Rhina Guidos

News reports say the Biden administration may not roll back at the end of July a policy that keeps migrants out of the country, citing health measures given the rising number of coronavirus cases in the U.S.

Immigrant advocates were already pressuring the Biden administration to end what's known as Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act, a policy the Trump administration began using in March 2020 as knowledge of rising infections of the coronavirus began to surge in the U.S. — and around the world.

The bishops who head the El Paso and Dallas dioceses in Texas have asked Gov. Greg Abbott to halt an order that could result in shutting down, by the end of August, Catholic Charities facilities in Texas that care for foster and migrant children, saying that doing so violates state laws protecting religious freedom.

Immigrant advocates, including Catholic organizations, launched a campaign July 13 to provide legal aid those who may need it, in case Congress, under the Biden administration, approves some type of reform.

Four Cuban American bishops called on the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba and expressed solidarity with them following protests that erupted on the island nation starting July 11.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced July 9 it would not detain, arrest or take into custody pregnant or nursing migrants for violating immigration laws except in exceptional circumstances.

Faith groups that work with immigrants are applauding a decision by the U.S. government to extend immigration protections for nationals from Yemen whose citizens find themselves dealing with war and famine, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

During a July 7 teleconference call organized by Welcome with Dignity, a coalition of groups that support migrants, speakers worried that only families will soon be exempt from the policy known as Title 42.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, asked Vice President Kamala Harris June 25 to engage with the faith community as partners on a path to bring relief and a compassionate solution to immigration issues in the Americas and to "hear the voices" of those turned away at the border.

The Maryland-based Catholic Legal Immigration Network announced June 22 it is joining forces with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to help people who are "stateless."

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, encouraged prelates meeting via Zoom for the U.S. bishops' virtual spring assembly to find ways to welcome what may be a growing number of immigrants to their dioceses and to serve them the way they would serve Christ.

A group of at least 162 organizations are asking bishops' conferences in the U.S., Central America and Mexico to "hear the cries of our brothers and sisters on the move and respond with bold leadership."

Pope Francis said the COVID-19 crisis has made it clear that human beings are valuable yet fragile, and it's important to keep that in mind when dealing with those fleeing from various crises in Central America.

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.  

A June 7 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that hundreds of thousands of immigrants with a temporary immigration status cannot apply for a more permanent way to remain in the country if they first entered without authority to do so.

On the final day of a historic meeting of bishops and international Catholic organizations gathered at Mundelein Seminary outside of Chicago, they discussed the challenges the church faces even while trying to get Catholics to understand church teaching on migrants.

"This present moment invites a bold response from the church, grounded in the spirit and in fidelity to the Gospel," said Bishop Seitz. "No more than we can close our eyes to the evil of abortion, can we close our eyes to the suffering of our immigrant brothers and sisters and the disregard for their human rights."

The executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. said she hopes to see the Biden administration use the U.S. vice president's forthcoming trip to Mexico and Guatemala as opportunity to correct historic wrongs in the region.

After surviving the war in the late 1980s and pastoring to generations of working-class Salvadorans, Fr. Estefan Turcios, 70, died from COVID-19.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will host an emergency meeting with prelates from Central America as well as Vatican representatives June 1 and 2 in Chicago to set forth a path for the U.S. church's response to immigration.

Haitians with a special immigration status in the U.S. have been granted an extension so that they can continue to live and work legally in the country, or apply to do so.