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May 7, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
IN THE CHURCH
A Bishop Testifies on Immigration as President Seeks to Change Asylum
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a memo
released late on April 29, President
Donald Trump ordered changes for
how refugees may apply for asylum
to the U.S., requesting an application
fee from asylum-seekers and denying
them permission to work depending on
how the applicant entered the country.
Though the changes are not immediate,
he gave administration officials 90 days
to work on new regulations.
In the memo addressed to the U.S.
Attorney General and the Secretary of
Homeland Security, Trump said “that
the immigration and asylum system is
in crisis as a consequence of the mass
migration of aliens across our southern
border.” He makes mention of cara-
vans and large groups that travel with
children.
“The extensive resources required to
process and care for these individuals
pulls U.S. Customs and Border Protec-
tion personnel away from securing
our nation’s borders,” he wrote. “Ad-
ditionally, illicit organizations benefit
financially by smuggling illegal aliens
into the United States and encouraging
abuse of our asylum procedures. This
strategic exploitation of our nation’s
humanitarian programs undermines
our nation’s security and sovereignty.”
In addition to the fees and eliminat-
ing work permits for those who entered
the country illegally, the president
called for all asylum applications to be
ruled on within 180 days of filing. He
said the purpose of the new norms is
“to strengthen asylum procedures to
safeguard our system against rampant
abuse of our asylum process.”
Hours after the memo was pub-
lished, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the
Diocese of El Paso, Texas, testified
April 30 during a hearing before the
House Commit tee on Homeland
Security Subcommittee on Border Se-
curity, Facilitation and Operations in
Washington. He spoke of his and other
border communities’ response in help-
ing families seeking asylum who have
been released by the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security.
Places such as Annunciation House
in the El Paso area and centers run by
Catholic charitable organizations, dio-
ceses and other groups in the border
communities of McAllen, Texas, as well
as Tucson, Arizona, provide families
and other individuals seeking asylum
with a hot meal, a change of clothes,
help with arranging travel plans en
route to family or friends in the United
States, he explained.
While their work, strength and com-
passion has been exceptional, Bishop
Seitz said the government “has a re-
sponsibility to care for people who are
A young asylum seeker sits on his backpack in Tijuana, Mexico, April 25, 2019, before
crossing to the U.S. During an April 30 hearing before the House Committee on Homeland
Security Subcommittee on Border Security, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso,
Texas, spoke of his border community’s response assisting asylum-seeking families who
have been released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (CNS photo/Andres
Martinez Casares, Reuters)
arriving with credible claims for asylum
and a responsibility to assist anyone in
desperate need within our borders.”
“It is an honor for the church and
for Christians in general to serve these
vulnerable people,” he said, according
to a prepared statement. “We do not
begrudge the opportunity, but our
resources and our volunteers are being
significantly strained by the scope and
duration of the high arrival numbers.
The church and other humanitarian
service providers and the local commu-
nities along the border are key partners
in this effort and need to be recognized
by our federal government as such.”
He said the Trump administration’s
policies show “concerning” effects on
the vulnerable populations of children
and families at the border.
“There are serious concerns about
the mistreatment families receive along
the dangerous migration journey and,
sometimes, at the hands of U.S. Border
Patrol,” he said. “I worry that with
the continued dehumanizing rhetoric
regarding immigrants and refugees, a
culture of disrespect and corresponding
negative policies for those who come
seeking refuge has begun to take form.
To this end, my brother bishops and I
remain deeply troubled by the admin-
istration’s recent efforts to curtail the
ability of asylum-seekers arriving at the
U.S./Mexico border to seek protection.”
He highlighted the administration’s
attempt to bar individuals from being
able to claim asylum if they entered the
U.S. through the southern border with-
out going through an official Port of
Entry, the “Remain in Mexico” policy,
which sends certain asylum-seekers to
Mexico to wait while their cases are be-
ing adjudicated in the U.S. immigration
court system.
“As my brother bishops along the
border between Texas and Northern
Mexico have noted, these policies harm
our immigrant brothers and sisters in
need,” he said.
He particularly urged the admin-
istration to “rethink” the “Remain in
Mexico” policy because it forces vul-
nerable people to wait in uncertain and
dangerous conditions in Mexico and
“poses grave safety, humanitarian and
due process concerns,” he said.
He urged Congress and the ad-
ministration to look at the causes of
migration and to look to support the
struggling nations that immigrants
are coming from, not withholding
economic aid but investing in anti-
gang and anti-corruption programs to
help vulnerable families and children,
as well as fund initiatives to promote
human rights in the sending countries,
Bishop Seitz said.
“Our nation has had a long and
proud history of providing humane
treatment to and due process for
asylum-seekers,” he said. “I urge us to
reject policies and proposals that would
abandon this tradition, and I ask our
government to remember that those
fleeing to our border are not the ‘other’
but fellow children of God.”
Catholic Sri Lankans in New York Continue Mourning Easter Deaths
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The anguished
phone calls started arriving shortly
after 1 a.m. on Easter Sunday morn-
ing. Sri Lankan immigrants on Staten
Island and Long Island spent the rest
of the day anxiously waiting for news
of family and friends after terror-
ists linked to the Islamic State group
claimed responsibility for bombing
three churches and three luxury hotels.
The mourning process and memorial
services began immediately, long be-
fore anyone knew whether the death
toll included relatives or friends. Father
Chinthaka Perera, an associate priest
at St. Boniface Martyr in Sea Cliff on
Long Island, managed to call his par-
ents in Sri Lanka first: “They are safe,
they are fine.” But said he was unable
to contact friends there even after
Vincentian Father John Kallattil chats with lo-
cal Sri Lankan Catholics following Mass April
28, 2019, at St. Teresa of the Infant Jesus
Church in in the Staten Island borough of
New York. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
social media connections were rees-
tablished. The priest is from Colombo,
the capital city, where St. Anthony’s
Shrine was a bombing target. The other
two houses of worship involved were
St. Sebastian’s in Negombo and the
evangelical Zion Church in Batticoloa.
Catholics make up less than 8 percent
of Sri Lanka’s population. Staten Island
resident Nihal Dissanayake, who works
for the Metropolitan Transit Agency
in New York and like Father Perera,
is from Colombo, has been keeping
the expatriate community connected
through his Facebook page, Sri Lankan
Catholics of New York & New Jersey.
As the initial shock turned to rage, the
page has become a forum for some gov-
ernment criticism, but Dissanayake, a
naturalized citizen who has lived in the
United States for 33 years, told Catholic
News Service he expects the page to
veer between criticism and expressions
of grief for quite some time.