(From New York) The US Federal Government decided to sue the diocese of Brownsville, because the bishop refused to let it into the church’s lands to consider the option to build a border barrier there. In a release, the bishop, mgr. Daniel E. Flores, explained that he is “on friendly terms with the federal officers” who had claimed the right to enter the property in County Hidalgo. So, the decision to file such claim with the Court of McAllen, in the southern district of Texas, was totally unexpected. Mgr. Flores explained that “the bishop greatly respects the responsibility of the men and women who look after border security, but the property of the Church should not be used to build a border wall, since such construction would restrict the freedom to conduct his mission in the Rio Grande Valley and such a message would go against his pastoral service”. The land that should be inspected covers 64 acres and is located south of Juan Diego Academy, in a marshy place near the south border, in an area known as La Lomita. Just two hectares of the land should actually be used to build such bridge, and they would be refunded, but this is not a point that the diocese cares for. “In this dispute there’s much more than it seems”, stated Kevin Appleby of the New York Centre for Migration Studies, speaking with the journalists of the Catholic News Service. “The church has traditionally been considered to be a safe haven for immigrants, has consistently supported their rights, and has generally opposed to any border barrier”, Appleby explained: “The government is in fact sending a political message too, and the bishop is perfectly right to fight this”.