Churches rebuke Jeff Sessions on immigration rules
U.S. Catholic bishops called asylum a right-to-life issue that could carry "canonical penalties." And the attorney general's fellow United Methodists brought charges against him with the denomination.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions's announcement of new limits on claims for asylum, combined with the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents, sparked sharp criticism from many faith-based groups. After Sessions defended the policies by citing Romans 13, two bodies in particular increased their rebuke to include possible church discipline measures.
Following weeks of protest, President Trump on June 20 ordered an end to the most controversial aspect of the zero-tolerance policy: the separation of undocumented families caught crossing the border. While families caught crossing the border will no longer be separated, Trump’s executive order made it clear that the government will continue prosecuting everyone entering the U.S. without proper documents, including those requesting asylum.
Sessions reversed an immigration appeals court decision granting asylum to a Salvadoran woman who had claimed domestic abuse in her home country. His ruling effectively overturned an Obama administration practice of allowing women with credible claims of domestic abuse or those fleeing gang violence to seek asylum in the United States.
