The temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim countries is dead, at least for the time being, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) couldn’t be happier.
Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Texas, who is the USCCB’s chair of the Committee on Migration, issued a statement saying:
We welcome the decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. We respect the rule of law and the American judicial process. We remain steadfast in our commitment to resettling refugees and all those fleeing persecution. At this time, we remain particularly dedicated to ensuring that affected refugee and immigrant families are not separated and that they continue to be welcomed to our country. We will continue to welcome the newcomer as it is a vital part of our Catholic faith and an enduring element of our American values and tradition.
By ignoring the national security issues that this “refugee” influx poses, Vazquez’s statement was sadly typical of USCCB communiqués on immigration issues. He spoke about the Church’s “commitment to resettling refugees and all those fleeing persecution,” but about those refugees who are coming in order to persecute non-Muslims, Vazquez was silent.
Is such a concern preposterous? Not at all. In 2016 alone, there were numerous incidents of Muslim migrants staging jihad attacks in the United States. In February 2016, Somali Muslim migrant Mohammad Barry stabbed multiple patrons at a restaurant owned by an Israeli Arab Christian. In September 2016, Ahmad Khan Rahami, an Afghan Muslim migrant, set off bombs in New York City and New Jersey. Arcan Cetin, a Turkish Muslim migrant, murdered five people in a mall in Burlington, Washington in September 2016. In October 2016, Dahir Adan, another Somali Muslim migrant, stabbed mall shoppers in St. Cloud while screaming “Allahu akbar.” In November 2016, Abdul Razak Artan, yet another Somali Muslim migrant, injured nine people with a car and knife attack at Ohio State University.
In all, no fewer than 72 jihad terrorists have come to the U.S. from the countries listed in Trump’s immigration ban.
What’s more, all of the jihadis who murdered 130 people in Paris in November 2015 had just entered Europe as refugees. In February 2015, the Islamic State boasted it would soon flood Europe with as many as 500,000 refugees. The Lebanese education minister said in September 2015 that there were 20,000 jihadis among the refugees in camps in his country. On May 10, 2016, Patrick Calvar, the head of France’s DGSI internal intelligence agency, said that the Islamic State was using migrant routes through the Balkans to get jihadis into Europe.
The USCCB should also take careful note of the fact that Muslim migrants in Europe are targeting Christians and churches.
In France, anti-Christian attacks have risen by 245 percent. In Germany, Muslims reportedly “devastated” a Christian parish center and wrote “Islamist slogans” on the walls. In Italy, a Muslim set fire to a church Nativity scene. Most notoriously, in France Muslims entered a Catholic church during mass and murdered the elderly priest at the altar. Shortly thereafter, Muslims entered another church in France and left a photograph of the perpetrator of the jihad massacre in Nice on the altar.
Do the U.S. Catholic bishops really think that such incidents will not or cannot happen here? They have never answered that question or even been asked it, because all discussion of this issue is immediately buried under charges of “Islamophobia.”
The USCCB’s steadfast refusal to address these issues, and strong opposition to Trump’s ban, may stem from motives somewhat less high-minded than those that Bishop Vazquez articulated.
The bishops have a monetary interest here behind all the talk about welcoming the newcomer. The USCCB received $79,590,512 in 2014 alone — that’s right, nearly $80 million — from the federal government for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Migration Fund.
The USCCB has a financial reason for making sure that the refugee stream remains forever undammed. But does it have any interest in trying to protect Catholics, and others in the United States, from jihad terror attacks? Well, no one is spending $79,590,512 to get them to pay any attention to that.
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