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Archbishop: With Trump saying 'invasion' over at border, it's time for immigration reform [1]

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Date: 2025-05

The Catholic archbishop of Miami says a "moment of truth" has arrived for the Trump administration and Congress for enacting long-promised and equally long-delayed reforms to America's immigration system.

"This will be a moment of truth for many of the members of Congress, especially Republicans," said Thomas Wenski, archbishop of Miami. "Once you have control of the border, then if you want a prosperous economy, you have to make an accommodation on migrants. Let's hope that that will be something that the two sides can get together on."

Wenski spoke on March 12 after President Donald Trump heralded a sharp decrease in the number of "illegal" people attempting to gain entry at the southern border.

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"The month of February, my first full month in Office, had the LOWEST number of Illegal Immigrants trying to enter our Country in History – BY FAR!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on March 2.

Trump added in the post that there are just 8,326 "apprehensions of Illegals by Border Patrol" at the U.S.-Mexico border. He said all those stopped were "quickly ejected" or prosecuted.

"This means that very few people came — The Invasion of our Country is OVER," the president further wrote. "Thanks to the Trump Administration Policies, the Border is CLOSED to all Illegal Immigrants. Anyone who tries to illegally enter the U.S.A. will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation."

Border crisis has often been pretext for postponing immigration reform

The archbishop, who grew up in Lake Worth Beach, said now that the border is secure, the White House and Congress can finally act to address the inefficiencies and holes in the country's complex and cumbersome immigration laws, programs and processes.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Maimi

Wenski recalled the various attempts to reform the country's immigration system over the past two decades. Those initiatives varied, he said, but had a common denominator — an argument that comprehensive, or big picture, changes could only be pursued once the border was secure.

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That argument was most recently offered to explain why Trump, as a presidential candidate, called for Republicans to defeat a far-reaching immigration proposal negotiated last year by one of their own, U.S. James Lankford of Oklahoma. That legislation, which was endorsed by the generally hardline National Border Patrol Council, was defeated with both Florida Republicans senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, voting no.

But with the president now firmly saying mission accomplished on the controlling entries from Mexico, Wenski said it's time for action on Capitol Hill.

"Now we can say Trump did it. The border is closed," said Wenski, who was appointed archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI 15 years ago. "So that excuse is gone."

Wenski recognizes popular support for removing 'bad actors'

Wenski said he acknowledges the demand and support for deporting "bad actors" — people who have committed felonies in America.

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"Nobody is opposed to deporting the bad actors. It's hard to say you're opposed to deporting rapists and criminals," he said. "But that is a very small percentage of the people that are here in this country."

The administration and the federal courts are currently in a confrontation over the removal from the country of more than 200 Venezuelans this month. Trump claimed in a March 16 social media post that the migrants are "monsters," and the White House has argued that those ousted were members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The administration reportedly employed a 1798 law to send them to an El Salvador prison in apparent defiance of a court order.

As the Catholic Church around the world begins the penitential season of Lent, Scarlett White and others participate in Ash Wednesday service at The Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea Wednesday March 5, 2025.

Since their removal, some family members of the men have spoken out to deny they were gang members. In a court filing, the Trump administration conceded at least some of the men did not have U.S. criminal records but insisted a "lack of criminal records does not indicate they pose a limited threat." Venezuelan officials said they were not gang members.

On March 21, the Trump administration also announced it would end legal protections for some 532,000 Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Haitians in the country since October 2022 under a humanitarian parole program.

Archbishop: Economic prosperity also depends on workable immigration system

The administration's actions come at a time of tightening labor markets.

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Wenski said immigration reform is not just a national security issue but also a necessity for economic growth.

"The fact is Trump has also promised the most prosperous economy ever, and he is not going to be able to do that without making some accommodation on migration," he said.

In Palm Beach County, the unemployment rate to start the year dropped to 3% from 3.6%. And the Associated Builders and Contractors pointed out Florida's jobless rate in the building industry stood at 2.6%, one of the lowest in the country.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration is moving to remove more workers from the labor market. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for example, has ordered temporary protective status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians to expire this year.

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Those individuals have been granted safe haven and allowed to live and work in America due to political strife and natural disasters in their countries.

Lent a time to reflect on treatment of immigrants

Wenski said he will continue to push for reasonable immigration policies, as will others in the archdiocese, especially now during Lent.

Mass readings this month have included a passage in Deuteronomy where Moses speak of his father "wandering" as an alien in Egypt and one from the Gospel of Matthew about caring for one another.

"The themes of Lent really underscore the fact of how we treat our brothers and sisters and that we are our brothers' keepers," he said. "It underscores the fact that as followers of Jesus Christ, we have to be concerned about the most vulnerable and the weakest."

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He added: "All these themes are designed to melt our hearts. And certainly a lot of hearts have been hardened during the rough and tumble of the last political season."

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami archbishop: Trump, Congress face moment of truth on immigration

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[1] Url: https://www.yahoo.com/news/archbishop-trump-saying-invasion-over-182528763.html

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