Catholic leaders joined immigration advocates and representatives from other faiths on March 21 to protest at the U.S-Mexico border in Arizona, in front of the White House in Washington, and other locations around the country, speaking out against ongoing asylum restrictions at the U.S. border.
A faith-based organization launched a medical clinic across the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juárez over the weekend to provide medical support to migrants in need.
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA has launched the Migrant Accompaniment Network, a nationwide group of volunteers “who will engage those who have recently arrived in the U.S. with their integration into welcoming communities,” the organization said in a Sept. 14 announcement.
About a year ago, Jesuit Refugee Services USA staff at the U.S.-Mexico border realized something about many migrants’ journeys: They needed as much help settling into their final destinations as they did when they first entered the country.
Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens has mobilized to help asylum seekers recently bussed to New York City from Texas. The staff hosted information sessions for about 200 people on Aug. 29 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Brooklyn Heights. The migrants received food boxes, toiletries, a hot lunch, and fellowship.
After two busloads of migrants, sent directly from Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott, arrived in New York City last week, Mayor Eric Adams renewed calls for the federal government to help the city deal with the unexpected influx of newcomers.
In response to Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s claim that migrants were “tricked” onto buses that shipped them from Texas to the nation’s capital, activist Abel Nuñez counters: “Whether they were tricked or not, they’re in your city, so what are you going to do about it?”
Father Pat Murphy remembers a family that for six months stayed and worked at La Casa Del Migrante in Tijuana, Mexico, and was on the verge of humanitarian parole before they fell susceptible to a smuggler and tried to enter the U.S. illegally.
The archbishop of San Antonio offered prayers for dozens of people found dead as well as more than a dozen survivors discovered June 27 in sweltering conditions in a semitruck.
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.
