Updates and Resources
NEW STATEMENT – U.S. Bishops' President Reacts to Passage of One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Reacting to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Archbishop Broglio, president of the USCCB, lamented the great harm the bill will cause to many of the most vulnerable in society, making steeper cuts to Medicaid and clean energy tax credits, and adding more to the deficit.
NEW RESOURCE – Migration-Related Provisions Included in the Budget Reconciliation Bill (H.R. 1)
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law a budget reconciliation bill previously referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1). The legislation covers a broad range of issues, including several provisions that will directly impact the U.S. immigration system, noncitizens, and mixed-status families. The following is a summary of those provisions, organized by title. Full implementation of the bill’s changes is expected to occur over the coming months, though it should be assumed that these changes are effective July 4 unless otherwise noted.
NEW RESOURCE – The Trump Administration’s Travel Ban and Restrictions for Nationals of Certain Countries
Starting June 9, a new proclamation by the Trump Administration reinstated broad travel restrictions for nationals of 12 countries citing national security concerns and another 7 countries face restrictions. While green-card holders, refugees, diplomats, and certain visa holders are exempt, this sweeping measure echoes earlier travel bans with no clear end date. The U.S. bishops have expressed deep concern, urging respect for human dignity and just immigration policy.
ICYMI – Catholic Bishops Statements on Migration
In the wake of the recent US election and the significant increase in immigration enforcement that has followed, Catholic bishops from across the country have reiterated their solidarity with vulnerable migrant populations and called on the administration to exercise a more prudent and humane approach to any enforcement activities.
NEW DOCUMENTARY – Running to Stand Still
A powerful 25‑minute documentary explores the human stories on the U.S.-Mexico border. Featuring Bishop Mark Seitz, the film foregrounds the voices of those directly affected alongside insights from social workers, volunteers, and faith leaders.
Missionaries of Hope
In honor of this year's theme for the World Day of Migrants & Refugees, we will share hopeful articles, homilies, and videos in each newsletter:
Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated, Gallup:
"Americans have grown markedly more positive toward immigration over the past year, with the share wanting immigration reduced dropping from 55% in 2024 to 30% today. At the same time, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country."
Catholic clergy are speaking out on immigration − more than any other political issue except abortion, The Conversation:
"Catholic priests across the U.S. discuss immigration with their congregations more than leaders in many other faith traditions, according to our new research published in the journal Sociological Focus. Catholic priests also said they discussed immigration more than nearly all other political issues, including hunger in their communities, capital punishment, health care and the environment."
Statement by Archbishop Thomas Wenski on Immigration Enforcement:
"Rather than spending billions to deport people who are already contributing positively to our nation’s well-being, it would be more financially sensible and more morally acceptable for Congress, working with the administration, to expand legal pathways for non-criminal migrants to adjust to a permanent legal status."
Bishop Dewane Speaks Out About “Alligator Alcatraz” and Immigration Enforcement:
"It is unbecoming of public officials and corrosive of the common good to speak of the deterrence value of “alligators and pythons” at the Collier-Dade facility...Decency requires that we remember individuals being detained are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters of distressed relatives. This dignity of every person always remains unchanged: it is the dignity of a creature willed and loved by God (Pope Leo XIV, 16 May 2025)."
Diocese of Phoenix Bishops Pastoral Letter: In Solidarity with the Stranger:
"Jesus himself knew the experience of the migrant. As an infant, He was carried by Mary and Joseph into Egypt to escape the wrath of a tyrant. His earthly ministry was marked by movement and rejection...'Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:40) These words are not suggestions. They are imperatives. They reveal the very heart of God for the migrant, the stranger, and the vulnerable." In Spanish here.
Sisters of Mercy horrified by dehumanizing treatment of immigrants:
"Scripture tells us to love one another, to welcome the stranger, to help the least among us. The Sisters of Mercy and many other women religious who first came to this country to minister to immigrant families, are seeing up close the harms caused by the cruel policies."
Pope Leo: Hope is source of joy no matter our age, Vatican News:
"Pope Leo goes on to encourage the elderly to hope, affirming that even in old age, everyone is able to love and to pray. 'Our affection for our loved ones… does not fade when our strength wanes” but instead “revives our energy and brings us hope and comfort.'"
Pope prays for conversion of those who don’t ‘recognize the urgency’ of caring for creation, OSV News:
"'The mission of safeguarding creation, of bringing peace and reconciliation' is 'the mission which the Lord has entrusted to us,' Pope Leo said. 'We listen to the cry of the earth, we listen to the cry of the poor, because this cry has reached the heart of God. Our indignation is his indignation; our work is his work.'”
Detroit archbishop joins Catholic procession calling for just immigration policies, National Catholic Reporter:
"Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger joined other clergy and religious as hundreds of lay faithful visited the city's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office to deliver a letter asking the agency to review immigration enforcement policies and practices it says have created fear in the immigrant community." More here:
Welcomer of the week:
Bishop Menjivar-Ayala reflects on the lack of empathy for immigrants: "People go through so much from the very moment they leave their country. They have to say goodbye to what is familiar, to the family, to the culture, to everything. That is already a source of great suffering for people, and the danger they put themselves in crossing many borders...Being an immigrant is not easy...These are people who have a great dream to better their lives, to do whatever they have to do to provide for their families."
Bishop Menjivar-Ayala YouTube Short
Bishop Menjivar-Ayala recounts the story of the Holy Family: "the whole gospel is a story of human mobility."
