We recently reached the one year anniversary of the “Remain in Mexico” ruling. It was the one year anniversary of the U.S. sending families into Mexican cities that the U.S. State Department says are too dangerous to enter. Today, I was at a shelter in Nuevo Laredo. There were many people getting their asylum applications ready[continue reading]
Migration
Trapped in No-Man’s Land
For Central American asylum seekers traveling to the U.S., danger grows greater with each passing mile. Now, their walk of thousands of miles ends with an arrival in a no-man’s land. This area is run by no one…except, perhaps, the cartel. This place is Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A border town that offers no future and[continue reading]
National Migration Week 2020
January 5-11, 2020 is National Migration Week. This year, the theme is “Promoting a Church and a World for All.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has prepared a toolkit for use throughout the week. (It can still be used throughout the month, too!) It contains migration talking points, sample letters to the editor,[continue reading]
Migrants in Rural New York
Not all immigrants entering the United States are settling along the southern border. Rather, they live throughout the country. In this blog, I want to focus on one particular group of struggling migrants: those who came the Northern Triangle of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, but are settling in the farmlands of New York. These[continue reading]
Climate Change and Human Trafficking
As we listen to the nightly news, tune in on political debates, and read various publications, we can’t help but notice that climate change is a “hot” topic. Those studying climate change and its effects on the earth and its inhabitants are clearly sounding an alarm to all of us and urging each of us[continue reading]