The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign is striking terror in the lives of children worried their parents could be detained at school drop-off or while they are in classes during the day, education and immigration advocates say. The stress also…
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ appears headed for closure
The Trump administration is removing immigrants from Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center after a federal judge ordered operations downsized by late October. The Department of Homeland Security announced the move after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ Aug. 21 order prohibiting…
Who wants to be an ICE agent?
A centerpiece of the “big beautiful bill,” as the recently passed tax and spending act was dubbed by President Donald Trump, is a massive funding appropriation for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The…
US Visa Uncertainty Upends Plans of Chinese Christian Families
Zhu Desheng and Wang Pei, who live in a third-tier city in southern China, sacrificed a lot to ensure their son, Peter, received a Christian education.
Former WWII Internment Camp Turned Into Immigrant Detention Center Sparks Outrage From Activists
Advocates have raised the alarm about the harrowing similarities between the modern-day use of a $1.2 billion immigration detention center in Texas and its historical use as an incarceration camp during World War II.
Most Americans don’t like Trump’s immigration crackdown
One of the latest surveys on American attitudes toward U.S. immigration policies shows President Donald Trump is decidedly “underwater” on the issue. The Navigator Research study released last month found 47% of registered voters approve of the administration’s handling of…
‘There really is no escape’: Faith leaders help immigrants face court as ICE arrests rise
San Diego Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Pulido noticed the way a father held his young daughter and stood close to his wife and teenage daughter in the courtroom. The love and care they had for each other was palpable on Tuesday…
Court counters Homeland Security move to lift protection for 60,000 immigrants
A federal judge in San Francisco has extended Temporary Protected Status for approximately 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, at least until November. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem decided last month to revoke the status, saying conditions…
Opus Dei Catholic who led Dallas ICE lawyers now defends immigrants
When Paul Hunker approached Dallas Bishop Edward Burns to introduce himself at the bishop’s 2017 installation Mass, he did so almost “sheepishly.” Hunker, then the lead counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas, worried Burns might give him…
Immigration detention update: Ohio chaplain, Maryland pastor, new lawsuit
A former children’s hospital chaplain remains detained in Ohio as the federal government attempts to deport him. Attorneys for Ayman Soliman had hoped an immigration judge would release “the interfaith imam” during a hearing July 29, but the court instead…
New lawsuit again seeks to block ICE raids at churches
The Alliance of Baptists and American Baptist Churches USA have joined a coalition of religious groups in a new lawsuit seeking to bar immigration enforcement actions in houses of worship. The federal action was filed July 28 by Democracy Forward…
UMC immigration webinar gives facts, cautions and hope
More than 2,100 participants logged in July 17 to a United Methodist-sponsored webinar that gave 90 minutes of spiritual encouragement, prayer and information — but not legal counsel — on birthright citizenship and immigration enforcement. United Methodist leaders organized the…