A new Cold War is emerging since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last month.
Immigrants
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.
Bishops Urge Mexico to Return to Policy of ‘Open Arms’
The Mexican bishops’ migrant ministry has called on the federal government to return to a policy of “open arms” as the country experiences heavy waves of migration — most visibly with Haitians, who recently traveled the length of Mexico to the U.S. border in large numbers.
Texas Archbishop Says Small Border Crossing Is Facing ‘A Humanitarian Crisis’
As thousands of migrants congregate underneath the Del Rio International Bridge, the Archbishop of San Antonio says the archdiocese is ready to help, but he fears an already overwhelming situation at the small Texas-Mexico border city will get worse.
Bishop Praises House Members for Proposing Citizenship Path for Immigrants
The U.S. bishops’ migration committee chairman Sept. 15 welcomed a move by House members to include language in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill to provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and other immigrants.
COVID Made Bad Situation For Immigrants Worse, Catholic Survey Finds
One of the main findings of the survey was that the demand for Catholic institution’s services from the immigrant community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased. And those Catholic institutions responded with a number of new services, the survey found. These included: financial assistance, COVID-19 testing, education, contact tracing, and quarantine services, mental health services, grief support and assistance with funeral expenses, and delivery of food and sanitation supplies for infected and other homebound persons.
Bishops Call on Congress to Fix Immigration System After TPS Court Ruling
Two members of the U.S. bishops’ conference migration committee called on Congress to “stop kicking the can down the road” on immigration reform after a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that immigrants who receive Temporary Protected Status (TPS) after entering the country illegally are ineligible to apply for “green cards” to stay in the country permanently.
Lawmakers Set to Vote on Two Immigration Bills
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to look at two bills on the immigration front March 18, both seeking a path toward citizenship for two groups: younger unauthorized immigrants called “Dreamers” and a second one to help migrant farmworkers become citizens.
Biden Begins Talks With Mexico Touching On Immigration, Virgin of Guadalupe
U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador began bilateral cooperation talks March 1 with humor, a focus on limiting immigration to the U.S. and talk about Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Diocese Honors Mosaic of Immigrants With Sculpture, Christmas Tree Lighting
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, joined by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, on Tuesday, Dec. 8, unveiled the sculpture, “Angels Unawares,” at the Soldiers and Sailors Arch in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza. The annual lighting of the plaza’s Christmas tree followed the unveiling.