Catholic groups say Biden’s border policy violates church teaching

A coalition of 164 Catholic groups sent a letter to President Biden on Thursday telling him his border policies violated principles of his own faith and urged him to adopt Pope Francis’ teachings.

Groups have lambasted the pandemic border deportation authority, known as Title 42, which the government says gives it the power to immediately turn back illegal immigrants without giving them the opportunity to make protection claims in the USA

The Trump administration unleashed Title 42 in March 2020, and Mr. Biden held it in place, angering his main supporters among immigrant rights activists.

“The misuse of Title 42 is a travesty that perpetuates serious damage not only to the migrant community, but to all of us living in the United States,” the groups said.

They said he treated migrants like ‘them’, defying Francis ‘call to’ no longer think in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those’, but only ‘us’. The groups also said the logic behind federal policy is that immigrants are more prone to disease, which they called a “hateful and dehumanizing false narrative.”

In the letter, the groups said they were particularly disheartened by Mr Biden’s comments at a town hall in July when he said migrants “should not come.”

The letter comes just before the Catholic Church‘s World Day for Migrants and Refugees, which is Sunday. The Pope labeled this year’s celebration “Towards an Ever Wider Us”.

Sir. Biden is Catholic and attends mass regularly, although the American Church has been engaged in a debate over his loyalty to the faith, given his support for abortion rights and his attempt to increase taxpayer funding for the procedure.