Two Catholic bishops want answers. Several migrants died this month during ICE stops. One bishop leads a church district in South Texas.

Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria and Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin sent out a joint statement on July 20. Cahill runs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration. Garcia runs the group's team on racial justice.

"All persons are created in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, grieve all situations where human life is brought to an unnatural end," the bishops said. In plain words: every person's life matters to God. It hurts when a life ends the wrong way.

The bishops did not name any one case. But their statement comes after weeks of deadly run-ins between ICE agents and migrants across the country.

On July 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. It happened during a stop near Houston. Salgado was 52. He had lived in the U.S. for 35 years and was close to getting legal status, his family says. DHS says Salgado tried to ram an officer with his van. The officer says he fired because he feared for his safety. Passengers riding in the van say that is not true. They say ICE vehicles hit the van instead. They say the van had already stopped when the officer fired.

On July 14, an ICE officer shot and killed Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero. It happened outside his family's home in Biddeford, Maine. Duran Guerrero was 26. He was from Colombia. He drove for a food delivery app. He also cleaned a vet clinic. He worked to support his wife and young daughter. DHS said agents were trying to serve papers on someone who had left the home in that truck. The agent fired when the truck did not stop. People were angry after the shooting. DHS then agreed to stop most routine traffic stops, said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

That same day, Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran died in St. Augustine, Florida. He was 28. He was from Mexico. He and three other people ran from ICE agents at a gas station. Police say he ran into a busy road. A semi-truck hit him. His wife said he had a tourist visa. She said he was in Florida on vacation.

The bishops said government power "must always be exercised within the limits of the moral law." In plain words: the law has limits, even for police and agents. The bishops also said racial profiling hurts people's God-given worth. They said it causes deep pain for families and whole towns.

The bishops asked for three things. They want accountability. They want transparency. They want justice. They said the immigration system needs real fixes. At the same time, they had a warning. No one should talk about immigrants or ICE agents like they are less than human. That cuts both ways, they said. Agents have a real job, the bishops said. But that job must respect basic rights, including the right to a fair legal process.

Cahill leads a church district that covers several South Texas counties. His voice gives the bishops' national call some local weight here at home.

So far, ICE and DHS have not answered the bishops' statement. DHS has an inspector general. That office is looking into the Houston shooting, officials say. Florida police say their case is still open too.

The bishops asked Catholics to pray. They asked people to pray for those who died and their families. They also asked for prayer that the country can talk about immigration without hate on any side.