Rhina Guidos

In Washington, a group of about 100 Catholic men and women -- directors of Catholic organizations, lay ministers, women religious and bishops -- gathered in late July to define their role and that of their local churches in Latin America as their respective countries transition into a post-pandemic period.

Some border residents and organizations are speaking out against the Biden administration after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed plans to fill in gaps of a border wall to keep migrants out near Yuma, Arizona.

New York's Catholic Charities has spoken out against what it called a "chaotic approach" to dealing with asylum-seekers coming into the country who are being sent from Texas officials by bus to cities around the nation.

Ahead of Guatemala's upcoming election season, the country's bishops said religious gatherings in the coming months should "not fall into the temptation of mixing political propaganda with apparent prayer."

The Texas Catholic bishops urged immigration reform, saying it is necessary to prevent what happened to 53 migrants discovered dead and dying inside a trailer June 27 from happening again.

Immigration supporters expressed a mix of gratitude and disappointment with a Biden administration decision on Temporary Protected Status with regard to Venezuelans.

Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of Washington said on the anniversary of DACA that in the years that have passed "its beneficiaries have come to be known for their abundant contributions to our society."

Twenty countries from the Americas, including the United States, signed a declaration June 10, the last day of the troubled Summit of the Americas, committing to help and protect "all migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons, regardless of their migratory status."

Some U.S. bishops spoke out against the easy accessibility to guns in the country following a May 24 rampage that left at least 19 children and two of their elementary school teachers dead in Uvalde, Texas.

The  deadline on Title 42 came and went at the U.S.-Mexico border without any changes allowing migrants in, including asylum-seekers, after a federal judge blocked the government from lifting the health measure instituted during the pandemic.

The chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace praised a  statement announcing the lifting of restrictions against Cuba by the Biden administration, particularly those measures that will help family reunification.

Several US Catholic bishops expressed sorrow and called out racism and gun violence after reports of mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, that left at least three injured and 10 dead — a crime  likely motivated by hatred for Black people.

Days after the Salvadoran government extended emergency measures suspending some personal freedoms, a national Catholic organization of men and women religious called attention to the arbitrary detention of one of its members.

Retired Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle was laid to rest May 2 in the crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, El Salvador, close to the resting place of St. Óscar Romero, whom he befriended and advised. But some human rights groups and others criticized Saenz.

In a memo sent to prosecutors April 4, Biden administration officials have instructed lawyers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus on prosecuting cases involving immigrants who pose a public safety, national or border security threat.

The Biden administration has confirmed it will lift a public health measure in May that was put in place at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that has kept asylum-seekers out.

Human rights groups in Washington sounded the alarm after the Salvadoran government began mass arrests and suspended personal freedoms following a record-breaking spree of homicides by gangs in late March.

 Salvadoran Catholics gathered March 27 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to honor the country's saint, who defended life and human rights.

The Biden administration said March 24 that the United States plans to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians as refugees.

Two years after the implementation of a public health rule limiting who enters the US at its borders, Catholic immigration advocates keep calling out the Biden administration for continuing it and they are demanding its demise.