Catholic Charities agencies and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have been in the news almost weekly since the new administration took office in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20. Their work with immigrants and refugees and the loss of federal funding for refugee resettlement have been in the headlines. At the same time, the new administration has been making its own headlines by ramping up border security and threatening people without legal status with detention and deportation.
Some of the executive orders issued by the new administration have impacted the work of Catholic Charities of Arkansas with people who are immigrants and refugees.
Prior to Inauguration Day, the Catholic Immigration Services offices in Little Rock and Springdale focused on providing low-cost immigration counseling and support to individuals and families who are eligible for immigration benefits and unable to afford an attorney.
With the new administration’s push to detain and deport people without legal status that has spread fear, especially through the Spanish-speaking communities, Catholic Immigration Services staff have developed “Know Your Rights” information that they are sharing in presentations at parishes. They are helping families to be prepared with a plan should one or both parents be removed so that their children and other family members will be safe and cared for.
Our Refugee Resettlement Program dates back to the 1970s when people from Vietnam were being resettled in Arkansas. Over the years, the number of refugee arrivals assigned to us has fluctuated from none or a few a year to 75 people just last year.
When the new administration took office, all refugee arrivals were halted for at least 90 days to allow for a review. Two weeks ago, the U. S. Department of State canceled its cooperative agreement with the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services effectively closing down the Catholic network of refugee resettlement programs that were mostly operated by Catholic Charities agencies.
Where does this leave us today? At Catholic Charities of Arkansas, we are committed to our mission that is rooted in the Gospel and teachings of Jesus: to serve the poor and marginalized with respect and dignity; to advocate for the most vulnerable; and to promote charity, justice and the sanctity of life within the Church and society.
As Bishop Anthony B. Taylor has asked of us in his Jan. 23 statement, we will seek to be “Christ for others” and “to do what Jesus would do — to do the loving thing.” We will do this by continuing to serve people in the immigrant and refugee population who seek our help.
At Catholic Charities of Arkansas, we have experienced first-hand through the people we see what Bishop Taylor means when he says, “Our current immigration system is broken.” The solution today is the same as it was back in 2008 when he published “I Was A Stranger and You Welcomed Me … A Pastoral Letter on the Human Rights of Immigrants,” and wrote, “Rather than focus on those who are forced to break the law in order to provide for the basic needs of their families, we should focus instead on fixing the broken laws themselves: broken in the sense that they do not work because they impede rather than facilitate the exercise of the God-given rights of migrants.”
The way to comprehensive reform of our country’s immigration laws is through Congress and the new administration. A Catholic grassroots effort could be the catalyst for ending one of the causes of illegal immigration by enacting a solution that Bishop Taylor identified in his pastoral letter: the creation of an immigration “system that welcomes immigrants, facilitates their adaptation to life in the United States and provides an easy path to citizenship.”
Moving forward, our Church can be a light to our nation by reflecting God’s love, hope and mercy through how we support and advocate for our immigrant and refugee brothers and sisters in Christ in our communities.
