The first two weeks of the new Trump administration have been two steps forward and one step backward when it comes to Catholic values. With breakneck speed, President Trump has been handing out Sharpies used to sign all the executive orders being implemented early on in the administration.

One of the more contentious measures within the Catholic Church is the immigration measures initiated very soon after Inauguration Day. The balance between what a government can do to secure its borders while at the same time respecting the dignity of all humans can sometimes be in opposition for many Catholics.

Pope Francis has professed recently about prioritizing the plight of migrants and reached out to governments to welcome, protect and integrate them, within their means. He has said the dignity and rights of migrants are more important than any national security concerns.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote about this delicate balance in his 2010 message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, succinctly articulating the Church’s position:

“The Church recognizes the right [to emigrate] in every human person. … At the same time, states have the right to regulate migration flows and defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing respect due to the dignity of each and every person.”

Pope Benedict continued to explore the dichotomy between the two thoughts:

“The challenge is to combine the welcome due to every human being … with a reckoning of what is necessary for both the local inhabitants and the new arrivals to live a dignified and peaceful life.”

The federal government, for the past four years, has recognized the former while neglecting the right of the inhabitants to be safe in their own right. While the pendulum may swing too far back in the short term, Catholic leadership is attempting to slow the progress in order to find equilibrium by respecting both sides of the border.

The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops has pointed to the Trump administration’s use of broad-brush characterizations of migrants. Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who is chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, cited the administration for “sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, such as describing all undocumented immigrants as ‘criminals’ or ‘invaders’ to deprive them of protection under the law.” He wrote on Jan. 23 that this “is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image.”

Locally, Cardinal Timothy Dolan took Vice President J.D. Vance to task for his “Face The Nation” comments on the USCCB’s immigration stance. Vance wondered during the broadcast if the staunch stance of Catholic leadership on immigration may be rooted in the large sums of governmental funding given to Catholic charitable organizations to administer many aid programs to help recent arrivals.

Vance said, “I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?”

Cardinal Dolan, who gave the inaugural invocation, said on his SiriusXM show “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan,” “You want to come look at our audits, which are scrupulously done? You think we make money caring for the immigrants? We’re not in a money-making business.”

While the immigration lines have been drawn, the true answer to the U.S. government’s response to four years of open borders should lean heavily on Pope Benedict’s thoughts on the subject.