A prominent Catholic theologian who has previously defended the Trump administration’s immigration policies on theological grounds has joined the Department of Homeland Security, the agency confirmed.
Chad Pecknold, who has taught theology at The Catholic University of America (Catholic University) since 2008, is now the principal director of public outreach for the department’s Office of Public Engagement.
In a statement provided to the National Catholic Register, the sister news partner of EWTN News, Pecknold said he was “excited” to confirm he had taken the position.
“It is truly an honor to serve my country in this capacity,” he added.
The Department of Homeland Security was established in 2003 in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and is responsible for protecting the United States against terrorist attacks and other threats to its security. The department also serves as the enforcement arm of U.S. immigration policy, overseeing both U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
According to Pecknold’s LinkedIn page, he is “on leave for public service” from Catholic University. His profile also describes his new position as focused on “cultural outreach” and indicates that he began the role in August.
The Catholic theologian’s appointment to the department comes amid ongoing clashes between the U.S. bishops and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration has prioritized curbing illegal immigration, including carrying out a mass deportation campaign, securing the border, and making legal immigration and asylum claims more selective and difficult.
In response, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops took the rare step of issuing a joint statement in November 2025, expressing opposition to “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and calling for an end to “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence” against both immigrants and law enforcement.”
Shortly after, Pope Leo XIV commented on immigration enforcement in the U.S., urging those involved “to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have,” while following legal protocols.
Views on immigration
On the issue of immigration, Pecknold has consistently argued that defending the country’s borders is not in contradiction with Catholic teaching. Rather, he argues, it is necessary to achieve the common good.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, he told EWTN News in 2023, “teaches that nations have the right to borders and self-definition, so there is no sense in which Catholic teaching supports the progressive goal of ‘open borders.’”
“There is a ‘duty of care’ which is owed to those fleeing from danger,” he said, “but citizenship is not owed to anyone who can make it across a national border, and illegal entry or asylum cannot be taken as a debt of citizenship.”
In a recent essay for The American Mind, Pecknold took issue with the U.S. bishops’ amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court in defense of birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented migrants.
In the article, Pecknold argues that in asserting that every child has a “natural right” to citizenship, the bishops are committing a “logical fallacy.” They are confusing, he writes, “conventional rights — how a nation determines who is and is not eligible for citizenship — with natural rights, which come from God and which inhere in human beings as such.”
Pecknold has also endorsed a February statement released by a Christian think tank in Hungary that contends that “mass deportations may be a legitimate response to mass migration.”
And in April 2024, amid Catholic criticism of a Texas state law that gave local authorities authorization to make immigration-related arrests, Pecknold cited St. Thomas Aquinas’ theology as a basis for immigration restrictions, noting that Aquinas distinguished showing hospitality to wayfarers from offering permanent resettlement.
“Every human being having dignity does not immediately and obviously supersede the sovereignty of nations,” Pecknold told EWTN News at the time. “Statesmen have a sacred duty to safeguard the political common good of their country, and this will sometimes mean restricting who can legally enter and remain in their countries.”
Postliberal theologian
The Catholic University professor is part of what some refer to as the “postliberal” movement, which contends that American politics have been overly focused on individual liberty at the expense of the common good. Pecknold co-founded the Substack “Postliberal Order” with Notre Dame political science professor Patrick Deneen and Harvard constitutional law scholar Adrian Vermeule.
Pecknold is also known to be close to Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert and self-described postliberal. The background image of the professor’s X social media profile is a photo of Pecknold with Deneen and Vance.
Pecknold is the author of several books that examine cultural and political questions through the lens of St. Augustine’s philosophy and theology, including “Transforming Postliberal Theology” (2005), “The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning” (2006), “Time, Liturgy, and the Politics of Redemption” (2008), and “Christianity and Politics” (2010).
In a roundtable published in the Register in 2023, Pecknold argued that Catholics have a duty to engage in politics.
“Catholics who are well-formed by the laws of the heavenly city must pray and work for the peace of our very troubled country — for even the nations are restless until they rest in God. Catholics have a duty to intercede, to cure, and to govern,” Pecknold said.
It is not clear what Pecknold’s duties will be as director of public outreach at the federal department. The agency did not respond to a request for an explanation of his new role in time for publication, and Pecknold did not respond to a request for an interview.
This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
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