‘Defending Migrants ’Cuz the Pope Said So’: The Faith Leaders Risking Everything at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Catholic bishops, led by El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz (center), march in solidarity with migrants March 24, 2025, in downtown El Paso, Texas. Photo by Andres Leighton/AP Photo
As Trump revokes sanctuary protections, El Paso’s bishop and allies mobilize — but funding cuts and arrests threaten their mission.
Editor’s note: This story was co-published with Puente News Collaborative, KTEP public radio in partnership with the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY). Puente News Collaborative is a bilingual nonprofit newsroom, convener, and funder dedicated to high-quality, fact-based news and information from the U.S.-Mexico border.
El Paso, Texas—Seven months into President Donald Trump’s second term, sweeping changes to federal immigration policy have escalated deportations, cut millions of dollars in federal funding to nonprofits providing legal aid for immigrants, and revoked protections for sensitive spaces, including churches.
Here in El Paso, faith leaders and organizations that have long provided resources for migrants are raising alarms over policies they say are instilling fear and undermining humanitarian efforts.
“People are afraid to go out for groceries. They’re afraid to go to church," said El Paso’s Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz. “I really don’t believe fear adequately describes it. It’s terror.”
The issue of immigration has morphed into mass protests in Los Angeles and multiple cities across the country against sweeping ICE raids that include work sites and other locations. At least one person was on church property when they were picked up by agents, according to reports. Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native and a descendant of Sicilian immigrants, has called for the protection of immigrants, the poor, and the most vulnerable, following the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
“No one is exempt from ensuring the dignity of every person,” the pontiff said. “From the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.”
In rescinding the policy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, “The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
Sensitive locations
For Bishop Seitz, the diocese’s mission to protect the vulnerable has never been clearer as the Trump administration carries out what critics, including Seitz, have called mass deportations based on racial profiling.
“It was the intention of the administration so that people would leave — to appeal to those who don't want anybody in this country except people that look like them,” Seitz said. “You have to be constantly worried. Constantly on guard.”
Bishop Seitz’s pin says, “Defending migrants ’cuz the Pope said so,” referencing the late Pope Francis’ advocacy for immigrant rights. Photo by Adelina Romero/Puente News Collaborative
In October of 2021, the Biden administration expanded the definition of sensitive locations to “protected areas” that imposed greater restrictions for ICE to enter spaces such as schools, healthcare facilities, social services establishments, disaster relief centers, and places of worship. Now, no space is off-limits.
On his first day of his second term, President Trump rolled back the nonpartisan “sensitive locations” policy, dating back to the Clinton administration, which encouraged immigration and customs agents to use “good judgment” to engage in enforcement in sensitive areas.
The policy reversal has sparked multiple lawsuits from faith groups across the country, including the Quakers in Maryland and in Oregon, arguing that the new policies violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment.
In January, a federal judge in Maryland blocked parts of Trump’s executive order. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang ruled that the policy imposed a “real and substantial burden” on religious organizations that historically aid immigrants.
“The burden imposed by the policy is far from speculative,” Chuang wrote in his opinion. “It is already happening.”
In the border city of El Paso, one of the largest binational communities in the country, the immigration crackdown has sowed fear among many people of color, generating multiple protests. More than 80 percent of El Paso’s population is Hispanic.
Hundreds joined a downtown El Paso march organized by faith-based groups March 24, 2025, to protest mass deportations under the Trump administration. Photo by Aaron Montes/Puente News Collaborative
“A moment of hopeful resistance”
This spring, Bishop Seitz led a candlelight vigil through downtown El Paso to Sacred Heart Church, which served as a shelter for migrant families during a large influx of immigrants seeking asylum in 2022. He was joined by faith leaders from across the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Vatican.
“It was a moment of creative, hopeful resistance,” said Dylan Corbett, executive director of the grassroots community organization Hope Border Institute in El Paso. “The testimony of people affected by these policies has to be at the center of our response.”
