Vice President Vance says U.S. bishops should ‘do better’ on supporting immigration enforcement

Vice President JD Vance says the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can “do better” in being a “good partner” in common sense immigration enforcement.

The Catholic politician made his oath of office with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on January 20.

Speaking to Margaret Brennan on CBS’s Sunday news program Face the Nation, the vice president answered her question about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemning some of the executive orders signed by Trump, specifically those allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter churches and to enter schools.

In a January 22 statement, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio – president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – said executive decisions affecting undocumented immigrants “are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.”

On the same day, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso – chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration – issued a statement saying the Catholic Church is committed to “defending the sanctity of every human life and the God-given dignity of each person, regardless of nationality or immigration status.”

“Church teaching recognizes a country’s right and responsibility to promote public order, safety, and security through well-regulated borders and just limits on immigration,” Seitz admitted.

However, as shepherds, we cannot abide injustice, and we stress that national self-interest does not justify policies with consequences that are contrary to the moral law. The use of sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders,’ to deprive them of protection under the law, is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image,” the bishop said.

“While an emphasis on anti-trafficking is welcomed, several of the executive orders signed by President Trump this week are specifically intended to eviscerate humanitarian protections enshrined in federal law and undermine due process, subjecting vulnerable families and children to grave danger,” Seitz continued, adding the open-ended deployment of military assets to support civil immigration enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border “is especially concerning.”

“Preventing any access to asylum and other protections will only endanger those who are most vulnerable and deserving of relief, while empowering gangs and other predators to exploit them. Likewise, indefinitely halting refugee resettlement is unmerited, as it is already proven to be one of the most secure legal pathways to the United States,” the San Antonio bishop added.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, Vance – who converted to Catholicism in 2019 – strongly defended Trump’s actions, and said the bishops should realize the safety reasons the country needs to strengthen its borders.

“Of course, if you have a person who is convicted of a violent crime, whether they’re an illegal immigrant or a non-illegal immigrant, you have to go and get that person to protect the public safety. That’s not unique to immigration,” the vice president told Brennan.

“But let me just address … this particular issue, Margaret. Because as a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement,” he said.

“And I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people,” Vance added, noting Trump promised to do that.

“And I believe the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, if they’re worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide open border of Joe Biden,” he continued.

He then brought up the case of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old student who was murdered February 22, 2024, by a 26-year-old Venezuelan man who had entered the United States illegally. The attack happened at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

Vance noted she was “brutally murdered.”

“I support us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they’re illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe,” the vice president said.

“Let’s separate the immigration issue,” he asked Brennan.

“If you had a violent murderer in a school, of course I want law enforcement … to go and get that person out,” Vance said.

But Brennan said the point of the question was the fact Trump gave authorities the power to go into churches and schools to take into custody undocumented immigrants seeking sanctuary, which she claimed had “a chilling effect, arguably, to people to not send their kids to school.”

Vance answered the Trump administration was empowering law enforcement “to enforce the law everywhere, to protect Americans,” adding he hoped “it has a chilling effect … on illegal immigrants coming into our country.”

Brennan then asked the vice president if he thought the U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishops are actively hiding criminals from law enforcement.

“I think the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has, frankly, not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for, and I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they’ll do better,” Vance answered.

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