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EXCLUSIVE: Catholic bishops chided for sowing ‘confusion’ on deportation stance
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EXCLUSIVE: After the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a statement opposing mass deportations, a prominent American Catholic group chided some of its colleagues for sowing «confusion» about the church’s official stance on law enforcement and called for a «more complete conversation on immigration.»
On Wednesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a «special pastoral message on immigration» in which the bishops said they felt «compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.»
In the message, the bishops stated unequivocally, «We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.
«We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care.»
US CATHOLIC BISHOPS VOTE TO OFFICIALLY PROHIBIT GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT AT CATHOLIC HOSPITALS
U.S. Catholic bishops praying together and federal law enforcement officials making an arrest. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters; Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)
They also lamented that «some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.»
A day later, conservative advocacy group CatholicVote issued a report titled, «Immigration Enforcement and the Christian Conscience.»
«Despite what some Church leaders in America have indicated, a faithful Catholic can support strong and humane immigration law enforcement — by means such as physical barriers, detention and deportation — without violating the teaching of the Church,» the report states.
While the U.S. bishops’ statement invokes the scripture verse, «whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,» in reference to the plight of migrants, CatholicVote’s report states that the «implications of this passage apply to all people — including those left poor, forgotten, unemployed and the victims of crime.»
The report posits that while «weak borders and lenient law enforcement are often presented as ‘humane’ and ‘compassionate’ policies demanded by Christian love,» such policies «frequently have a terrible human toll — such as when they enrich and empower the criminal cartels, clearly harming both Americans and foreigners in the process.»
It also makes the case for deportations even in instances that lead to the separation of families, saying, «In this regard, there is no essential difference between a prison sentence for other offenses and the deportation of illegal immigrants.
«If legitimate law enforcement is disruptive to family life, the responsibility lies with those family members who broke the law.»
‘SHATTERED OUR WORLD’: FAMILY STILL WITHOUT ANSWERS AFTER INTOXICATED ILLEGAL KILLED MOTHER
The U.S. southern border near El Paso, Texas. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
The report laments that «Catholics who advocate strong but humane immigration enforcement are sometimes accused of disobeying their bishops or the pope, and even violating Church teaching.» It also says that «statements from individual Church leaders in America and abroad have also added to the confusion, particularly when they draw a moral equivalency between President Trump’s immigration policy and, for example, the Democratic Party’s pro-abortion platform.»
Despite this, the report posits that «properly speaking, there is no such thing as an official ‘Catholic position’ on the practical details of immigration policy.» Instead, it frames individual Catholics’ stances on immigration enforcement as «a matter of prudential political judgment,» which it says is «an area of responsibility that belongs properly to Catholic laypersons rather than the bishops.»
CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt told Fox News Digital the group «wants to foster a more complete conversation on immigration and give moral standing and freedom of conscience for Catholics and Christians who recognize a need to secure the border and the importance of the rule of law.»
Reinhardt said «pastoral accompaniment on the part of the bishops and faithful Christians, however necessary, does not exhaust the Church’s moral vocabulary.»
BISHOPS, CATHOLIC GROUPS SLAM CARDINAL CUPICH’S PLAN TO HONOR PRO-ABORTION SEN DICK DURBIN: ‘GREAT SCANDAL’
ICE and several other federal, state and local agencies during a week-long immigration enforcement operation in the Houston, Texas, area, which resulted in the arrests of 646 illegal immigrants. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
«The responsibility to regulate borders for the sake of the common good is not a caveat tacked onto an otherwise humanitarian manifesto; it is an integral part of Catholic doctrine,» said Reinhardt. «This is not a secondary or peripheral concern. As we argue, it is precisely the collapse of lawful order — not merely private prejudice — that has created the conditions in which exploitation flourishes, cartels thrive, and millions of migrants are pushed into a shadow-world without legal recourse or clear prospects.
«The point, put bluntly, is this: a nation cannot honor the dignity of immigrants if it has effectively abandoned the rule of law under which immigrants might be protected.»
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CatholicVote made headlines in 2024 for issuing its first political endorsement for President Donald Trump. The group’s founder, Brian Burch, serves as the Trump administration’s ambassador to the Vatican.
Fox News Digital reached out to the USCCB for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
immigration,immigrant rights,illegal immigrants,border security,roman catholic,donald trump
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Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is facing mounting criticism for his government’s inability to stop pro-Iranian militias and the Islamic Republic of Iran from attacking American, French, Italian and Kurdish military personnel and facilities in Iraq.
On Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that all U.S. citizens in Iraq should leave «immediately,» as «Iran-aligned terrorist militias have attacked the International Zone in central Baghdad on multiple occasions.»
The announcement came after a missile reportedly struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad early Saturday.
Speaking on background, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, «The United States strongly condemns attacks by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias against U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities, civilian targets and energy infrastructure in Iraq, particularly in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.»
US EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD TARGETED AS IRAN LAUNCHES ATTACKS DURING OPERATION EPIC FURY
A billboard featuring a photo of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, is seen along a street in Baghdad on March 9, 2026. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The statement added, «As Secretary Rubio has said, the Iraqi government must take all possible measures to safeguard U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities and ensure militia groups cannot use Iraqi territory to threaten the United States or the region. Doing so is in Iraq’s interest,» the spokesperson noted, «We retain a range of options to protect our interests. We do not preview sanctions or sanction actions.»
A Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital that the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq «are paid and armed by the Iraqi government. They are on the Iraqi payroll. This is not the first time they have fired on the U.S., the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG] and the energy sector. These PMF have brazenly attacked U.S. military bases.»
According to the official, «Many of these leaders [from the PMF] are part of al-Sudani’s government and his very coalition.»
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday, an official for Iraq’s Embassy in Washington D.C. flatly denied the allegations against al-Sudani. «We would like to unequivocally confirm that the allegations claiming the Prime Minister granted a ‘green light’ to any armed group to target U.S. or Western interests are completely false. The Iraqi government has repeatedly emphasized its firm rejection of any attacks on diplomatic missions or foreign interests.»
The representative added, «The Prime Minister has also issued several statements condemning such acts, describing them as terrorist activities, and has directed the relevant authorities to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice.»
Al-Sudani raised eyebrows last week when he congratulated the Islamic Republic of Iran’s selection of its new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the assassinated second Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. «We express our confidence in the ability of the new leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran to manage this sensitive stage, and continue to strengthen the unity of the Iranian people in facing the current challenges,» al-Sudani reportedly said.
When asked about the congratulatory statement to Khamenei, the Iraqi Embassy official said, «This action falls within the scope of standard diplomatic practices carried out by many countries, including several Gulf states. Iraq maintains diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, including Iran, while simultaneously ensuring balanced relations with all its regional and international partners.»
IRAN PROXIES WAGE WAR ON ISRAEL, THREATEN US INTERESTS AS IRAQ SLAMMED FOR NOT DISARMING THEM
A member of the Imam Ali Battalions, the armed wing of the Islamic Movement of Iraq — a member faction of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitaries — holds up a picture depicting Iraqi PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (who was in a US drone strike in early 2020), as other group members gather with its flags during a rally to mark annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations in Baghdad on April 5, 2024. (Murtaj Lateef/AFP via Getty Images)
The intensified attacks on the international anti-jihadi coalition in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region on Friday resulted in the death of a French soldier and injuries to six other people. According to France 24, the commanding officer, Colonel Francois-Xavier de la Chesnais, said the French soldier, Arnaud Frion, was murdered by an Iranian-designed Shahed lethal drone.
The Iraqi Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Saturday that the «Kurdistan Region was targeted with seven explosive-laden drones early Saturday as Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq continue to target the U.S. consulate in Erbil and other military and civilian sites in the Region.» Rudaw said since the start of U.S. Operation Epic Fury the Kurdistan area has been targeted with over 300 drone and missile attacks, resulting in the killing of seven people and 35 injured.
The Kurdish official complained that al-Sudani’s «government is not serious about taking on militias because the militias are part of the government.» However, the official praised the U.S. «The Americans are going after them aggressively over the last week with attacks on their [PMF] positions.»
U.S. embassy personnel inspect damage caused by a bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Hadi Mizban/AP)
According to a Long War Journal report, «Airstrikes, likely conducted by the U.S. as part of the U.S.-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic, have continued targeting Iran-backed Iraqi militias.» Neither the U.S. or Israel have not commented on reports that they are striking the PMF.
Fox News Digital secured information in early March from the Israeli Defense Forces that drones have bee fired at Israel from Iraqi territory since the start of the war.
The PMF told the Iraqi News Agency that American military forces have conducted 32 airstrikes against PMF headquarters since February 28.
The Kurdish official urged the Trump administration to «demand that Iraq’s government stop paying and arming the PMF and target their banking system that finances the PMF.» The official continued, «We have shared information with the Iraqis and the Americans, who have in turn shared information with the Iraqi government.» On the terrorist activities of the PMF the official said, «The al-Sudani government has been unwilling to confront them.»
TRUMP THREATENS TO END IRAQ SUPPORT OVER AL-MALIKI COMEBACK BID TIED TO IRAN INFLUENCE
Supporters gather in Baghdad’s Sadr district holding Iranian flags and posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following the announcement that he was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks, on March 1, 2026 (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The official bemoaned that the al-Sudani government initiated a «handful of arrests last year, and they were released on bail and were able to flee to Iran.» The Kurdish official said the KRG «provided the information to the Iraqi government about the perpetrators» who fled to the Islamic Republic.
An Iraqi official dismissed the reports on PMF terrorists, stating,» I have not heard of such a thing. I guess that’s not true.»
The Kurdish official cited two PMF groups as the most bellicose toward the U.S.: Asaib Ahl al Haq (League of the Righteous) and Kataib Hezbollah. The Trump administration sanctioned Asaib Ahl al Haq in March 2024. The State Department said Asaib Ahl al Haq «and its leaders are violent proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran» and the group «is extensively funded and trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force.»
