"It's time for Congress to do something," Archbishop Thomas Wenski said during an interview on July 11, 2025 at the Pastoral Center in Miami Shores.
Concerning the new detention center inaugurated by President Donald Trump on July 1—located at the former Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport and operated by Miami-Dade Aviation in the Florida Everglades—the archbishop said, "We have a detention center in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by snakes, alligators, mosquitoes, and more. It is an inhumane situation."
"I would like Congress to step up and take responsibility for making laws. We don't like judges legislating from the bench, but neither should the executive branch legislate with executive orders. Congress should make the laws, the executive branch should enforce them, and the judiciary should act as referee to ensure that the laws are consistent with our constitutional principles," the archbishop emphasized.He explained that our current immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed because it is harming people, destroying families, and dividing communities.
The current administration may claim it is simply enforcing the laws, but "if that is the case, the laws must be changed—and that is the responsibility of Congress. Congress can rewrite, adjust, or fix the law," said the Archbishop. He added that Congress must introduce legislation to create a legal pathway for people without criminal records to remain in the country.
The archbishop acknowledged that it is understandable for the government to detain individuals who have committed serious crimes, as no one wants criminals walking free on the streets. "But the vast majority of those here without permanent status are honest, hardworking people who simply want a future of hope for their children and their families," he said.
FULL TEXT Statement by Archbishop Thomas Wenski on Immigration Enforcement
By Communications Department - Archdiocese of Miami
The bishops of the United States have long been advocates of reforms to our broken immigration system. Thoughtful observers of the challenges facing our country cannot help but recognize that serious reforms are necessary to preserve safety and the integrity of our borders, as well as to accommodate needs for labor, family stability, and the ability of those at risk of grave harm to migrate. We continue to propose reforms that will enhance our immigration system, respect human dignity, and promote the common good.
The administration has effectively achieved control of the border. It is aggressively moving to remove and deport “bad actors,” those who have entered the country and committed serious crimes, but, as employers in the agricultural or services sectors of our economy can tell you, most immigrants are hardworking and honest and only want to build a hopeful future for themselves and their families.
The majority, although not having permanent legal status, do enjoy some form of status such as TPS (Temporary Protective Status), parole, or a pending asylum application. Some (Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans) came with special humanitarian visas good for two years, but conditions in their countries of origin have yet to improve. Others came legally as students or visitors and fell out of status. The Dreamers were brought by their parents, and while the government has afforded them “deferred departure,” they have no path to legal permanent residence.
The US faces labor shortages in many industries, including healthcare, service, and agriculture. Removing immigrant workers will only exacerbate these shortages. Rather than spending billions to deport people who are already contributing positively to our nation’s well-being, it would be more financially sensible and more morally acceptable for Congress, working with the Administration, to expand legal pathways for non-criminal migrants to adjust to a permanent legal status. The administration is responsible for enforcing the laws, but Congress makes the laws and has the authority to change them.
As the new detention center at Dade-Collier Airport, also known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” becomes operational, it seems necessary to take stock of recent developments in immigration enforcement and reiterate the need for more than enforcement-only measures.
It is alarming to see enforcement tactics that treat all irregular immigrants as dangerous criminals. Masked, heavily armed agents who do not identify themselves during enforcement activities are surprising - so is the apparent lack of due process in deportation proceedings in recent months.
Along these lines, much of the current rhetoric is obviously intentionally provocative. It is unbecoming of public officials and corrosive of the common good to speak of the deterrence value of “alligators and pythons” at the Collier-Dade facility. Common decency requires that we remember the individuals being detained are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters of distressed relatives. We wish to ensure that chaplains and pastoral ministers can serve those in custody, to their benefit and that of the staff. We also raise concerns about the isolation of the detention facility, which is far from medical care centers, and the precariousness of the temporary “tent” structures in the Florida heat and summer thunderstorms, not to mention the challenge of safely protecting detainees in the event of a hurricane.
We call on all people of goodwill to pray for our government officials, for those in immigration custody and their families, for those who work in enforcement, and for justice for all in this nation, whose prosperity immigrants have always contributed to.
Sources https://www.miamiarch.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Article_archdiocese-of-miami-the-broken-immigration-system-is-hurting-peopleBy Communications Department - Archdiocese of Miami
The bishops of the United States have long been advocates of reforms to our broken immigration system. Thoughtful observers of the challenges facing our country cannot help but recognize that serious reforms are necessary to preserve safety and the integrity of our borders, as well as to accommodate needs for labor, family stability, and the ability of those at risk of grave harm to migrate. We continue to propose reforms that will enhance our immigration system, respect human dignity, and promote the common good.
