Charleston bishop rebukes Trump's 'harsh' deportations, cites George W Bush's 'acceptable' plans

"Now we see our government adopting harsh measures to deport as many immigrants as possible, often without distinguishing between true criminals and law-abiding persons."

"A government that says it wants to help families is willing to separate immigrant parents from their children. A government that oversees the economy wants to expel millions of workers upon whom the economy depends," Brennan went on.

"You expected a laser beam approach, not a floodlight," Brennan said.

"Get up and take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you. For, Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him," that Scripture reads.

"Our Church looks at the person, not his or her legal status, and, following Christ's teaching and example, reaches out to help the immigrant," Bishop Brennan continued.

"A person is more important than legal status. Even prisoners in jail are fed, clothed and have their health problems addressed, at least in well-run prisons."

Hearkening back to the 19th century, Brennan noted the Fugitive Slave Act had been used to "calm tensions" between the states and that the northern states refused to cooperate because they saw it as an unjust law.

"It is Catholic teaching that an unjust law does not bind in conscience. But one must be willing to accept the consequences of civil disobedience. Martin Luther King, Jr., was willing to go to jail rather than acquiesce in unjust laws, a willingness shared by pro-life activists and people protesting nuclear arms," Brennan added.

"Republican President George W. Bush presented an acceptable if imperfect plan to reform immigration laws, but his own party shot it down," he said.

The White House called the statement "rife with inaccuracies and misinformation. It's wrong and offensive to conflate ILLEGAL (sic) immigrants with legal immigrants who have followed the law and entered the country the right way."

"Anyone who has broken the law and entered the United States illegally is, by definition, not a 'law-abiding person.' President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in history, and unlike prior failed leaders like Joe Biden, he is empowering federal law enforcement officers to do their job and enforce the law. And without laws we are not a nation at all," said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.