Over the last year, Catholic dioceses on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico, in places such as El Paso and Brownsville, Texas, scrambled to accommodate the growing number of children, men and women crossing the border, seeking asylum and entering the U.S.
At year’s end, humanitarian aid for migrants moves across border
Admitting fewer refugees ‘runs counter’ to U.S. values, say USCCB leaders
A proposal to reduce the number of refugee admissions to the United States to fewer than 30,000 “would be wholly counter to our values as a nation of immigrants,” said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chair of the bishops’ Committee on Migration.
Trump administration to apply ‘third country’ rule for asylum-seekers
The Trump administration announced the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security are adopting an interim “third country rule” requiring immigrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border to first apply for refugee status in another country.
CLINIC joins suit against government seeking change in asylum policy
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network joined three other organizations in filing a lawsuit against the federal government over a memo that the groups say changes the rules retroactively for unaccompanied immigrant minors seeking asylum.
Government must account for family members separated at border by October
After a backlash over the policy of separating families seeking asylum, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in June 2018 to officially end the policy.
Bishop helps migrant family at border cross into U.S. on asylum trek
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, was able June 27 to help a migrant family seeking asylum successfully cross an international bridge from Mexico into the United States.
Bishop tries to help migrants at international bridge in El Paso
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the U.S. border Diocese of El Paso, Texas, walked and prayed with a group of migrants at the Lerdo International Bridge in El Paso June 27 as they sought asylum in the U.S.
Many migrants surprised to find long wait to apply for asylum in U.S.
More than 2,000 migrants already were waiting to apply for asylum in the U.S., and they were required to register their names on a waitlist managed by the shelter.