Bishop: Cut back on immigration raids

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A Roman Catholic bishop has called on the U.S. government to stop raiding workplaces to round up illegal immigrants.

Bishop John Wester of Utah, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on migration, said the number of raids has increased since a proposal for immigration reform failed to pass Congress last year, the Deseret Morning News reported. He appeared Wednesday with a group of colleagues in Washington after a news conference Tuesday with an interfaith group.

Wester suggested the aim of the raids is "to create a climate of fear in immigrant communities."

The United States "can't continue to accept the labor of immigrants while also undermining their basic human dignity," Wester said. "Faith communities have the responsibility of defending basic human rights."

Catholic charities have stepped up when raids have split families and deprived them of incomes, he said.

The interfaith group plans events across the country to publicize the issue.