immigration laws Archives

Capital punishment, immigration issues compel Iowa bishops to speak up

Jul 8, 2020

Iowa’s Catholic bishops are taking a prominent stand on three pressing federal issues, one involving the imminent execution of four federal death-row inmates, another on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, and the third on the asylum system.

By Barb Arland-Fye

Don’t turn away from suffering on border, urges Sister Norma Pimentel

Jul 7, 2020

In an opinion piece in The Washington Post daily newspaper, Sister Norma Pimentel, known for her work with migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border near Brownsville, Texas, made a public plea July 6 to keep an eye on the plight of asylum-seekers during the coronavirus pandemic.

By Rhina Guidos

Judge strikes down Trump administration’s ‘third-country asylum rule’

Jul 2, 2020

A federal judge ruled late June 30 the Trump administration unlawfully implemented its 2019 policy to turn away asylum-seekers if they don’t first seek protection in countries along their way to the United States.

By Catholic News Service

Catholic refugee agency: Immigrant detention in UK promotes ‘culture of death’

Jun 28, 2020

Britain’s immigration detention system fosters a “culture of death” and the practice should be ended, according the country’s leading Catholic refugee agency.

By Charles Collins

DACA ruling called ‘a beautiful moment’; concern about future remains

Jun 27, 2020

For Cinthia Padilla Ortiz, the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the DACA program was “an unexpected and beautiful moment” and left her feeling “that sense of hope in our community.”

By Juan Carlos Ramirez

Asylum at the border is ‘effectively over,’ El Paso bishop says

Jun 27, 2020

After visiting a group of pregnant migrant women on the Mexico side of the border, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, issued strong words June 25 about the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program and other restrictive immigration measures, saying that turning away those seeking asylum in the U.S. amounts to sending them to their death.

By Rhina Guidos