In a militarized region, that resistance comes with growing risks, as faith-based nonprofits fear they could be swept up in a crackdown. Operation Lone Star is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border enforcement initiative, which included the deployment of 10,000 National Guard troops and Texas state troopers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Faith-based nonprofit organizations fear they could face consequences for providing humanitarian aid to undocumented immigrants.
“We’ve got a target on our back now,” Corbett said. “They may go after us for smuggling or trafficking charges.”
That threat became real last June when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attempted to shut down Annunciation House, which provides temporary shelter to migrants in El Paso. Paxton called the Catholic organization a “stash house” and requested records detailing those who received services. Annunciation House pushed back, arguing that disclosing those records, which include medical files and sensitive personal information, would violate clients’ privacy rights and the organization’s religious freedom.
El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz greets Guatemalan immigrant Wilson Juárez during an immigrant solidarity vigil March 24, 2025, at Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Aaron Montes/Puente News Collaborative
In late May, the Texas Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Paxton has the authority to demand records needed to proceed with his lawsuit targeting the shelter. The court, however, did not address the merits of the case.
Meanwhile, advocates say that some migrants, including asylum seekers with pending cases, are increasingly choosing to go back to their home countries rather than risk arrest.
“What they are returning to may be worse in terms of the actual danger to their lives, but somehow to be in a place like the United States today feels more dangerous,” said Seitz.
As the threat of mass deportation looms, Corbett’s Hope Border Institute has pivoted to help migrants plan voluntary returns to their home countries.
“We helped a family get back to Venezuela safely,” said Corbett. “That’s where we are now, not just defending people’s right to stay, but helping them leave with dignity when they no longer feel safe here.”
Indigenous dancers at an interfaith migrant solidarity march led by Bishop Mark J. Seitz on March 24, 2025, in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Aaron Montes/Puente News Collaborative
Legal aid in crisis
Estrella del Paso, the legal aid ministry of the Catholic Diocese, holds “know-your-rights” workshops, which are now conducted with caution since many are afraid to attend in person.
“If people need to know your rights presentation remotely or they need to do a consultation remotely 'cause they're scared, we can make those accommodations,” said Melissa Lopez, Estrella’s executive director.
At a time when their services are in high demand, the nonprofit organization lost $5 million in federal funding and had to furlough nearly half its staff.
“We were a team of 78,” Lopez added. “Now, 30 of those positions are on furlough.”
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In early May, the organization received a $25,000 emergency grant from the Border Refugee Assistance Fund, a joint initiative of Bishop Seitz and the Hope Border Institute, to help sustain workshops and pay for legal representation for asylum seekers.
“This grant is a lifeline — not just for our organization, but for the thousands of vulnerable people we serve,” said Lopez in announcing the funding.
Calling this an urgent time of unprecedented demand for legal representation, Seitz said the gospel challenges the faithful to “stand with the vulnerable and ensure that hope and justice remain alive at our border.”
“I don’t think I’m speaking about politics. I’m speaking about faith. Politicians are messing with my faith,” he added.
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Adelina Romero is a bilingual multimedia journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. She covers immigration, labor, health, and faith communities. @aderomero
Rebecca Raghunath is a New York City–based journalism student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, with a focus on immigration and faith-related reporting. @rebecca_raghunath_reporter
Angela Kocherga is the news director and reports for KTEP public radio in El Paso. She's a contributor for NPR and co-hosts Texas Standard, a weekday statewide news program. She served as Mexico bureau chief and correspondent for a group of leading television stations. Her award-winning multimedia career includes the Maria Moors Cabot prize awarded by Columbia University for courageous reporting in Latin America. @AngelaKBorder
Alfredo Corchado is the executive editor for Puente News Collaborative and the former Mexico/Border Correspondent for The Dallas Morning News. He’s the author of “Midnight in Mexico” and “Homelands.” @ajcorchado