With Texas on the verge of allowing state police to arrest migrants and order them back across the border, the U.S. Bishops’ Conference Migration chair has criticized both the “false narrative” he believes the policy would accentuate, and the hardship it would force on migrants.
Bishop Mark J. Seitz
Texas Migrants Bound For Capital Need More Help: Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities DC is trying to give a “welcoming, Christ-like response” to migrants arriving in the nation’s capital on buses from Texas, but the head of the organization says there are concerns about a lack of leadership and assistance from the government, and what will happen if the buses arrive through the summer.
Immigration Advocates Praise Decision to End Title 42 Border Policy
When Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso got the news that the federal government will soon terminate Title 42, a controversial border policy, he said he began “thanking God.”
Visa Delays Causing Hardships for Church Workers in U.S.
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso considers the process temporary religious worker visa recipients endure to maintain lawful status a “race against time” with federal processing backlogs making it difficult to satisfy different permissions and expiration dates.
U.S. Bishops Cheered By One Migration Ruling, Dismayed by Another
The current and incoming leaders on migration for the U.S. bishops expressed cautious optimism about a recent court decision mandating that migrants can’t be expelled to “places where they’ll be persecuted or tortured,” but dismay over another striking down protections for unaccompanied minors from immediate expulsion.
Prayer Can Guide Encounters At the Margins In Work For Justice, Bishop Says
For all the years Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, has spent ministering at the Mexican border with people on the move to the United States, it was a young girl, he said, who taught him about hope.
Despite Promises, Little Has Changed For Migrants Under Biden Administration
On a Dec. 20 trip visiting with migrants across the border in Ciudad Juárez, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso found that little has changed with the Biden administration’s re-implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols.
In Talk About Immigration, Bishops Urge Attitude of Welcome
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, encouraged prelates meeting via Zoom for the U.S. bishops’ virtual spring assembly to find ways to welcome what may be a growing number of immigrants to their dioceses and to serve them the way they would serve Christ.
El Paso Bishop Tests Positive for COVID-19, Quarantines Self
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso is self-quarantining at his home after a test taken Oct. 3 indicated he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Texas Catholics Decry Governor’s Decision to Spurn Refugees
Catholic bishops across Texas have said Jan.10’s decision by Governor Greg Abbott not to allow new refugees to settle in the state is “deeply discouraging and disheartening” and are calling on the Catholic governor to reverse his stance.