migrants – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

From the Wisconsin Catholic Conference:

On September 27, 2020, the Church celebrates the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. In recognizing the unique contributions of immigrants and refugees, the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin have sent a letter to President Trump and other Administration officials acknowledging the special contribution of Hmong and Lao refugees. In a February 14, 2020, letter, the U.S. Department of State acknowledged ongoing negotiations with the government of Laos to accept deported Hmong and other Lao U.S. residents. The bishops of Wisconsin have asked the President to end these negotiations.

“We understand,” the bishops wrote, “that legal residents may be deported if they have committed certain crimes and that previous administrations have sent several hundred individuals back to Laos, but we urge you to limit, not amplify, such deportations.”

Putting a human face on the refugee crisis

One of the saddest pictures I’ve seen recently is that of a three-year-old Syrian boy lying on a Turkish beach. He looks like he’s sleeping with his head turned to one side. But he isn’t asleep; he’s dead.

Catholic News Service, to which the Catholic Herald subscribes, ran the picture of the little boy. However, I decided not to use that picture with this article (I felt it was too disturbing). Instead, I have included another sad picture: one of the boy’s father weeping. Abdullah Kurdi, father of three-year old Aylan Kurdi, is shown crying as he leaves a morgue in Turkey September 3.

The family of Aylan, the Syrian toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach, had been trying to emigrate to Canada after fleeing the war-torn town of Kobani.

Focusing on the plight of immigrants during Lent

“Forty days in the desert” describes Jesus at the start of his ministry and the Christian community during Lent.

For me, henceforth, it will also bring to mind migrants who make a dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States. I learned on a tour with the organization Witness for Peace that the trip for those who start in southern Mexico or Central America can take one to two months and often includes walking through treacherous stretches of desert.