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(LifeSiteNews) — The bishop of Arlington, Virginia, which lies just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital, issued a pastoral statement emphasizing that “Catholic teaching does not support an open border policy,” signaling support for President Donald Trump’s and Catholic Vice President JD Vance’s approach to immigration while distancing his views from some of those expressed recently by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The letter issued by Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington followed a statement by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, USCCB president, criticizing Trump’s executive orders seeking to stem the tide of illegal immigration as “deeply troubling,” warning that they “will have negative consequences,” many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.

A second official statement from Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, doubled down on the earlier criticism with more scathing language, asserting, “The use of sweeping generalizations … such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders … is an affront to God.”

“Several of the executive orders signed by President Trump this week are specifically intended to eviscerate humanitarian protections,” suggested Seitz, adding, “The open-ended deployment of military assets to support civil immigration enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border is especially concerning.”

Burbidge’s letter also follows newly installed Vice President JD Vance’s televised pushback against Broglio’s statement.

“As a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that,” Vance said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“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 dollars to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” Vance asked.

“If the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is 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; let them talk about people like Laken Riley who were brutally murdered (by an illegal immigrant),” Vance said.

Burbidge urged a “common sense” approach rooted in Catholic teaching “where the duty to care for the stranger is practiced in harmony with the duty to care for the nation.”

He continued:

Therefore, I encourage President Trump and Congressional leaders to develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good. Americans earnestly look to our elected officials for a humane and peaceful immigration policy that is just, compassionate, and restores confidence in the rule of law. American law must always include pathways for legal entry and as citizens we should always celebrate the contributions of immigrants, ensure the protection of the vulnerable, and uphold the common good which is the condition for ordered liberty and public safety.

We pray for courage and wisdom among our leaders to enact reforms that reflect both the heart of the Gospel and the spirit of our laws. May God grant them wisdom, mercy, and charity as they undertake this task.

He concluded:

We are a Church that stands for justice, not against the enforcement of law, but for its application with mercy and understanding for the good of all persons and our country.

Burbidge’s remarks echoed those of Bishop Joseph Strickland, who earlier had defended Vance’s comments on CBS, advocating for a common-sense approach to immigration after four years of unimpeded illegal border crossings allowed by the Biden administration.

“To characterize the gospel as calling a nation to allow chaos is truly absurd,” Strickland wrote. “Yes, we welcome the immigrant, but it is the right and duty of a nation to regulate immigration. Politics has interfered with fulfilling this responsibility properly, we must support establishing an immigration system that supports individuals and families and respects the laws of the nation.”

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