Two MCC Pastors in Louisiana, USA are denouncing Operation Catahoula Crunch as a furtherance of xenophobia and divisiveness that is not based on fact or need.
On Dec. 3, several federal agencies launched Catahoula Crunch with the stated goal of arresting 5,000 unlawful residents who have committed or been accused of serious crimes. The operation, obviously, targets Latino residents.
“The only thing being accomplished with this effort is the advancement of anti immigrant propaganda,” said Rev. Lonnie Cheramie, pastor of MCC New Orleans. “Our Christian faith demands that we speak out against racism and government-sponsored domestic terrorism, and that means speaking out now against the Trump Administration.”
“The only impact of this arbitrary manhunt will be the disruption of families and damage to our state’s image and economy,” said Rev. James Hartman, pastor of MCC Baton Rouge. “There aren’t 5,000 hardened criminals loose in Louisiana at all – regardless of nationality, race, or immigration status – and advancing the delusional nonsense that such a menace exists in the toe of Louisiana’s boot would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.”
“Our denomination and our individual churches embrace diversity, and as citizens of the United States we embrace the rule of law,” Cheramie said. “These actions are increasingly close to the horrors of genocide history warns us against. We applaud those elected leaders who are speaking out and standing up against such frightening government overreach.”
“From the horror of American slavery to the Jim Crow atrocities, from the pogroms of Kristallnacht to the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda, the collapse of societies begins with the heresy of ‘us and them,’” Hartman said. “Operation Catahoula is a hunting expedition, but with hunters less trained and far more dangerous than the Catahoula hounds for which it is named. These ‘roundups’ of ‘illegals’ are political stunts that put innocent lives in danger while fomenting xenophobia and racism. These actions are unamerican and, more importantly, are antithetical to the teachings of Christ.”