US Bishops join other faith groups in court brief supporting migrants threatened with deportation

Immigration guidelines permitting deferral of the deportations of millions of people provide "substantial humanitarian benefits" and should be permitted to stand, said an amicus curiae brief, filed on 8 March in the US Supreme Court by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and 24 other US faith-based organizations whose work includes advocating for or providing aid and resources to recent immigrants and their families.

The case is United States v Texas, in which some states have challenged the federal government's implementation of immigration guidelines issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The guidelines effectively stay the deportation proceedings of four to five million undocumented people who pose no national security or public safety threat and who have longstanding close family ties to people in the United States.

These guidelines, the brief said, provide "important benefits to those most vulnerable in our society and to those who serve them" and also ensure "that the public will continue to benefit from the substantial contributions of recent immigrants."

Other groups joining the brief were Church World Service; the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA); Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Disciples Home Missions; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; Sojourners; Franciscan Action Network; Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity; NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Mennonite Central Committee U.S.; Conference of Major Superiors of Men; General Synod of the United Church of Christ; National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Hope for Peace and Justice; Good Shepherd United Church of Christ; ISAIAH; Shadow Rock; Christ's Foundry United Methodist Mission; Esperanza; Southside Presbyterian Church; Oklahoma Conference of Churches; National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and Reformed Church of Highland Park.

Read the text of the brief here: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/United-States-v-Texas.pdf