A new Catholic initiative connects volunteers with undocumented members of the community who need support.
J.D. Long García
J.D. Long García is a senior editor at America and co-author of Clericalism: The Institutional Dimension of the Catholic Sexual Abuse Crisis.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
What is Candlemas—and who is making the tamales this year?
Mexican Catholics commemorate the day Mary and Joseph presented the Lord in the temple by bringing statues of the Child Jesus to Mass. And afterward: tamales.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Trump’s latest proposal to end the shutdown and what the border wall won’t fix
Most of the undocumented immigrants who are in the United States have overstayed a visa and did not cross the border illegally, according to a new analysis from the Center of Migration Studies.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Study finds immigration crackdowns harm unborn children
The study found Latina immigrant women in Arizona who were pregnant during the contentious S.B. 1070 passage had babies with lower birthweight compared with those in prior years. Average birth weights did not decrease among U.S.-born white, black or Latina women during the same time.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Sister Norma Pimentel welcomes President Trump during border visit
“We witness daily how, working together, people of all faiths can focus on helping the person in front of us,” Sister Pimentel, the executive director of Catholic Charities in the Rio Grande Valley, wrote in an op-ed addressed to the president yesterday in The Washington Post.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
President Trump makes his case for the border wall, citing ‘a crisis of the soul’
“This barrier is absolutely critical for border security.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
What to do about escalating numbers of asylum-seeking families
There is plenty of work to be done at the border that does not include building a wall.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Do we need a wall? Here’s what people on the border think.
Many people are asking: Do we need a border wall? While the Trump administration has said the wall is necessary to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking, many faith leaders who live along the border see things differently.
Posted inFaith, Politics & Society
A conversation and a Catholic “wishlist” for immigration reform
Archbishop García-Siller keynoted “The Church in America: A Conversation on Immigration,” an event co-sponsored by America Media and the Mexican American Catholic College. Norma Pimentel, M.J., executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and Sean Carroll, S.J., executive director of the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Ariz., were respondents to the archbishop’s keynote.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
As immigration denial rates increase, asylum seekers face setback at U.S. border
In the fiscal year of 2018, U.S. immigration judges denied asylum in 65 percent of cases.