La educación y la vida

Educación y vida

La escuela es más que clases

Mi primer día de escuela fue traumático. Aún recuerdo que llovió a cántaros ese día. O, como me decía mi abuelita “Estaba lloviendo ranas”. La lluvia de ese día y la tempestad en mi alma se complementaban mejor que ninguna obra Shakesperiana. Lloré cuando salí del carro para ir a encontrar mi salón de clases. No conocía a nadie. Tal vez serán malos; tal vez no aprenderé a deletrear mi nombre. Tal vez se burlarán de mi corte de pelo. Tal vez me subiría al autobús equivocado en la tarde y nunca encontraría mi casa. Miedos muy reales para un niño de seis años. 

Sobreviví. Solamente me subí al autobús equivocado un par de veces. Uno aprende de sus errores. Súbete al autobús equivocado y aprenderás a poner más atención a tu entorno la próxima vez. También aprendes de tus miedos. Las personas eran buena gente, hice amigos eventualmente y aprendí a deletrear. Muchas veces lo que parece como el fin del mundo es en realidad el principio de una aventura desafiante.  

       Viajo por todo el Valle del Río Grande constantemente. Hablo con muchas personas (elementos básicos en la descripción de trabajado de un Obispo). Mientras viajo, a menudo animo a las personas jóvenes a estudiar con ahínco y quedarse en la escuela. Y le digo a los padres que se involucren en la educación de sus hijos, que se mantengan alerta sobre lo que los puede desanimar, y que hablen con ellos sobre lo que están aprendiendo. La tasa de deserción escolar en el Valle es alarmante. Algunas veces personas jóvenes me preguntan por qué deben de perseverar en la escuela. Estoy seguro que les preguntan a otros adultos a su alrededor también. 

¿Por qué ir a la escuela? 

       Quizás pensamos que la respuesta es obvia, así que les respondemos rápidamente diciéndoles porque no puedes tener un buen trabajo sin una educación. Es cierto, claro. Una educación es la llave a una futura seguridad económica. Para que alguien viva una buena vida, tal vez casarse y tener una familia, un buen trabajo es esencial. Y en el mundo en el que están creciendo nuestros niños, la tecnología y la comunicación son vitalmente importantes. Estar al corriente con el mundo de la computación, comunicación por internet, implica saber cosas sobre la ciencia, matemáticas, habilidad para escribir y escuchar, sin mencionar la ventaja de saber más de un idioma. Queremos que nuestros jóvenes tengan oportunidades en el mundo que se está abriendo ante sus ojos. Y así les decimos justificadamente: quédate en la escuela, consigue un buen trabajo.  Lo que estamos diciendo es: Necesitas aprender muchas cosas para lograr algo en este mundo. 

Pero hay más que eso. La escuela es tan importante por las cosas que aprendemos en el proceso de acudir, como por las cosas que aprendemos mientras estamos ahí. En mi primer día de escuela, aprendí que algo que puede ser espantoso en un principio puede ser una gran bendición. En el cuarto grado me di cuenta que iba a tener un gran problema aprendiendo las tablas de multiplicar y las divisiones largas. Entré en un pánico. Sí, un estudiante de cuarto grado puede experimentar el pánico. Pero mis maestros, mis amigos en la escuela, mis padres, todos dijeron que yo lo podía aprender. Iba a tomar mucho trabajo, pero podía hacerlo. Mi mamá compró tarjetas con las tablas de multiplicar, y mi  hermano practicó conmigo hasta que las memoricé. Tiempo que yo hubiera preferido usar viendo la televisión o montando mi bicicleta se tuvo que dedicar memorizando qué resulta de 8 por 9. Toda la experiencia fue una lección sobre cómo no tener miedo de pedir ayuda, y sobre cómo no darse por vencido a la primera que se fracasa en algo. Esa lección es aún más importante para mi vida que las tablas de multiplicar arraigadas en mi memoria. 

