immigrants and refugees Archives

Bishops oppose Trump’s decision ending program for unaccompanied child migrants
- Church in the US
- August 22, 2017
The U.S. bishops are protesting the decision of the Trump administration to end a program open to migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in an effort to control the flood of unaccompanied children into the United States trying to escape violence in their home countries. In 2014 alone, more than 60,000 unaccompanied children made their way into the country causing a massive backlog in the courts.
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Migrants: Church leaders criticize Italy for tightening its grip on NGOs
- Global Church
- August 10, 2017
Church leaders have spoken up in defense of NGOs operating search and rescue missions for migrants in the Mediterranean, calling for the creation of safe channels for refugees who wish to come to Italy and criticizing some of the provisions within the ‘code of conduct’ that the state asked NGOs to sign in order to continue their work at sea.
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Head of Knights of Malta relief efforts says sea rescue is a ‘mission’
- Catholic News Service, Global Church
- August 1, 2017
After an internal crisis that led to the resignation of the order’s former grand master, Fra’ Matthew Festing, the head of the Knights of Malta’s Italian relief corps reminds people of one of the primary focuses of the centuries old order: helping migrants, the poor and the marginalized.
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Ohio Catholic parish hosts camp to empower refugee women

According to Cindy Robert, a volunteer and religion teacher at the parish, many of the women and children from Muslim countries have not experienced the diversity of ethnicities and religions in the U.S. A major aspect of the organization and the camp is getting refugee families to mingle with the community to experience culture outside of their social norm.

NGO with ties to Pope accused of running ‘taxi service’ for immigrants

The founder of the Spanish NGO “Proactiva Open Arms,” Oscar Camps who has met with Pope Francis twice on the issue of immigration, is defending his organization and others against charges that they are driving up the number of immigrants by encouraging people to risk dangerous sea voyages in unreliable vessels in order to grab EU cash for immigrant help.

U.S. bishops call for permanent protection for young migrants

Bishop Joe S. Vasquez, chair of the migration committee of the USCCB, wrote a statement urging the Trump administration and members of the U.S. Congress to “ensure permanent protection” for the estimated 750,000 youth in the DACA program, also known as DREAMERS, who otherwise risk deportation.