Thread: Mississippi Governor to Churches: Follow 'Man's Law' and Stop Harboring Illegal Immig

Mississippi Governor to Churches: Follow 'Man's Law' and Stop Harboring Illegal Immigrants


BY NICHOLAS BALLASY
FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant delivers his State of the State address on Jan. 17, 2017, at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

WASHINGTON – Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) said faith leaders should follow “man’s law” and not harbor illegal immigrants in churches and other places of worship.

PJM asked Bryant if he thinks churches and religious organizations should help shield undocumented immigrants from deportation.

“I don’t believe so. I think if you are a faith leader or anyone else you have to look also at the nation’s law. There’s God’s law and then there’s man’s law, and man’s law says that you have to go by certain rules and standards to become a citizen of the United States or you come here illegally – illegally means it’s against the law,” Bryant told PJM during the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington over the weekend.

“We are a nation of laws, so the federal government is going about enforcing the laws. And I hope people of faith will understand that part of the responsibility of your faithfulness is to also understand what man’s law is,” he added.
Federal law imposes penalties against any individual who “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.”

An ICE memo issued in 2011 said enforcement in “sensitive locations” such as churches and schools should be avoided by officers unless absolutely necessary. Some churches and other faith-based organizations across the nation are reportedly offering a safe haven for undocumented immigrants to protect them from deportation.

"If you need a safe place, once you enter the doors of this building, you are safe," said Rev. Abraham Waya, pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Brockton, Mass., which the Associated Press reported plans to shelter up to 100 undocumented immigrants. "We will host you and take care of you for as long as it takes."

According to the Chicago Tribune, “hundreds of churches, synagogues and mosques nationwide — and about two dozen in the Chicago area — are considering the bold move to provide sanctuary to immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally.”

According to the Boston Globe, “at least three Boston-area congregations have committed to offering living space in their buildings to illegal immigrants.”

Bryant said Mississippi residents and lawmakers are worried about cities or schools trying to prevent federal authorities from enforcing existing immigration laws.

“I know what the people of Mississippi are concerned about, and it’s whether or not a city or municipality or university president might say, ‘We are going to prevent the federal government from receiving information regarding illegal immigrants, even those that have committed crimes within our municipalities,’” he said.

“We think the people of the state of Mississippi want to enforce the federal laws when it comes to immigration, and that doesn’t include protecting someone who has violated those laws.”

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politic...al-immigrants/

Thank you Governor Bryant!! Thank you very very much!! Please listen to him, Churches. What you are doing is wrong for our country, wrong for your fellow citizens, wrong for American children, American workers, American taxpayers, American citizens, American parents, everything American, SO STOP IT!!

They bring them in, get paid and expect the community to pay for them..forever.
Bishop, advocates oppose sanctuary cities bill

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Melisa Munoz
Reply
By Maureen Smith

JACKSON – A bill that would keep agencies, cities and college campuses in Mississippi from offering sanctuary to unauthorized immigrants would not keep communities safe and goes against the Christian tenet of caring for those in need, said Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson.
He issued a statement Feb. 15 opposing S.B. 2710, also known as the “sanctuary cities” bill, which passed the state Senate in a 32-16 vote Feb. 9. The bill goes to the state House for consideration.

The measure would prohibit cities and institutions of higher learning from declaring themselves sanctuary cities. There are currently no sanctuary cities in the state, although the city of Jackson proposed such a declaration last year.

“As Christians we are called to welcome the stranger and care for those in need. As citizens, we are called to keep our communities strong and safe. We feel that the so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ bill being debated right now in the Mississippi Legislature damages both of those efforts,” wrote Bishop Kopacz.

In a sanctuary city, local law enforcement would not be forced to act as federal immigration agents, like the officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In fact, they would be prohibited from asking a person they detained about his or her immigration status. S.B. 2710 would prohibit cities from enacting sanctuary policies.

The bill’s opening statement says it would apply to entities such as “a state agency, department, political subdivision of this state, county, municipality, university, college, community college or junior college, or any agent, employee or officer thereof.”

Immigrant advocates said the bill raises several concerns.

Amelia McGowan, an immigration attorney for the Catholic Charities Migrant Resource Center based in Jackson, said the vague language, especially in relation to schools, opens up a number of potential problems.

“The first provision is potentially extremely dangerous. It could allow any state official, or anyone working for the state government to report any individual to federal immigration authorities. In other words, it prevents the state and local agencies from prohibiting its employees from reporting an individual to ICE,” said McGowan in an email to the Mississippi Catholic, newspaper of the Jackson Diocese.

“That means, undocumented – or suspected undocumented – individuals seeking services in any state or local agency – courts, police protection, K-12 education, higher education, state hospital, state health and mental health agencies – could be reported to ICE by a disgruntled employee,” McGowan explained.

It also means an agency “could not prohibit its employees from doing so,” she continued. “Now, presumably that person may be protected in some cases by privacy laws, but I am afraid that this provision would prevent individuals from seeking state services, which include reporting violent crimes to the police.”

According to Christy Williams, an attorney at the headquarters of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as CLINIC, in Silver Spring, Maryland, the provision also opens up municipalities to potential liability. A school employee who discloses a student’s immigration information could be violating federal privacy laws and the school could be held liable.

If any officer reports a person they suspect is in the country without legal permission but that person turns out to have a valid legal status, the local agency can be sued. CLINIC highlighted one example from Allentown, Pennsylvania, when officers arrested a U.S. citizen for alleged drug crimes.

“He had both his driver’s license and Social Security card with him at the time of the arrest and was eventually found innocent,” according to a CLINIC document about sanctuary cities. “During his time in custody, the police called ICE based on the presumption that, because of his race, he was undocumented.

“Despite being documented, the citizen was held for three days after posting bail based on an ICE detainer. He was released only after an ICE agent interrogated him and confirmed his citizenship. The U.S. citizen sued local and county officials in 3rd District Federal Court, leading to verdicts in his favor and settlement costs totaling nearly $150,000,” the document said.

When a local agency reports someone to ICE, the federal agents may ask the local agency to detain the suspect. The local agency has to absorb the cost of housing, feeding and caring for the person until ICE can process the case. That money is rarely reimbursed to state and local agencies.

Critics of the Mississippi bill say that because it is vague, it also could erode the relationship first responders have with their communities. If immigrants, even those in the country legally, believe police officers, medical personnel or firefighters are going to report them to immigration officials, they may hesitate to call for much-needed help.

McGowan said she thinks if the bill becomes law, it “would have a chilling effect on individuals seeking state services” such as medical care, mental health care and police protection,” and would negatively affect immigrants’ educational opportunities. She also thinks it would subject victims of violent crimes and/or abuse “to greater danger.”

President Donald Trump has pledged to strip federal funds from jurisdictions that declare themselves “sanctuary cities.”

“We urge lawmakers and advocates to oppose S.B. 2710,” Bishop Kopacz said in his statement. “We will, as a Catholic community, continue to work with immigrants and refugees – welcoming their contributions to our community and culture – even as we pray for a just solution to the challenges of immigration and security.”

(Editor’s note: the full text of the statement is available here.)

http://www.mississippicatholic.com/2017/02/

Doesn't Mississippi have a lot of poor people the Catholic Church could work with to earn their ways to heavenly bliss? I think so. Catholics don't need immigrants and refugees to feed their charity, there are plenty of poor Americans to help to do that.