Lincoln bishop says McCook ICE facility should not hold those ‘simply seeking a better life’

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Bishop James Conley released a statement Friday on the immigration detention center in McCook.

The bishop said it is crucial that detainees have access to pastoral care, just as inmates have had throughout the history of the Work Ethic Camp.

Conley also said the facility should be used only for those who have committed crimes that “endanger public safety.”

He ended by telling Catholics to respect human dignity because everyone is “made in the image and likeness of God.”

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Read the full statement below:

“For decades, the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln has experienced an excellent relationship with the Work Ethic Camp in McCook. In response to Jesus’ call to visit the imprisoned, we have celebrated Mass and provided sacramental and pastoral care on a weekly basis for those imprisoned all those years.

It will be of utmost importance that any person detained in the federal immigration detention center in McCook can also access regular and ongoing pastoral care. This is fundamental to the dignity of every human person, as each of us is called to union with God.”

Further, the facility in McCook should not be used to detain migrants without documentation who are in the United States simply seeking a better life, but instead those who have committed crimes that endanger public safety. To do otherwise would undermine the facility’s moral legitimacy and erode public trust.

Also for decades, Catholic Bishops across the United States have called for public officials to engage in meaningful immigration reform. This reform cannot be delayed any longer. The president and Congress must work together to develop laws that both respect our borders and also respect the rights of each person to migrate.

Finally, we must never forget: every person—whether an immigrant or not, documented or not—is a human being made in the image and likeness of God. This human dignity must be recognized and respected. Let us constantly see each other with the eyes of Jesus Christ, who looks mercifully and lovingly upon each one of us.

As the Bishop of Lincoln, I remain committed to safeguarding human dignity which maintains public safety and respects our migrant brothers and sisters, and I invite all Nebraskans to this shared vision of hope in the Good Life.”