RI bishop wants US to halt mass immigration raids
By RAY HENRY
August 22, 2008
The Associate Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop is calling on U.S. authorities to halt mass immigration raids and says agents who refuse to participate in such raids on moral grounds deserve to be treated as conscientious objectors.
Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin asked for a blanket moratorium on immigration raids in Rhode Island until the nation adopts comprehensive immigration reform. Tobin made the requests in a letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston.
The letter was sent Tuesday and publicly released Thursday.
"We often ask, 'What would Jesus do?'" Tobin said in an interview Thursday. "I know for sure what Jesus would not do, would be to sweep into a community, gather up large numbers of people, separate them from one another and deport them to another country. In my own mind, in my own conscience, that's crystal clear: Jesus would not do that."
Tobin's action comes during a heated debate over illegal immigration in heavily Catholic Rhode Island. Authorities recently raided six courthouses looking for illegal immigrant maintenance workers and Gov. Don Carcieri, himself a Catholic, signed an order requiring state police and prison officials to identify illegal immigrants for possible deportation.
"We believe that raids on the immigrant community are unjust, unnecessary, and counterproductive," the bishop's letter says. It urges individual federal agents to consider the morality of their actions and refuse to participate if their conscience dictates.
In such cases, he said, "we urge the Federal Government to fully respect the well-founded principles of conscientious objection."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gEs6RUeap5i0N9b8MOWoBo6EQS7AD92MT5KG0
