Though he expressed gratitude for the ruling, Weisenburger said he remains cautious that the final outcome is still uncertain.
“We know the administration has already appealed this decision, and it will still be quite some time before we have a final resolution in the case,” he said. “It is currently uncertain whether the lower court’s order halting implementation of the administration’s asylum restrictions will take effect in the coming weeks.”
According to Weisenburger, the Tucson and Yuma sectors of the border in Arizona currently account for “at least one-third of migrant entries across the US southern border.”
“Whatever the outcome of this litigation, our efforts will continue to focus on welcoming these newcomers by offering safety, hope, and dignity, in accordance with our faith and applicable laws,” Weisenburger said, adding that his diocese “will continue to partner with our government and local community to provide these very necessary services."
Other Catholic leaders at the border such as Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Catholic migrant aid group “Hope Border Institute,” also applauded Tigar’s ruling.
“The court made the right decision here,” Corbett told CNA, adding that “there is no legal basis for the Biden administration’s asylum ban.”
As a Catholic deeply involved with giving humanitarian aid and shelter to needy migrants, Corbett has long been a critic of attempts to shut down the border. Instead, he has advocated for substantive immigration reform.
He strongly condemned the Biden administration’s crackdown when it was first announced in February.
“There is no doubt a political dimension to this,” Corbett told CNA in February. “The new policy enables them to burnish their ‘tough at the border’ credentials as we approach the presidential elections.”
“We spend billions of dollars every year on border and immigration enforcement,” Corbett said. “There is no doubt that we can reinvest some of those resources into putting in place a safe, efficient, welcoming system at the border that upholds the rights of vulnerable migrants and keeps our country safe.”
“Effective management of the border doesn’t need to come at the cost of the rights and dignity of asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants,” Corbett told CNA Thursday.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Corbett said that Biden’s current asylum policy “needlessly puts asylum seekers in danger and it outsources the challenges of immigration to countries less equipped to address them.”
“Rather than continuing to defend this indefensible policy in the courts,” Corbett said that the Biden administration “should pivot now by taking strong action to fully restore asylum at the border and make the moral argument to the country and Congress that we need immigration reform.”
Representatives from the Diocese of El Paso told CNA that Bishop Mark Seitz, the U.S. bishops’ migration head, was en route to World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, and was not able to be reached for comment at the time of publication.
This article was updated on July 28, 2023.
Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.