The administration has effectively achieved control of the border. It is aggressively moving to remove and deport “bad actors,” those who have entered the country and committed serious crimes, but, as employers in the agricultural or services sectors of our economy can tell you, most immigrants are hardworking and honest and only want to build a hopeful future for themselves and their families.
The majority, although not having permanent legal status, do enjoy some form of status such as TPS (Temporary Protective Status), parole, or a pending asylum application. Some (Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans) came with special humanitarian visas good for two years, but conditions in their countries of origin have yet to improve. Others came legally as students or visitors and fell out of status. The Dreamers were brought by their parents, and while the government has afforded them “deferred departure,” they have no path to legal permanent residence.
The US faces labor shortages in many industries, including healthcare, service, and agriculture. Removing immigrant workers will only exacerbate these shortages. Rather than spending billions to deport people who are already contributing positively to our nation’s well-being, it would be more financially sensible and more morally acceptable for Congress, working with the Administration, to expand legal pathways for non-criminal migrants to adjust to a permanent legal status. The administration is responsible for enforcing the laws, but Congress makes the laws and has the authority to change them.
As the new detention center at Dade-Collier Airport, also known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” becomes operational, it seems necessary to take stock of recent developments in immigration enforcement and reiterate the need for more than enforcement-only measures.
It is alarming to see enforcement tactics that treat all irregular immigrants as dangerous criminals. Masked, heavily armed agents who do not identify themselves during enforcement activities are surprising - so is the apparent lack of due process in deportation proceedings in recent months.
Along these lines, much of the current rhetoric is obviously intentionally provocative. It is unbecoming of public officials and corrosive of the common good to speak of the deterrence value of “alligators and pythons” at the Collier-Dade facility. Common decency requires that we remember the individuals being detained are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters of distressed relatives. We wish to ensure that chaplains and pastoral ministers can serve those in custody, to their benefit and that of the staff. We also raise concerns about the isolation of the detention facility, which is far from medical care centers, and the precariousness of the temporary “tent” structures in the Florida heat and summer thunderstorms, not to mention the challenge of safely protecting detainees in the event of a hurricane.
We call on all people of goodwill to pray for our government officials, for those in immigration custody and their families, for those who work in enforcement, and for justice for all in this nation, whose prosperity immigrants have always contributed to.
https://www.miamiarch.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Article_archdiocese-of-miami-the-broken-immigration-system-is-hurting-people
Comments
I choose to refer to this facility as an “Internment Center” because of the disgusting history Internment hold in America’s past. Our Japanese internees have been replaced with Haitian and Hispanic men
I am asking myself and anyone who will listen: What can our Catholic Church do to bring some accountability to the administration of this facility? Actually, this is a two part question: What can we do to support and encourage the caring out-reach of the local Catholic Church? What is appropriate support of our geographically-distance Church?
It is almost redundant to say that the AA Internment Center is in the Everglades. To begin to draft a current and relevant description of the Catholic Church physically near the inhumane, racial Internment Camp I simply accessed Google. Those of you who have access to more current, relevant data please just insert it into the document. The more authors that we have for this Internment Project the more Catholic we will be.
I started with the most basic of resources.
Googling ‘Everglades and Roman Catholic Diocese’ I found:
The Everglades, Florida is part of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Venice. Specifically, the Holy Family Mission in Everglades City, a mission church associated with
San Marco Catholic Church in Marco Island, is located
within this diocese according to the Diocese of Venice.
The diocese encompasses several counties in southwest Florida
Both the Diocesan and Parish webpages list resources that we might contact. Sojourners, insert here which Offices and Groups you think we might contact.
Thomas Wenski is the Arch-bishop over seeing Venice. Given the significant Black Haitian population of the Internment Center I think it is most relevant that in 1979 Cardinal Wenski was appointed to a Haitian apostolate operating out of the Cathedral of Saint Mary.[5] Wenski then served as associate director and later director of the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami until 1997.[7]He also served concurrently as pastor of three Haitian parishes in the archdiocese.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane serves as the spiritual leader of approximately 250,000 Catholics in the 10-county Diocese of Venice in Florida.
Fellow Sojourner, please insert some feedback, some private thoughts and help develop and give direction to the Draft. I am driven by living commitment of the new Bishop of Detroit who on his first day inoffice of Bishop led a guiet protest group to ICE Headquarters.