In a strongly worded statement, the Catholic archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, has lashed out at President Trump for his “malicious” decision to phase out DACA, saying that the move represents an “abandonment of humanity.”
“Whether or not the previous administration had authority to institute DACA does not matter,” Tobin writes in his statement. “One can’t hide behind the term ‘legality’ in rescinding DACA. That is an abandonment of humanity, and abandonment of talented and hopeful young people who are as American as you and I.”
“Today, the Administration not only has closed borders; it also has closed minds and hearts,” Tobin concludes.
The President has claimed that his intention is not to repeal DACA but to make it legal by having it passed by the appropriate authority, namely the U.S. Congress.
This is not the first time that Cardinal Tobin has expressed his contempt for Donald Trump.
Over the summer, the Cardinal painted the U.S. President as a fear-monger who appeals to the “dark side of Americans.”
In an interview with the French Catholic newspaper, La Croix, Cardinal Tobin said that the current climate of insecurity “has caused an exaggerated patriotism in the United States,” while suggesting that Trump plays on Americans’ fears and desires to see America “great again.”
“I think President Trump appeals to the dark side of Americans,” Tobin said. “He speaks to fears, to insecurities.”
The Cardinal also warned his fellow bishops who supported Trump to rethink their position, because the President is not to be trusted.
“Donald Trump is a businessman. He says he’s always looking to close a deal,” the Cardinal said. “The bishops must beware of him, because he tells them that he will be against abortion, that he won’t force them to pay for contraception, and in return, he asks for silence concerning his disrespectful remarks toward others or on the deportation of migrants. It’s dangerous.”
“We, American Catholics, are a Church of migrants. We have always pleaded their cause,” he said.
Last May, Cardinal Tobin said that in order to support Trump’s immigration policies “you really have to believe in inflicting cruelty on innocent people.”
In last November’s election, Catholics voted for Donald Trump by a substantial margin over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, with 52 percent voting for Mr. Trump and only 45 percent voting for Mrs. Clinton, the Pew Research Center reported.
The victory for Trump among Catholics represented a significant 5 percent shift away from the Democratic Party in the four years since 2012.
Catholics were apparently swayed, at least in part, by the vocal support of various bishops who openly declared that the platform of the democratic party was unacceptable, especially because of its hardline pro-abortion position.
“Catholics in good conscience cannot support candidates who will advance abortion,” wrote the Archbishop of Denver, Samuel Aquila, in his diocesan newspaper.
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