An El Paso judge has denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to shut down a Catholic migrant shelter that operates in the city — a decision that the local bishop is calling “an important moment for religious freedom.”
Bishop Mark Seitz
As Migrant Numbers Swell, El Paso Institute and Diocese Ready to Boost Capacity
A faith-based humanitarian organization in El Paso, Texas, is working with the local diocese to consider expanding its hospitality sites to accommodate 200 more migrants per night, as the head of the organization remains confident they can sufficiently respond to higher numbers.
Bishop Seitz Applauds Family Reunification Move, but Urges Full Immigration Reform
El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, the U.S. bishops’ conference migration committee chair, applauded the federal government for its new migrant family reunification program, but simultaneously cautioned that comprehensive immigration reform from Congress remains the only sustainable path forward.
U.S. Border Bishops Stress Renewed Commitment to Welcome Migrants
The day after Title 42 expired, lifting pandemic public health restrictions that had limited border crossings into the United States, a group of bishops along the southwest U.S.-Mexico border said they “remain committed” to the Church’s efforts to welcome migrants.
Biden’s Vow of Humane Immigration System Unfulfilled, Advocates Say
Two years into President Joe Biden’s term, Catholic immigration leaders wonder what happened to his campaign trail pledge to create a more fair and humane immigration system. They say while some positive steps have been taken, the administration has been slow to act, increasingly political, and reliant on recycled ineffective policies.
Bishops to Congress: H.R. 2 Bill ‘Contains Harmful Measures’ For Migrants
With the U.S. House of Representatives set to vote on sweeping immigration legislation this week, the U.S. bishops’ conference migration committee chair has urged legislators to oppose it, deeming it incompatible with Catholic social teaching and the nation’s commitment to humanitarian protection.
Six Suspects to be Charged in Deadly Mexico Migrant Center Blaze
After a federal investigation, a Mexican court issued arrest warrants for six people on March 30 for their connection to a fire that killed at least 40 migrants at an immigration detention center in the border city Ciudad Juárez.
As Immigration Politics Play Out, Catholics at the Border Focus on People
While hoping for the best amid an appeal by the Biden administration of a district judge’s decision to end a controversial Trump-era measure allowing immediate expulsion of immigrants, advocates for new arrivals along the U.S.-Mexico border say their focus remains on the migrants they encounter.
El Paso Bishop Takes Over USCCB Migration Office
When Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso celebrated Mass from an altar erected over the Rio Grande River earlier this month, attended by parishioners on both sides of the river that marks the U.S.-Mexico border, he cried.
Immigration Advocates Lament Continuation of Remain in Mexico Policy
When President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso remembers that regardless of other policy disagreements the nation’s bishops were confident that immigration was an issue the two sides could work together to solve.
