The Mexican bishops' conference have criticised US President Donald Trump's plan to deploy National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border in a strong statement defending migrants.
The letter, released on 7 April addressing people in Mexico and the United States and the presidents of both countries, said the Catholic Church could not stand by "in the face of suffering by our brother migrants as they seek better conditions by crossing the border to work and contribute to the common good".
"The only future possible for our region is the future built with bridges of trust and shared development, not with walls of indignity and violence," said the statement signed by the bishops of 16 northern Mexican dioceses and the conference's six-member presidential council.
"There is only a future in the promotion and defence of the equal dignity and the equal liberty between human beings," the statement said. "Even more, Pope Francis has told us unambiguously: 'A person who only thinks of building walls, wherever it may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the Gospel.'"
The Mexican bishops' statement entitled "For the Dignity of Migrants", followed Trump's announcement last week to deploy troops to the border to thwart the entry of unauthorised migrants.
It also followed a series of tweets from Trump criticising Mexico for not stopping a caravan of Central American migrants moving northward toward the US-Mexico border.
Many of the more than 1,000 migrants participating in the annual Stations of the Cross Caravan, which travels through Mexico every Easter, spoke of fleeing gang violence in El Salvador and Honduras. Organisers say many more Hondurans than usual participated this year due to political repression in the country after a contentious election last November, which was marred by accusations of fraud and a violent crackdown on the opposition.
The number of Central Americans seeking asylum worldwide increased dramatically between 2011 and 2017, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The bishops’ letter called for defending the dignity of migrants, saying "Migrants aren't criminals, rather they are vulnerable human beings that have the authentic right to personal and community development."
The day before the Mexican bishops' statement, eight US Catholic bishops from four border states issued a joint statement expressing their concern about troop placement at the border.
"This is not a war zone, but instead is comprised of many peaceful and law-abiding communities that are also generous in their response to human suffering," the bishops said. The statement – released on 6 April – said they recognise the right of nations to control and secure their borders and to respect the rule of law but also pointed out that current US law allows those who arrive in this country fleeing persecution to "due process as their claims are reviewed".
Seeking refuge from persecution and violence in search of a peaceful life "is not a crime," the bishops added.
The statement was signed by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio and four other Texas bishops including Bishops Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Michel Sis of San Angelo, James Tamayo of Laredo and Mark Sietz of El Paso.
Other signatories included Bishop Edward Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego and Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The bishops said they were deeply concerned that the current "divisive rhetoric often promotes the dehumanisation of immigrants as if all were threats and criminals" and urged Catholics and people of goodwill "to look past the dehumanising rhetoric regarding immigrants and remember that they are a valuable population, our neighbours, and our sisters and brothers in Christ."
PICTURE: Central American migrants line up outside a temporary shelter at a Catholic church in Puebla, Mexico. (CNS photo/Edgard Garrido, Reuters).
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