‘Not Just Issues of Politics, They Are Human Issues': Chicago Cardinal Cupich Addresses Trump's Travel Ban

“Fear so often drives into herd mentality,” Cupich said

Chicago has been home to generations of migrants, and Cardinal Blase Cupich is reminding the city of its roots. 

As the nation continues to react to President Donald Trump’s weekend immigration order, Cupich met with high school students, but also sent a wider message to immigrants. 

In his mass at Regina Dominican High School Monday, even the entrance song “All Are Welcome” was exactly what Cupich wanted to emphasize. 

“Fear so often drives into herd mentality,” Cupich said. “The refugee who is now being kept out of our country because of executive orders -- these are not just issues of politics, they are human issues.” 

The cardinal was one of the first religious leaders to speak on Trump’s executive order calling for a travel ban on refugees from several Muslim-majority countries. Cupich called it a “dark moment in U.S. history” and “contrary to both Catholic and American values.” 

Trump's order temporarily suspends all immigration for citizens of seven majority Muslim countries for 90 days. It doesn't address homegrown extremists already in America, a primary concern of federal law enforcement officials. And the list of countries in Trump's order doesn't include Saudi Arabia, where most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were from. 

Trump took to Twitter to argue that swift action on immigrants was important, saying there are a "lot of bad 'dudes' out there." 

"There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter the country," Trump wrote in a series of early morning tweets. "This was a big part of my campaign. Study the world!" 

Civil liberties advocates have challenged the order and federal judges in New York and several other states issued orders that temporarily block the government from deporting people with valid visas from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. It also covered anyone with an approved refugee application. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is arguing in a lawsuit that the ban violates the First Amendment's bar of preferential treatment for a religion — by appearing to favor Christian over Muslim refugees. 

Since joining the College of Cardinals in November, Cupich has been outspoken about several issues currently at the center of the political world, including Chicago’s violence and the latest controversy over accepting refugees.

“It wasn’t just to lambast or to criticize,” he said. “It was to give a full array of issues that should be considered.”

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