The U.S. government sanctioned Kataib Hezbollah in 2023. The Kurdish official also charged the al-Sudani’s government with imposing an embargo on imported goods to Iraqi Kurdistan as way «to strip away our autonomy and everything we can built over 30 years.» The autonomous Kurdish government is widely considered a robust pro-American ally.
Iran-backed shi’ite groups fighters celebrate on a street, after the IRGC attack on Israel, in Basra, Iraq, October 1, 2024. (Essam Al-sudani/Reuters)
The Iraqi official denied the embargo, stating, «The federal government does not pursue a policy of ‘embargo’ against the Kurdistan Region. The current measures aim to unify the legal, customs, and trade framework across all Iraqi borders in line with the federal constitution.
«No country can afford contradictory internal trade and customs regimes, as this risks harming the national economy as a whole. Our objective is a unified, fair economic framework that protects state revenues while respecting the region’s specificities, and we believe this is best achieved through dialogue and cooperation.»
Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Ali Jabar/ AP Photo)
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Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy prime minister of Iraq, told Fox News Digital that «One could even describe the PMF as the Iraqi branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, effectively functioning as an Iraqi Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The PMF operates through a network of militias that frequently attack U.S. forces, foreign interests, and targets in Kurdistan.»
He argued for «The dismantling of the mother organization — the PMF itself. As long as the PMF exists, militias operating under its umbrella will continue to attack U.S. forces and regional targets.»
Fox News Digital reporter Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.
war with iran,iraq,terrorism,national security,mojtaba khamenei
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Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner and music star, once said he would pursue Mexican citizenship and described himself as a «winter Texan» for spending much of the year south of the U.S. border, drawing scrutiny for his time spent internationally as he pursues a seat in Congress.
«It gets hot here, bro. Like real hot — like real hot. I’m a summer Mexican,» Pulido told interviewers in 2023.
«It sounds better: winter Texan. It sounds better to say, ‘I’m a winter Texan.’»
His comments, which Pulido says he made in jest, run counter to statements he made to NBC News earlier this month.
TEXAS BORDER DISTRICT DEM CUELLAR BEATS BACK PRIMARY CHALLENGERS
Bobby Pulido, Democratic Congressional candidate for Texas, speaks on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Gabriel V. Cardenas/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«I live in Texas. We’ve always lived in Texas. Since COVID, really — that’s just not true,» Pulido said, responding to accusations that he only sometimes lived in the district he is running to represent.
Pulido is best known for his Tejano and Mexican–Spanish folk-style songs, such as «Desvelado» and «Se Murió de Amor,» and has received five nominations for a Latin Grammy Award.
He won Best Tejano Album in 2022 and 2025.
Pulido’s career still takes him south of the border on a regular basis, leading him to tell local newspapers in Mexico that he was considering dual citizenship in 2015.
«I’m going to be Mexican because I want the same Mexican passport you have,» Pulido told El Norte, a Mexican outlet.
His last five concerts have been in Mexico, according to his tour website.
Pulido made headlines last fall when he announced a congressional bid in one of the country’s most competitive districts. Shortly afterward, he also drew scrutiny for a resurfaced history of posting links to explicit websites on his personal X account — as well as for a social media post of what appeared to be him urinating on President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
TRUMP’S PARDON OF HOUSE DEM CUELLAR BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS HIS BROTHER FACES INDICTMENT
Bobby Pulido, left, pictured alongside Trump’s Hollywood star, right. (Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images; David Livingston/Getty Images )
He has also received backlash over his past vulgar attacks against Trump, including posting the Spanish translation of «f— your mother.»
«I’d like to give you the biggest ‘f— you» you piece of s—, a–hole, d— head, son of a b—-,» Pulido said to Trump in another post.
Despite those controversies, Pulido recently captured the Democratic nomination to run in Texas’ 15th Congressional District — a seat currently held by Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas.
De La Cruz, a two-term incumbent, needled Pulido over his time spent in Mexico through a post to X. She quipped that Pulido «only belongs at quinceañeras,» referring to the lavish, coming-of-age parties traditionally thrown for girls turning 15 in Latin cultures.
«Don’t threaten me with a good time,» Pulido shot back.
His campaign said Pulido asked local quinceañeras if he could attend them, drawing nearly 1,000 invites to parties in the district.
Pulido’s ties to Mexico extend beyond his music career.
A person familiar with Pulido’s background said his wife still lives in Mexico along with children from previous marriages. He also owns a house there and told interviewers in 2025 that he goes to Mexico for healthcare.
«We live on the border. My wife and I have a house in Mexico. So, we travel there, and we spend time over there. And I’ve had a pretty unique perspective of experiencing healthcare over there and healthcare here,» Pulido said.
TRUMP ENDORSES CUELLAR OPPONENT AFTER PARDONING DEM REP
Bobby Pulido holding his award at the Annual Latin Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on Nov. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Greg Doherty/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy)
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His campaign confirmed that Pulido does not have dual citizenship.
«Bobby has one citizenship — American, and he’s proud of it. And, frankly, there’s nothing wrong with people having ties to family and heritage across borders,» Pulido’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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