Trump administration, and frames mass detention and deportation as a spiritual and moral issue rather than a political one.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Gospels, we meet Jesus as a child living in exile and as an adult with no place to lay his head. In his ministry, Jesus called his followers to join him on the road, and we Christians have always been a people on the move,\u201d Seitz wrote.<\/p>\n The El Paso bishop\u2019s pastoral letter is the latest in a series of steps that places the U.S. Catholic Church at the forefront of opposition to the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies.<\/p>\n In November 2025, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a \u201cspecial message<\/a>\u201d opposing what it called \u201cthe indiscriminate mass deportation of people.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Leo-El-Paso-5.jpg\")
Pope Leo XIV, center, talks with El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, right, about immigration issues during a meeting at the Vatican on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. El Paso Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino is at left. (Photo courtesy of Hope Border Institute)<\/p>\n