Immigration and Migration

Dozens of immigrants detained at Florida’s now-shuttered “Alligator Alcatraz” were held in 18-square-foot outdoor cages — about the same size as telephone booths — according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

A few weeks after Temporary Protected Status for Haiti was terminated, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Trump administration to end mass deportations to Haiti.

Touring the U.S.–Mexico border between Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg said the towering fortifications and razor wire dividing the two border communities evoked a painful memory in his own country’s history: the Berlin Wall.

Hundreds of faith leaders and organizations urged the Trump administration to extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for El Salvador before it expires in September.

As an estimated 350,000 Haitian immigrants to the United States face losing their Temporary Protected Status and confront the possibility of having to move back to their country that is plagued by gang violence and political instability, Cardinal Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, Haiti, celebrated a Mass of Solidarity on July 28 with the Haitian community and those impacted by changes to immigration policy.

Give those targeted in immigration enforcement operations “the chance to be heard,” said a religious sister detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for several hours June 28, amid an intended third-country deportation effort.

Two U.S. Catholic bishops are lamenting recent deadly immigration enforcement encounters, calling for God-given human dignity to be respected in every individual.