The Catholic bishops of Florida and other church leaders in the United States spoke out in defence of migrants following reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arranged for a group of 50 undocumented migrants from Venezuela to be flown from San Antonio, Texas, to exclusive Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on 14 September.
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops described the reports as “disconcerting” and added that “any action to transport persons under false pretences and leave them stranded with no assistance would be to diminish their human dignity and objectify them.” Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, tweeted on 16 September that “the degrading disrespect with which immigrants are treated in this country – like pawns in games of political showmanship – is a disgrace.”
A spokesperson for DeSantis, a Republican who is said to have interest in running for president in 2024, told US media outlets that flying the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard was part of Florida’s “relocation programme to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations”. Republican governors in Texas and Arizona have also been transporting undocumented migrants by bus to cities in Democratic-led states.
Immigration lawyers are seeking an injunction to prevent migrants being flown to cities around the country. They accuse DeSantis of violating due process and the civil rights of the migrants sent to Massachusetts.
•Three Catholic schools in Denver, Colorado, are in a heated row after one of the schools reportedly criticised the other two for holding positions at odds with Catholic teaching on homosexuality.
The Denver Post reported that St. Thomas More Catholic School, a primary school, wrote a letter to families in mid-September informing them that Regis Jesuit High School and St Mary’s Academy would not be invited to a recruitment event at St Thomas More.
“Over the past months, many questions have arisen concerning the current Catholic formation provided at both of those high schools. Because of this, we cannot in good conscience endorse their presence at our school,” St Thomas More’s pastor and principal wrote in the letter.
The St Thomas More letter reportedly accused faculty at the other schools of “explicitly endors(ing) positions on same-sex attraction and gender that are inconsistent with the teachings of the church.”
Leaders at St Mary’s Academy and Regis Jesuit High School forcefully rejected those claims.
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