Catholic bishops condemn Trump administration’s immigration enforcement – US politics live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

US Catholic bishops condemn Trump administration's immigration enforcement

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.

We start with news that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a rare condemnation of president Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and advocated for “meaningful immigration reform.”

“We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools,” the bishops said in a special message, the first of its kind in 12 years.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration efforts, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The message echoes similar critiques made by Pope Leo, who has called for “deep reflection” about the way migrants are being treated in the US under Trump, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration has advanced an aggressive immigration agenda since taking office earlier this year. Trump has rescinded policy that limited immigration arrests near sensitive locations, including churches, hospitals and schools, and deployed federal agents across the US to ramp up such arrests.

In their message, the bishops expressed concern about what they described as “a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling” and immigration enforcement. They said they were saddened by the debate and vilification of migrants, and opposed “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”

The bishops also raised concerns about conditions in detention centers, and what they called the arbitrary removal of legal status of some migrants.

“We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good,” the bishops said.

In other developments:

• Donald Trump is facing the prospect of a politically damaging congressional vote on releasing the Jeffery Epstein files after attempts to press two female members of Congress to withdraw their backing for it appeared to have failed. The reported refusal of Lauren Boebert, a Republican representative from Colorado, and Nancy Mace, from South Carolina, to remove their names from a discharge petition to force a vote leaves Trump exposed on an issue that carries the possibility of turning segments of his Maga base against him.

• The justice department on Thursday joined a lawsuit brought by California Republicans to block the state’s new congressional map, escalating a legal battle over a redistricting effort designed to give Democrats a better chance of retaking the House of Representatives next year. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, challenges the congressional map championed by Gavin Newsom, the state’s Democratic governor, in response to a Republican gerrymander in Texas, sought by Donald Trump.

• The BBC has apologised to Donald Trump over the editing of a Panorama documentary that led to the resignation of its director general, Tim Davie, and the BBC News chief, Deborah Turness. However, the corporation has rejected his demands for compensation, after lawyers for Trump threatened to sue for $1bn (£760m) in damages unless the BBC issued a retraction, apologised and settled with him.

• James Comey, the former FBI director, and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, asked a federal judge on Thursday to drop the criminal charges against them, arguing that Donald Trump’s hand-picked US attorney, who obtained the indictments against them, was unlawfully appointed. The hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia in front of Judge Cameron Currie marked the first time a judge considered one of several efforts James and Comey have made to dismiss the indictments before trials.

• The Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell is the latest target of Trump’s retribution campaign against his critics, the congressman confirmed on Thursday. NBC News reports that Swalwell is facing a federal criminal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud, just as three other Democratic officials have faced in recent months.