A summit of bishops from both Mexico and the US, whose dioceses include the border, met in El Paso, Texas to discuss President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and the humanitarian crisis at the border with Mexico.
The meeting, held from 25-27 February, was organised by the Hope Border Foundation which advocates for just treatment of immigrants.
Dioceses along the border staff refugee centres that try to help migrants and help them with legal issues. In El Paso alone, the diocese employs 60 full-time staffers at more than a dozen shelters. In Mexico, the dioceses are encountering the Trump administration’s campaign for migrants to “Remain in Mexico,” trying to assist migrants while their pleas for asylum are examined. Previously, those seeking asylum were admitted into the US while their cases are heard.
The bishops and other religious leaders held an interfaith service in the shadow of the border wall, and pledged to oppose efforts to build more wall. Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso told Catholic News Service: “If we understand that the vast majority who are wanting to cross are simply people who are seeking to save their lives, the lives of their children, then this wall becomes an awful sign of intransigence, of closed hearts of the rejection of people in need. It’s the exact opposite of the best impulses that have built our country from the start.”
Bishop Seitz showed photos of two migrant children, Jakelin Caal, 7, and Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, who died in US custody.
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