Matthew 25:40 instructs: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” 

According to this verse, it is not how powerful you are or what you believe that guarantees salvation. Rather, the Kingdom of Heaven is unlocked through how you treat people, especially those most in need. 

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago and member of the College of Cardinals in Rome, said he employs similar values of justice and mercy when confronting U.S. immigration policy. 

Cupich is prominent among U.S. Catholic leaders speaking out about immigration issues in the context of the second Trump administration. On January 19, just a day before Trump was inaugurated, Cupich made a statement at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Mexico City defending immigrant rights. 

“If the indiscriminate mass deportation being reported were to be carried out,” Cupich announced to the congregation, “This would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American.”

Nearly 100 days after Cupich expressed this sentiment, the Trump administration said they   have deported nearly 100,000 people, though immigration data has been harder to track since Trump took office. 

Now, the White House and Justice Department are defying a 9-0 supreme court order to return Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. after wrongfully deporting him to a notoriously dangerous prison in El Salvador. 

Cupich told The DePaulia, if he had a face-to-face meeting with Trump and border czar Tom Homan, he would remind them that America is a nation of immigrants who are not to blame for the nation’s “broken immigration system that elected officials have ignored fixing for generations.” 

“A large share of the undocumented are contributing to the economy of our country taking on jobs that others refuse to take,” he continued. “It is a violation of human dignity to use disparaging language when describing undocumented immigrants, which every American who recites the pledge of allegiance should condemn.”

Though Cupich is unafraid to proclaim the disconnect between Trump’s immigration policies and Catholic ethics, DePaul professor of Catholic studies William Cavanaugh wishes the church at large would be more vocal about immigration as a key life issue. 

The Catholic Church is officially nonpartisan, but Cavanaugh said there’s an inevitable overlap between a “moral principle and a political stance.”

“The Church doesn’t always succeed in avoiding the appearance of partisanism,” according to Cavanaugh. 

He said this is reflected in the way U.S. bishops show varying passion related to different life issues. 

“I think (American bishops) could be a lot more vocal about what’s going on under the second Trump administration, that they could be more vocal about the treatment of immigrants and the erosion of democratic norms,” Cavanaugh said. 

During the Obama administration, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops  actively opposed a provision in the Affordable Care Act that covered birth control. 

“They’re capable of making a lot of noise, and I wish they would make more noise now, ” Cavanaugh said. “It seems like the stakes now are much higher than they were over this issue of contraceptive coverage under Obamacare.”

But clergy and church hierarchy is not necessarily reflective of the whole Catholic Church, Cavanaugh added.

Cupich points to Catholic social teaching as the basis of how the church officially stands on immigration. 

Catholic social teaching (CST) is a guiding principle of the Catholic faith that informs the Church’s commitment to social justice and “life” issues. 

“CST is rooted in the principles of the advancement of the common good, the respect for and defense of human dignity and the promotion of integral human development,” Cupich told The DePaulia.

He said the Catholic Church acknowledges nations’ rights to regulate their borders, but insisted this should not give politicians free reign to act against human dignity. 

“Economic, political and social decisions should not be decided out of shortsighted self-interest, but with regard for the common good,” Cupich said. “Thus, nations in keeping with Catholic social teaching are called to regulate their borders with justice and mercy.”

While nations carry this responsibility on a broad scale, local organizations like the Migrant Ministry of the Catholic Community of Oak Park are also delivering on God’s call to treat all with justice, mercy and care. 

This ministry, led by Margie Rudnik, Celine Woznica and a team of volunteers, provides food, clothing and showers for the migrant community in Chicago. 

“The migrants we serve are amazingly resilient, creative, innovative and focused,” Woznica said. “They get things done. They make things work.” 

The bedrock of Catholic social teaching, as practiced by organizations like the migrant ministry, is the dignity of all people. 

Karina Chavez, DePaul junior psychology major and member of DePaul Catholic Campus Ministry, can speak to the need for dignity and compassion as a first-generation college student. Her parents immigrated from Mexico. 

“It really, truly was for a better life,” she said. 

Chavez takes great comfort in her faith, saying she prays about how to navigate America’s fraught political climate. 

She often turns to Leviticus 19:34 to ground her prayer: “You shall treat the stranger who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you, have the same love for him as for yourself,” it reads.

“The verse has always been really close with me, especially in terms of emphasizing the need for compassion and justice for all humans,” Chavez said. 

Cavanaugh, the Catholic studies professor, indicated a strong tradition of compassion for migrants in the Bible. He said Vice President J.D. Vance — a recent convert to Catholicism — would do right to “read the Bible.”

“Abraham is a migrant.” Cavanaigh said. “Jesus and his family are refugees from Herod and go to Egypt. They take Jesus to Egypt as a baby to kind of get away from political oppression and violence.”

Pope Francis admonished Vance as a Catholic and the Trump administration over its immigration policies that he said damage human dignity. 

Despite ongoing affronts to what Catholics believe is inherent, God-given dignity of all people, Cupich expressed optimism.  

“I have faith in the American people to remain true to the ideals on which this nation is founded — and that the truth always wins out,” Cupich said. 

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• Know your rights: How DePaul plans to address ‘immigration raids’

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