When I started writing this monthly column, “Walking With Migrants,” I spoke about the difficulties that religious communities were having with the R-1 Nonimmigrant Religious Worker Visa.
Immigration Reform
San Antonio Archbishop Says Exploitation of Poor, Migrants Is ‘Carnage’
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller in a recent homily railed on smugglers as well as the injustices toward immigrants, referring to the June 27 deaths of 53 people in a sweltering cargo section of an abandoned semitruck near San Antonio as they were being smuggled into the country.
San Antonio Archbishop: ‘Immigration Reform’ Is Our Nation’s Problem
This week for Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller has been filled with hospital visits, Masses, and a lot of prayer for dozens of migrants who were found dead in an abandoned tractor trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio.
As DACA Marks 10th Anniversary, Recipients Voice Frustration Over Inaction
Standing outside the U.S. Capitol pleading with lawmakers to grant her and her peers a path toward citizenship is not how Zuleyma Barajas pictured her life 10 years after she was granted a temporary solution to remain in the U.S.
Federal Judge Orders Title 42 Measure Must Remain in Place at Border
The much-anticipated May 23 deadline on Title 42 came and went at the U.S.-Mexico border without any changes allowing migrants in, including asylum-seekers, after a federal judge blocked the government from lifting the health measure instituted during the pandemic.
The Country’s Need for Foreign-Born Religious Workers Is Vital for the Church
The U.S. immigration system should meet the needs of our communities and nation, but it often fails to do so.
Hispanic Catholic Leaders Emphasize Bipartisanship in Immigration Reform
In a meeting with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on April 27, Gloria Mancilla explained the challenges she faces as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, including bi-annual background checks, inability to get loans, and uncertainty of status from administration to administration.
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.
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.
New Coalition, With Catholic Members, Will Push Congress on Immigration
Representatives from the business sector, faith groups and grassroots organizations that support immigration reform sent Congress a letter March 2, a day after President Biden’s first State of the Union address, urging lawmakers to act on immigration because “simply put, the system is broken.”
