A group of congressional Catholic Democrats—including two Black representatives—have condemned the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, including widespread violence and legal maneuvers they say fall short of a Catholic “moral standard.”
“While regulating borders is consistent with Catholic social teaching, it is never a license for cruelty, indifference, or dehumanization,” they wrote in a new statement led by U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. Hispanic Caucus chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York and Rep. Gabe Amo of Rhode Island were among 44 total signatories.
“Border enforcement must be governed by justice and mercy. Too often, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have failed this moral standard. Their actions have separated families, removed law abiding individuals from our communities, and tragically, contributed to the deaths of detained migrants and citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”
My Catholic faith has guided me for my entire life, and immigration is no exception. I was proud to lead 43 Democratic Catholic members of Congress to affirm that immigration enforcement is not a license for cruelty, and that we must be led by both justice and mercy.…
— Rosa DeLauro (@rosadelauro) February 13, 2026
The statement, which originates in the House of Representatives, cites Catholic social teaching and comes amid sustained national tensions regarding the Trump White House’s program of mass deportations. The notably violent enforcement efforts have been roundly condemned by progressive and other politicians and religious leaders at home and abroad.
Since Trump’s second inauguration, operations involving various federal agencies—including ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and others— have led to widespread deprivation of human rights. This has included unlawful detention, unjustified violence (leading to a record number of detention-related deaths), mass surveillance, state-sponsored intimidation, and what some advocacy organizations have equated to human trafficking.
As a result, many have called for the immediate abolishment of the ICE, the agency at the center of the enforcement activities—though the new statement from Catholic Democrats in Congress stops short of that demand.
“As leaders in Congress negotiate reforms to ICE and CBP, we must bear the Church’s teachings in mind to ensure we are supporting our immigrant brothers and sisters,” their statement reads.
“We urge our fellow Catholics to use their voice to share views with their family, friends, and neighbors.”
Tulio Huggins
DeLauro, who has served in Congress since 1991, has faced criticism for not calling to abolish ICE, and for not supporting funding cuts for the 23-year-old law enforcement agency. She has, however, opposed funding increases amid a turn in public sentiment after the enforcement-related killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Espaillat, a formerly undocumented Afro-Dominican immigrant, has said that ICE is beyond the hope of reform and must be “dismantled.” Amo, who has not called for abolishment, did lead an unsuccessful effort to reverse a recent $75 billion supplement for ICE under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
“Budgets are a statement of values. After cutting over $1 trillion from our health care system to give $75 billion to ICE in their Big, Ugly Law, Republicans refused my amendment to melt ICE’s slush fund and use those taxpayer dollars to reverse some of their extreme health care cuts – the biggest cut to Medicaid in history,” said Amo, a member of the House Budget Committee.
“We should not give DHS another dime of taxpayer dollars to terrorize our communities until ICE is completely overhauled, Kristi Noem is impeached and removed, and we see real change at the department.”
For their part, the Trump administration has rejected calls even for reform within ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies, including mandated judicial warrants for home entries, a prohibition on the use of masks by agents, and an end to racial profiling.
Even so, the White House did claim on Feb. 12 to have ended Operation Metro Surge, a deadly enforcement crackdown in Minnesota related to its large Somali immigrant community. Catholic members of the Trump administration—including Vice President JD Vance, border czar Tom Homan, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt—have spoken of the operation and Trump’s larger mass deportation program as highly successful.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
