Brian Fraga

Religious men and women in the borderland region accompany migrants on a daily basis in the federal courthouses and in immigration detention centers, seeking to provide solace, comfort and support.

Trump devoted a significant portion of his speech to his administration's hardline immigration policies, declaring that under his watch the United States has the "strongest and most secure border in American history by far."

St. John's University in Queens, New York, notified employees on Feb. 19 that it will no longer recognize the two unions that have represented faculty members at the Catholic university since 1970.

"People are staying much longer at the shelter, in some cases up to nine months," said Fr. Francisco Javier Bueno Guillén of the Ciudad Juárez Diocese, who serves as director general of a diocese-operated migrant shelter.

"The political crisis of our time is, at its root, a spiritual crisis," Baltimore Archbishop William Lori wrote, adding that the political atmosphere becomes "toxic" when souls become "untethered from the love that grounds them."

Two Catholic bishops are calling on President Donald Trump to apologize for posting a racist meme on social media that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

Ruben Garcia, the shelter's executive director, said the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies reflect a belief that all migrants are criminals.

Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington joined several interfaith leaders in the nation's capital in denouncing the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis as "murders."

"People are suffering, and the effects of that suffering will have an impact on our country too, for many years to come," Bishop Mark Seitz told NCR in an interview at his office in El Paso.

After more than three hours of spirited discussion Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared poised to uphold state laws that ban transgender girls and women from participating in female school and college sports.

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, met Jan. 12 with President Trump, Vice President Vance and other administration officials at the White House.

The organization run by Missionary Sr. Norma Pimentel has previously attracted scrutiny from conservatives who have accused agencies of promoting illegal immigration. 

St. Susanna Church's "politically divisive display" goes against the Catholic Church's canonical norms on the use of sacred objects, according to a spokesperson from the archdiocese.

"Rather than dealing with the particular financial and contractual issues at play, they're just sort of going for the jugular," said Christopher Denny, president of the university's faculty association.

A judge is set to rule on a proposal submitted by the Trump administration that would make the estimated 90,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in Texas ineligible for work permits under the program.

U.S. bishops approved a "special pastoral message on immigration" that expresses the collective solidarity of the U.S. bishops' conference with immigrants amid the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement tactics.

The U.S. Catholic bishops on Nov. 11 elected Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley as the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the conference's annual fall plenary assembly.

The USCCB will meet this week in Baltimore to discuss evolving immigration issues, revised ethical directives for Catholic health care facilities and hold an election that "will have consequences beyond the U.S. church."

"We can try to help our leaders understand that these people should not be pawns on their political chessboard," said Deacon Kevin Sartorius. "That's not fair. These are people who are in need of food."

Invoking a religious exemption, the Jesuit university said it would no longer recognize unions. Faculty members and labor scholars say that betrays a key principle of Catholic social teaching: workers' right to unionize.