Catholic Clergy Warn Trump Ahead of State of the Union Speech
Source: Daily Beast
Updated Feb. 24 2026 5:43PM EST
Published Feb. 24 2026 4:33PM EST
America’s top Roman Catholic leaders issued a sharply worded statement condemning the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement as “detrimental to human rights” and urging policy changes.
The statement, released Tuesday—the day President Donald Trump, 79, is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address, which is expected to partly focus on his hard-line immigration agenda—emphasized that the clergy are “concerned” about “recent and ongoing immigration enforcement activities against individuals and families who are without legal status in our country.”
The signers, who included bishops from states that border Mexico and Canada, as well as Rhode Island and Kentucky, outlined eight policy recommendations that would help “to create an immigration system which ensures public safety, protects human rights, encourages economic growth and justice, and upholds our heritage as a nation of immigrants.”
In response to a request for comment, a White House spokesperson told the Daily Beast: “President Trump was elected based on his promises to secure the border and deport criminal illegal aliens,” adding that “the American people overwhelmingly support his law-and-order agenda.”
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/catholic-clergy-warn-trump-ahead-of-state-of-the-union-speech/
Link to STATEMENT (PDF) - https://cmsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026.02.24-Border-Bishops-and-Other-Bishops-Immigration-Statement.pdf
Fixed.