US Catholic bishops president says deportations instilling 'fear' in 'widespread manner': 'Concerns us all'

By Fox News · Fox News

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Paul Coakley, said on Sunday that the Trump administration’s mass deportations are spreading fear and uncertainty in immigrant communities across the country. "It’s instilling, as I said, fear in a rather widespread manner. So I think that’s something that concerns us all, that people have a right to live in security and without fear of random deportations," Coakley said during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation." Coakley, the archbishop of Oklahoma City, called on the administration to "be generous in welcoming immigrants" while also acknowledging, "We certainly have a right and a duty to respect borders of our nation." "There is no conflict necessarily between advocating for safe and secure borders and treating people with respect and dignity," Coakley said. "We always have to treat people with dignity, God-given dignity. The state doesn’t award it, and the state can’t take it away." POPE LEO XIV STRONGLY SUPPORTS US BISHOPS' CONDEMNATION OF TRUMP IMMIGRATION RAIDS: 'EXTREMELY DISRESPECTFUL' "This is kind of a fundamental principle in Catholic social teaching regarding immigration and migrations: People have a right to remain in their homeland, but they also ought to be allowed to migrate when conditions in their homeland are unsafe and necessitate moving to a place where they can find peace and security," he added. Coakley, although frequently aligned with the church’s social conservatives, has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Coakley is one of many Catholic leaders who have been criticizing Trump's mass deportation plan, as fear of immigration raids has slashed Mass attendance at some parishes. After Trump returned to the White House in January, Coakley issued a statement reaffirming that "the majority of undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma are upstanding members of our communities and churches, not violent criminals." Last month, the U.S. Conference of Cath…