Human migration

Catholic leaders expressed astonishment that a large group of evangelical Christians from the U.S. received visas to come to Israel to help with the grape harvest in West Bank settlements, while Catholic institutions have not been able to obtain Israeli visas for their volunteers and staff members because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

European countries can turn the migration crisis into a "window" of opportunity, dialogue and encounter between migrants and their citizens, Pope Francis said.

Franciscan Fr. 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.

In an effort to curb the exploitation of migrant laborers and boost its crippling agriculture industry, the Italian government has granted temporary residency to agricultural workers without proper immigration documents.

On the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the Center for Migration Studies of New York released a new report highlighting the role of 19.8 million immigrant laborers who work in "essential critical infrastructure" in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administration announced Jan. 31 that it was curbing legal immigration from six additional countries that officials said did not meet security standards, as part of an election-year push to further restrict immigration.

A federal judge in Maryland heard arguments Jan. 8 in a lawsuit by three faith-based organizations against the U.S. government over a recent executive order allowing state and local officials to block refugee resettlement.

The increased enforcement has put Catholic-run shelters in the crosshairs of a Mexican administration anxious to show the United States it's keeping up its end of the bargain.