A recent documentary by CNN featured some of its reporters making the trek through the dangerous Darien Gap — a jungle that separates Colombia from Panama. 

A statement titled “The right not to have to migrate” was recently issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. But what does the right not to migrate actually mean? 

The immigration crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border has drawn much attention to Title 42. While the law had been around for decades, the Trump administration used it to block migrants from entering the U.S. in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19. 

The Biden administration is currently using its authority to grant humanitarian parole to newcomers through processes devised for five countries: Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The common elements among these countries are political instability, violent conflict, and widespread persecution of certain individuals. The aim of these parole programs is to increase access to humanitarian relief while seeking to minimize irregular migration. These processes rely on an old and tested system of welcoming newcomers: private sponsorship. 

In our national immigration debate, misinformation about immigrants is abundant, as they are often characterized in a negative light. But they are human beings with aspirations just like the rest of us. It is important to know who immigrants are and how they contribute to our society — to know with whom we are walking. 

Two saints who walked with migrants at the beginning of the last century can teach us today how we can accompany today’s new migrants on their journey to a new life. Both St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini have been called the Mother or Father of migrants — St. Cabrini when she was canonized and St. Scalabrini when he was beatified. Titles can be deceptive, however; when someone is called mother or father it goes well beyond a simple appellation. Rather, it is a term of endearment and respect.