Texas bishop deplores ICE shooting on eve of National Migration Week

Bishop Daniel Garcia said the Catholic bishops in the United States ‘continue to call for a viable immigration policy that respects the rule of law while recognising the dignity of every person’.

A Texas bishop said he was “saddened and disturbed” by reports that a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent had shot and wounded a Venezuelan man in Austin.

“We find ourselves in a time in this country and city, when people are living in terror and fear because of the increased activity of ICE agents on our streets,” said Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, Texas in a statement issued on 20 September.

He said that “many people” in the United States now are “often being detained only due to the colour of their skin or the language they speak.”

“Today the credibility of a federal agency that is supposed to protect us has been weakened by [incidents] such as the one that took place today,” he continued, asking the local Catholic faithful to pray for the man who was shot, his family and the wider community.

“As an investigation begins, let us pray that the federal, state and city authorities will be transparent and honest about what occurred this afternoon, so that confidence in our governmental entities may be strengthened, not weakened,” Garcia said.

Garcia issued his statement as the US Catholic bishops were preparing to commemorate National Migration Week, which took place on 21-27 September, culminating with the universal Church’s annual commemoration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday.

“We are reminded, during this National Migrant Week, of an essential truth of our faith,” Garcia said. “We are all brothers and sisters. When one person is harmed, all of us are affected. We cannot allow differences of citizenship to diminish our recognition of the dignity that belongs to every human being.”

Garcia said the Catholic bishops in the United States “continue to call for a viable immigration policy that respects the rule of law while recognising the dignity of every person”.

“We need not forget that regardless of a person’s immigration status, every person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inherent dignity that must always be respected and protected,” Garcia said.

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