Carla Cardoza, president of United Methodist-related Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas, has been telling this story at annual conference sessions across the denomination’s South Central Jurisdiction since May 28:
“Karla is a rising senior at LPI. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA, including in college-level courses, and is recognized as a leader on campus. Recently, she was accepted into a prestigious college prep program. Her dream is to become a mechanical engineer — and her family has followed every rule in the process. Now, because of this arbitrary suspension, Karla may not be allowed to return to continue her studies in the fall. She is just one of many students now left in limbo.”
Carla Cardoza
The “arbitrary suspension” to which Cardoza refers is the May 27 shutdown of all international student visas by the U.S. State Department. The shutdown is one of many actions President Donald Trump’s administration has taken to eliminate immigrants from American society, according to multiple news reports.
The Trump administration has alleged the measure is for national security reasons, but the move is affecting students with no apparent history of anti-American sentiments or actions.
Reports from annual conferences, individual United Methodists and a press release on the school’s website tell a tale of shock, anger and determination.
From the institute’s press release:
“For over 100 years, Lydia Patterson Institute, a historic El Paso institution that has educated thousands of young people along the U.S.–Mexico border, has provided a faith-centered, bilingual education to students from both El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
“LPI was recently ranked No. 3 among private schools in El Paso and placed in the top 20% of private schools statewide in Texas. The class of 2025 includes 34 graduating seniors, all of whom were accepted into college, collectively earning more than $1.8 million in scholarships. Our students are legally enrolled, fully documented and deeply committed to their education.”
LPI’s press release also says the international student visa ban was issued “without notice and with no clear guidance for schools or families.” The school said it reached out to SEVIS, the student visa program, and Homeland Security but hasn’t received any more information.
About 40% of LPI students require student visas and 99% of its student body crosses the U.S.-Mexico border daily to attend the school, which runs from sixth through 12th grade.
Cynthia Fiero Harvey (Photo: UMC News Service)
Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, resident episcopal leader of the San Antonio-based Rio Texas Annual Conference, posted an account on Facebook of Cardoza’s report. Lydia Patterson Institute is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and is required by its covenant to bring annual status reports to the nine annual conferences (regional units) composing the jurisdiction.
She wrote: “On Friday, during the Rio Texas Annual Conference session, Dr. Carla Cardoza, president of Lydia Patterson Institute presented, through tears, the current status of LPI. The Conference stood in solidarity sharing a beautiful litany prepared by conference delegates.”
In the Louisiana Annual Conference, communicator Mark Lambert said the LPI report and recent immigration raids in U.S. cities prompted a petition for United Methodists to support immigrants.
“Attendees unanimously approved of the Love Our Neighbor petition submitted by Rev. Ann Sutton (retired, Asbury UMC, Lafayette) and Rev. Drew Sutton (St. Andrew’s UMC, Baton Rouge) that calls on United Methodists to ‘give prayerful consideration’ to what the word ‘sanctuary’ means, and that churches and congregations ‘be aware of immigrant communities in their neighborhoods and seek opportunities to be good neighbors.’”
The Council on Finance and Administration of the Louisiana Conference and the United Methodist Foundation of Louisiana have pledged a sizeable financial gift to support Lydia Patterson Institute.
As word of the school’s situation spread across social media, individuals expressed outrage at the Trump administration’s action and urged church members to contact their federal representatives to demand the student visa ban be lifted.
Longtime United Methodist photojournalist Paul Jeffrey posted on Facebook a photo he took in 2017 of a student and her mother walking toward the Mexico border so she could attend Lydia Patterson. He wrote: “A unique United Methodist mission school is the latest victim of Stephen Miller’s xenophobia.
“I wrote about the school in 2017. … The photo is of Yarely Arellano and her mother, Patricia Esquivel, walking through the predawn darkness of a poor neighborhood in Juarez. They are on their way to the U.S. border, where Arellano will cross into El Paso, Texas, to study at LPI. Arellano made the journey every school day, and most days her mother accompanied her to the border for safety. Arellano was born in the United States, and is thus a U.S. citizen, but her mother, a Mexican national, was later deported and thus is not allowed to reenter the U.S.”
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