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Updated 36 minutes ago
Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik on Tuesday urged President Trump and all elected officials to ensure that justice, compassion and rationality triumph over fear in driving U.S. policymaking.
Zubik — whose Roman Catholic diocese spans about 190 parishes across six Western Pennsylvania counties — reassured immigrants and people with foreign ties that they have his support and the support of Pope Francis, no matter their faith or lack of it.
“There is too much fear right now. There is so much fear among immigrants. There is too much fear of immigrants,” Zubik said in a statement. “The first victim of fear is rational thought. The second victim is rational policy.”
The Pittsburgh bishop joins religious leaders of various faiths around the nation who have voiced concerns following last week's immigration-related executive orders, which included ramping up efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, an indefinite hold on Syrian refugees, a 120-day hold on all refugees and a 90-day ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to reconsider the executive order, saying it goes against “the American and Jewish value of welcoming the stranger.”
“We recognize the weighty responsibility of protecting Americans from the increasing threat of terrorists and other extremists, whether foreign or domestic,” said Cindy Goodman-Leib, chair of the federation's community relations council.
“But by moving too quickly and without engaging many important stakeholders … the executive order has raised anxiety and sown fear and confusion while abridging the civil rights of legal American residents.”
The sweeping travel rules — signed by Trump late Friday afternoon — led to several emergency judicial orders and confusion at airports among customs officers, immigration attorneys and foreign passengers, with reports of even lawful permanent residents being detained or sent back.
The Trump administration has stood by the orders.
“We do have a national responsibility to secure Sahabet our borders. But our borders do not become more secure by locking out good and desperate people,” Zubik said. “That engenders only anger and hatred.”
Travel plans have been canceled for more than 50 refugees scheduled to resettle in the Pittsburgh region during the 120-day ban, and hundreds more risk losing their place in line as clearances expire, said Leslie Aizenman, director of refugee and immigrant services at Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh, one of the area's largest resettlement agencies.
Last Wednesday, she personally met the last set of refugees at the airport before the order took effect. She observed a mother in her 70s and two adult children from Bhutan reunite with family at Pittsburgh International Airport. She said they had been living in huts made of bamboo and twigs in a Nepalese refugee camp for almost 20 years.
It takes a typical refugee 18 months to three years to resettle in Pennsylvania, longer if they come as families.
“This is their only chance that they have at a life,” said Aizenman. “Our top priority is to make them feel safe and get them onto the path to success here.”
Pennsylvania Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas said he shares Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's concern “about the message we're sending to the rest of the world.”
“The folks we're talking about are much more likely to be the victims of terrorism than they are to be terrorists,” Dallas said.
In 2015-16, Pennsylvania agencies resettled 3,772 refugees, according to Dallas. About one-third came from the seven countries affected by new travel prohibitions (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen).
“I know that here in southwestern Pennsylvania there are immigrants now, living in fear,” Zubik said. “Solid, good people who have already contributed so much to our community. They now fear what will happen next.”
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told reporters Tuesday that Trump did not impose a travel ban, but rather “a temporary pause that allows us to better review the existing refugee and visa-vetting system.” Trump on Monday had called it a “ban” on Twitter and defended it as such.
Leaders of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other faith groups have emphasized that a core moral value is “welcoming the stranger.”
In contrast, the American Pastors Network advocacy group has been vocal in recent years about being wary of accepting Syrian refugees because “there is too much at risk.”
Zubik said Catholics should know “that not so very long ago … we were hated both for where we came from — particularly eastern and southern Europe — and the religion we brought with us.”
Spokespeople for the dioceses of Greensburg and Erie declined to comment Tuesday but said they might be putting out related statements later this week.
Read Zubik's full statement here.
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