LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Some spiritual leaders in Nevada have written an open letter on immigration enforcement to the state’s politicians. This contains the Board of Rabbis of Southern Nevada in addition to varied Christian leaders.
Within the letter, they ask for honest and beneficiant pathways to citizenship, and that immigration enforcement focuses on those that are harmful to society.
“The beginning point is for the Catholic Church and other faiths to express our solidarity with the immigrant community and to say to them, we’re there for you,” Archbishop of Las Vegas George Leo Thomas mentioned. “We love and we’ll do everything in our power to ensure your safety and your security.”
Thomas is likely one of the leaders who signed the letter. The Catholic Church represents the largest spiritual inhabitants within the Las Vegas space, a lot of that are immigrants. He mentioned to not panic prematurely.
“I think the ordinary family, the ordinary Catholic, the ordinary Christian, any person of any faith, is not going to see encroachments into the houses of worship, and I don’t see that going on, at least in the state of Nevada,” Thomas mentioned.
The church additionally operates the non-profit Catholic Charities, a help middle for households, folks experiencing homelessness, and migrants. Every year, Catholic Charities receives round $30 million in federal funding for migration and refugee companies.
In 2024, they served greater than 8,000 refugees and offered immigration companies to over 1,000.
The latest short-lived federal funding freeze induced some nervousness about folding this system.
“It appears that it requires congressional action rather than simply presidential action in order to make those withdrawals,” Thomas mentioned. “So that’s encouraging. It’s nice to have checks and balances in the government.”
Archbishop Thomas additionally mentioned religion leaders throughout the board are working with authorities leaders on immigration reform, hoping to open new pathways to authorized citizenship.
In a press release, the Archdiocese of Las Vegas mentioned:
“The Archdiocese of Las Vegas is committed to upholding the dignity and respect of all individuals, and we discourage any efforts that indiscriminately target our faith communities, whether these actions occur in workplaces or places of worship. Across the Country, the Catholic Church is prepared to work with the Trump administration to address the complexities of immigration, and we hope that any enforcement measures are judiciously applied and limited to individuals who present risks and dangers to society, particularly reducing gang activity, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.”
