WASHINGTON — Catholic leaders praised the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision that gave the Biden administration the go-ahead to rescind a Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy requiring asylum-seekers at the southwest U.S. border to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearings. The 5-4 decision in Biden v. Texas was written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden suspended the 2019 Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, put in place by former President Donald Trump in an effort to curb the influx of those arriving at the southern border seeking asylum in the U.S. Biden formally sought to end the program months later, but lower courts ordered that the policy be reinstated in response to a lawsuit from Republican-led Texas and Missouri. From January 2019, when the Trump administration started the program, to the end of 2020, nearly 70,000 migrants were sent back to Mexico to wait for their court hearings, according to the American Immigration Council. The Supreme Court’s ruling — the last opinion issued for the current term — said the lower court’s decision about the immigration policy “imposed a significant burden upon the executive’s ability to conduct diplomatic relations with Mexico,” particularly since the United States cannot send migrants from Central America to Mexico without negotiating these actions with Mexican officials. A dissent, written by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, said the Department of Homeland Security should not be free to “simply release into this country untold numbers of aliens who are very likely to be removed if they show up for their removal hearings. This practice violates the clear terms of the law, but the court looks the other way.” A joint statement issued by leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, or CLINIC, and Catholic Charities USA, said the Supreme Court’s decision “recognizes and preserves the executive branch’s ability to reverse untenable, illegal and immoral policies, regardless of who is in office.” They also said the asylum policy “obstructed due process and subjected people to the very dangers that forced them to seek refuge in the United States in the first place.” “With this ruling, we welcome the end of MPP,” said Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville of Washington, who is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, Dominican Sister Donna Markham, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, and Anna Gallagher, CLINIC’s executive director. The leaders also noted the court’s ruling does not “resolve the ongoing challenges at our country’s southwest border,” but they said it helps “pave the way forward.” The three groups had filed amicus briefs in the case.
Global ministry helps migrants at Melrose Park parish Helping immigrants is nothing new for the Scalabrinian priests who serve at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Melrose Park. Helping migrants is the main charism of the congregation, which is active in 35 countries on five continents.
10-year-old parishioner donates his toys to migrant children The toy table was a popular destination for dozens of migrant children who came with their families to St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church, 5352 W. Belden Ave., on Sept. 9 for the third monthly giveaway of clothing, toys, food and other necessities.
Religious workers’ visas delayed by immigration backlogs Father Daniel Villalobos has served as associate pastor of St. Michael Parish in Orland Park since he was ordained in 2021. Before that, he studied at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.