• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Jesuit Father Brian Strassburger speaks with migrants Oct. 15, 2024, at the Senda de Vida shelter in Reynosa, Mexico. Migrants at the shelter have expressed worry over not being able to enter the United States after the election of President-elect Donald Trump. (OSV News photo/David Agren)

Migrants hope, pray to enter U.S. ahead of presidential inauguration

November 18, 2024
By David Agren
OSV News
Filed Under: 2024 Election, Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

REYNOSA, Mexico (OSV News) — Reynaldo Ceron received an unexpected surprise on Nov. 6, the day after the U.S. election.

The migrant from El Salvador, who confessed experiencing preelection “anxiety,” nabbed an appointment through a smartphone app for entering the United States on Nov. 20 — exactly two months prior to the inauguration of the winner of the U.S. election, President-elect Donald Trump.

“It’s been hard, but thanks to God it happened,” Ceron, 45, told OSV News via WhatsApp from a shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, just south of McAllen, Texas. He plans to join his family residing in the Dallas area, but admits some trepidation despite having permission to enter the United States. “It’s natural to be concerned by Trump’s win,” he said.

Jesuit scholastic Joseph Nolla distributes Communion during Mass celebrated Oct. 15, 2024, at the Senda de Vida migrant shelter in Reynosa, Mexico. (OSV News photo/David Agren)

Migrants in Mexico waiting for appointments via the CBP One smartphone app — operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection — face uncertain futures after the U.S. election. Trump has promised mass deportations, a reinforcement of border security and a reimplementation of the “Remain in Mexico” program, which kept migrants in Mexico as their asylum claims were heard in U.S. courts.

He also has nominated hard-liners for top border-security and immigration positions and could discontinue the CBP One app – which he derided as “phone app for smuggling” migrants.

The looming U.S. election and Trump’s possible return to power had already prompted a sense of urgency among migrants, who hoped to reach the United States prior to the inauguration.

“They want to enter prior to Trump taking office,” Dominican Brother Obed Cuellar told OSV News. He’s the director of the diocesean migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, opposite Eagle Pass, Texas.

Trump’s victory has triggered deep preoccupation among migrant populations in Mexico, who were left wondering what comes next.

“There were a lot of questions about what’s going to happen after Jan 20,” Jesuit Father Brian Strassburger told OSV News after a Nov. 12 visit to a pair of migrant shelters in Reynosa.

“I asked people how they were feeling with the elections: Sad, scared, afraid, worried,” Father Strassburger said. “People nodded to all those answers.”

Adding to the frustration is the CBP One app, which allots 1,450 daily appointments for entering the United States. The app’s coverage area was expanded in August to include requests from migrants reaching the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco.

By expanding the coverage area, “they keep increasing the pool of people who can apply for appointments without actually increasing the number of appointments that are available,” said Joanna Williams, executive director of the Kino Border Initiative, a binational Catholic project serving migrants in Nogales, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Sonora.

“The further south the people are,” Williams added, “the further they are away from the U.S., the public’s imagination and compassion.”

Mexico stepped up its own migration enforcement ahead of the U.S. election. The country has detained more than 700,000 migrants in 2024 — sending them to its southern border region rather than deporting them to their countries of origin.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, restricted access to asylum in June. The measures drove down the number of migrant encounters to just 53,858 in September, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the lowest monthly total in four years.

Some working with migrants take a longer perspective on attempts at enforcement and border restrictions, while pointing to the constant flow of migrants heading north through Mexico.

“We have been serving migrants for 40 years, with different modalities, different dynamics, at different times,” said Father Francisco Gallardo, director of migrant ministries for the Diocese of Matamoros, opposite the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. “But there has never been a stoppage of migrants coming to the border in those 40 years.”

Read More Immigration & Migration

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, Rep. Veronica Escobar

Amid shift in public opinion on immigration, Catholic advocates praise bipartisan attempt at reform

Catholic leaders ICE

Report on alleged conditions at ICE’s Florida detention sites prompts Catholic leaders’ call for change

LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids

Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

David Agren

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Conference of Major Superiors of Men Men’s religious leaders confront change with fraternity and faith

  • St. Bernardine Choir celebrates 50 years of song, spirit and community

  • Radio Interview: The true story of ‘Xavier Rynne’

  • Massacre ‘of faithful in the house of God’ in Congolese Catholic church leaves 43 dead

  • Sister Rose Sylvia Lindner, S.S.N.D., dies at 91

| Latest Local News |

Sister Rita Ann Naughton, I.H.M., dies at 88

St. Bernardine Choir celebrates 50 years of song, spirit and community

Grillo Family Reflection Space

Loyola University Maryland receives $1 million gift supporting aspiring educators, creation of reflection space

Sister Miriam Jansen, former director of international programs at Notre Dame of Maryland, dies at 86

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Men’s religious leaders confront change with fraternity and faith

| Latest World News |

burch

Brian Burch confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See

JUBILEE-YOUTH-VIGIL

Pope Leo urges youth to find hope, friendship in Christ in uncertain times

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, Rep. Veronica Escobar

Amid shift in public opinion on immigration, Catholic advocates praise bipartisan attempt at reform

Planned Parenthood defunding remains in question amid legal challenges

UNESCO-EXIT-CATHOLIC-SITES

Experts see US UNESCO exit as blow to historic preservation for churches, other sites

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Brian Burch confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See
  • Pope Leo urges youth to find hope, friendship in Christ in uncertain times
  • Our Lady of the Snows: An unlikely patron in August
  • Amid shift in public opinion on immigration, Catholic advocates praise bipartisan attempt at reform
  • A Small Gift on a Cloudy Day
  • Planned Parenthood defunding remains in question amid legal challenges
  • Experts see US UNESCO exit as blow to historic preservation for churches, other sites
  • Thousands visit Blessed Frassati’s remains in Rome for Jubilee of Youth
  • Young teen’s relics a reminder for pilgrims that holiness ‘is not impossible’

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en