immigration reform Archives

Vatican cardinal calls on bishops to expand pastoral ministry to migrants

Jun 9, 2021

A Vatican official asked a group of bishops gathered at Mundelein Seminary June 2 to think of migrants, whether they arrive for the short or long term, as “parishioners” and organize pastoral plans to tend to them.

By Rhina Guidos

Advocates demand ICE comply with order to release children in detention

Jul 29, 2020

Franciscan Father Jacek Orzechowski and dozens of other immigration advocates rallied outside the Washington headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement July 27 calling on the agency to release immigrant children being held in detention with their parents.

By Catholic News Service

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

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

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

Supreme Court says asylum-seekers can’t challenge deportations

Jun 26, 2020

In a 7-2 decision June 25, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration can deport some asylum-seekers without granting them a federal court hearing.

By Carol Zimmermann

DACA recipients undaunted moments before visiting Congress

Nov 19, 2019

Three young adults of the estimated 700,000 with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status remain undaunted after years of little to no action on their behalf in Congress and the courts, including the Nov. 12 Supreme Court hearing that could permit the Trump administration to cancel the program.

By Mark Pattison