Migrant Raids

Bishop Asks to Halt Migrant Worker Raids


PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, AUG. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The bishop of Providence is urging immigration agents to evaluate the morality of immigration raids and be ready to conscientiously object to participating in them.

Bishop Thomas Tobin and 15 pastors of the Diocese of Providence who minister to immigrant communities sent a letter to the interim director of Immigration and Custom Enforcement urging a moratorium on raids seeks undocumented workers. They contended that raids should be halted until Congress has managed to pass just and comprehensive immigration reform measures.

"As religious leaders we understand and support the need to apprehend and arrest individuals who are responsible for felonies and other serious crimes," the bishop wrote. "The enforcement of just laws is necessary for public safety and the common good.

"But the arrest of serious criminals is not what we have observed in the arrest and detention of immigrants that has taken place recently in our state, particularly in Newport and in Providence."

The letter comes after a series of raids in Rhode Island over the summer, as well as the death of an immigrant who was denied medical care in a Rhode Island prison two weeks ago.

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