Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez, has publicly criticised the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies, accusing them of causing panic and fear during reports of ice raids in Southern California every day.
Gomez, a passionate supporter of migrant workers and advocate for the immigrant community, wrote in a weekly column in Angelus, a Catholic magazine this week that the Trump administration “has no immigration policy” other than trying to deport thousands of people every day.
“This is not a policy, it is a punishment, it can only bring about cruel and arbitrary consequences,” Gomez said in his column. “We have already heard that our innocent fathers and mothers have been mistakenly deported and will not appeal.”
The archbishop, who has been sought for immigration reform throughout his career, has updated his call for “people” and “realistic” conversations about immigration reform.
“We should find a way to provide legal status to those who have been in our country for many years,” he said, expressing his support for the deportation of criminals and terrorists.
Gomez also suggested that the Biden administration did not secure sufficient borders while allowing “too many people” to enter the United States without “examine” it.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is made up of many Hispanic and Filipino Catholics, whose communities have been affected by the ongoing ice attacks in the area.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But when President Trump won the 2024 election, 54% of Catholic voters supported him, compared to 44% of Kamala Harris’s, according to the Associated Press Voting, a survey of over 120,000 voters.
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