Trump administration drops refugee cap to 45,000

September 28, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Washington D.C., Sep 28, 2017 / 09:55 am (CNA).- The Trump administration announced on Wednesday it plans to resettle a maximum of 45,000 refugees in 2018, fewer than in 2017 and far fewer than the U.S. accepted in 2016.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had proposed earlier this month that 75,000 refugees – which was still a reduction of over 25 percent from the previous administration – be the goal for refugee admission next year.

“We implore the administration to show mercy and compassion for those seeking refuge, and to advance the American value of freedom through providing safe harbor to those fleeing tyranny and religious persecution,” the bishops’ executive committee stated Sept. 12.

Following reports that the administration was planning to reduce the refugee intake even more in the 2018 fiscal year, the State Department confirmed the number would be smaller on Wednesday.

In President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration signed in March 2017, he ordered a four-month shutdown of refugee resettlement while the program was reviewed. That review period ends Oct. 24. Trump also capped the number of refugees that the U.S. would accept in FY 2017 at 50,000, far below the goal of 110,000 originally set by the Obama administration.

Then on Wednesday, the State Department announced that in its upcoming consultations with Congress it would propose capping refugee admissions at 45,000, including 19,000 from Africa and 17,000 from the Near East and South Asia.

A U.S. government official told reporters on Wednesday that, regarding the new refugee resettlement numbers, “the security and safety of the American people is our chief concern,” and that refugee resettlement is “only one part of the United States response to the crisis of forced displacement around the world.”

The announcement comes as the number of forcibly displaced persons is at its highest recorded level – over 65 million worldwide, according to the U.N. The number of refugees is also at its highest recorded level at over 22 million.

Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of Catholic aid groups that serve those in need on the ground in countries around the world, began an international “Share the Journey” campaign on Wednesday, inviting Catholics to hear the stories of migrants and refugees, welcome them into their communities, and advocate for policies that would support migrants seeking a better life.

Groups that resettle refugees have said that the resettlement program is secure and that the U.S. maintains stringent vetting of refugees for any potential security threats.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked that the administration set a goal of resettling 75,000 refugees, saying that to limit the number to “50,000 or below” would be “simply inhumane, particularly when our great nation has the resources and ability to do more.”

“We implore the administration to show mercy and compassion for those seeking refuge, and to advance the American value of freedom through providing safe harbor to those fleeing tyranny and religious persecution,” the executive committee of the U.S. bishops’ conference stated on Sept. 12.

David Robinson, executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service USA stated on Wednesday that the planned number of 45,000 is “shamefully low” and “a retreat from global leadership.”

“Our faith calls us to be compassionate, and this unprecedented policy is in direct opposition to the belief that we should welcome the stranger, especially the victims of war, terror and oppression,” he said.

The State Department did not notify resettlement groups of the planned 45,000 number, a government official confirmed on Wednesday, saying that “they’re well aware of the executive order’s number of 50,000 and that I think this is probably in the range that they expected.”

Also, the administration does not intend to “slow-roll” the admission so as to resettle only a portion of the goal, an official said. The U.S. could “get into the ballpark of this number” despite the vetting requirements and the need to address a backlog of asylum requests.

 

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Analysis: Vatican decision on Indianapolis could impact pending lawsuit, and Catholic identity in Catholic schools

December 21, 2020 CNA Daily News 4

Denver Newsroom, Dec 21, 2020 / 09:35 am (CNA).- The outcome of a Vatican appeal involving same-sex civil marriage and the Catholic identity of an Indiana school could have effect on a pending religious liberty lawsuit, and on the way other Catholic schools approach the issue of Catholic identity among their faculty.

Layton Payne-Elliot is a math teacher at Brebeuf Jesuit High School in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. In 2017, the school became aware that Payne-Elliot had contracted a same-sex marriage with Joshua Payne-Elliot, a teacher at Cathedral High School, which is also in the archdiocese.

The archdiocese asked that both schools not renew the teachers’ contracts, because, they said, teachers in Catholic schools are supposed to be witnesses of Catholic doctrine, and contracting a same-sex marriage constitutes a public act of counterwitness to that doctrine.

Brebeuf refused the archdiocesan instruction. In turn, the archdiocese revoked the school’s recognition as Catholic. The school appealed that decision to the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Curial officials close to the case have warned for months that Indianapolis’ Archbishop Charles Thompson is unlikely to find support for his deployment of the “nuclear option” in response to the school’s decision on Layton.

Several Vatican officials have told CNA that after some gestures of consideration, Brebeuf’s Catholic identity will likely remain intact, and the practical autonomy of institutes administered by religious orders will be bolstered by the Congregation’s decision.

A decision against Thompson could impact an ongoing civil lawsuit over the same case.

Joshua Payne-Elliot, who taught at Cathedral High School, filed suit against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 2019, after he was fired from his position. His case is currently before the state Supreme Court; this month the court rejected a request from the archdiocese to dismiss the case.

Cathedral High School’s handbook states that the “personal conduct” of all teachers should “convey and be supportive of the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief on behalf of the archdiocese, saying that “religious employers are entitled to employ in key roles only persons whose beliefs and conduct are consistent with the employers’ religious precepts,” and the government cannot interfere “with the autonomy of religious organizations.”

But according to The Indiana Lawyer, a judge in the litigation offered an unexpected settlement proposal last year.

Judge Stephan Heiman suggested that the parties reach a settlement that would depend on the Vatican’s decision in Brebeuf Jesuit’s canonical appeal against the archbishop. The judge suggested that if the archdiocese prevailed in Rome, the civil litigation would be dismissed, but if Brebeuf won in Rome, “the liability of the Archdiocese to Payne-Elliott would be established as a legal matter.”

Payne-Elliot accepted the idea, but the archdiocese did not. It’s worth noting that the judge’s proposal seemed to consider that the Congregation for Catholic Education will rule on the issue only as a matter of principle, when, in fact, there are any number of technical canonical issues at play, all of which may be a factor in the canonical case.

Heiman has recused himself from the case, and a special judge has been appointed.

But Heiman’s proposed settlement indicated that he saw a correlation between the Congregation’s decision and the case before him. That idea may well be picked up by Judge Lance Hammer, who is now overseeing the case, or argued for by Payne-Elliot’s attorneys, especially if the Congregation decides against Thompson without clarity on the reasons.

In short, the canonical specifics of the Vatican’s decision may well prove an operative factor in the ongoing civil litigation.

Of course, a decision against the archdiocese could also have a chilling effect on other Catholic institutions which require that teachers or employees live according to Catholic doctrine. It is unlikely bishops will be willing to press institutions in their diocese on such requirements, especially institutions administered by religious institutes, if they expect Rome won’t support their decisions on the matter.

Across the U.S., Catholic bishops in recent years have strengthened their policies on the Catholic identity of employees, in light of a number of religious liberty decisions in U.S. courts. But to understand how those policies might actually be applied in the years to come, many will now be looking to Rome, and to Indianapolis.
 

 


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