En la preparatoria tomé la clase de debate y oratoria. Era clase optativa, y estaba empezando a pensar seriamente sobre ser un abogado. ¡Aprendí mucho en esa clase! Primero, aprendí que no era muy bueno para memorizar discursos; prefería el habla espontanea. Y aprendí que debatir diferentes lados de una problemática política me aburría. También aprendí que no podía hablar apasionadamente sobre algo si no creía que fuera importante. Yo pienso que esa experiencia como que me hizo pensar menos sobre ser abogado y más sobre ser sacerdote. La escuela es el momento para intentar algo para ver cómo afecta tu corazón así como tu mente. Y cuando la educación engancha el corazón de un joven, todo el mundo se abre. Yo creo que de esa clase de debate gané el deseo de explorar qué otros tipos de educación iba a necesitar para hacer algo en lo que mi corazón estuviera comprometido. 

Ir a la escuela y quedarse en la escuela es necesario por muchas razones. Pero las razones del corazón son tan importantes como las razones de la mente. Una mente bien entrenada no es de mucho uso si no hay un compromiso del corazón detrás. Sí, nuestros niños deben de aprender muchas cosas para tener éxito en esta vida, pero a lo largo ellos necesitan aprender cómo hacer que las cosas que deben de aprender encajen en un sentido de propósito y esperanza. Nuestros jóvenes necesitan saber que algunas cosas que valen la pena pueden causar miedo al principio (como el primer día de clases). Pero ese miedo puede ser amaestrado, y puede resultar algo bueno de hacer el esfuerzo. Y ellos necesitan aprender que hay algunas cosas que encontrarán difíciles de hacer (como aprender las tablas de multiplicar), y que se necesita sacrificio para que puedas hacerlo. Pero durante esto, no estás solo, hay personas que pueden ayudarte, y que quieren ayudarte a tener éxito. Yo aún recuerdo con agradecimiento la bondad y la paciencia de mis maestros quienes me ayudaron a aprender a multiplicar. 

Al final, si nuestros niños no permanecen en la escuela, es porque piensan que pueden hacer más dinero de otro modo, muchas veces ilegalmente. Solamente un corazón tocado por la bondad puede reconocer que la vida no es solamente sobre el dinero que puedas hacer, pero también sobre el bien que puedas hacer. Esa es la lección que viene de darse cuenta que los talentos y regalos que Dios nos da implican una responsabilidad para desarrollarlos y usarlos bien, no solamente para nuestra ganancia económica, pero para el bien de otros. Algunas veces nuestros niños dejan la escuela porque no ven una manera de triunfar, o se sienten solos en una lucha por encajar o hacer bien. Es por esto que es importante que nosotros los adultos tomemos en serio nuestra responsabilidad de acompañarlos a través de su camino educacional; dejarles saber que pueden triunfar, que ellos pueden dejar que sus corazones sean tocados por la bondad, que no están solos. 

Tal vez nosotros como adultos nos desanimamos por los obstáculos que nuestros niños deben enfrentar. A ustedes les digo, no se rindan. Recuerden lo que ustedes aprendieron en la escuela; las cosas que valen la pena a veces requieren sacrificio, estamos en esto juntos. No están solos. Hay personas que pueden ayudar. 

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Pay-Day Lending Reform in Brownsville

Statement by Bishop Daniel E. Flores 

on Payday Lending Reform Ordinance in Brownsville

September 1, 2014

As the Bishop for the Diocese of Brownsville, I want to strongly encourage Mayor Tony Martinez and the city commissioners to pass the payday lending ordinance before them this Tuesday.  Across Texas, but particularly in Brownsville, these “ready cash” lenders are charging anywhere up to 600 percent in annual percentage rates and fees on short-term loans.  That’s too high a price to charge someone who is often unexpectedly stuck financially and is merely looking to pay the rent, buy groceries, or get a medical prescription filled.  At such rates, it only takes one bad choice for families in the Rio Grande Valley to be consumed by a crippling, never-ending cycle of debt.   

In June, I hosted a community dialogue about the impact of payday and auto-title loans in our community. In this discussion, I learned that some of our non-profit assistance programs in Brownsville are seeing as many as 75 percent of their clients who are trapped in these loans. 

For the past three legislative sessions, the Texas Catholic Conference has worked to urge lawmakers in Austin to impose stronger consumer protections.  However, even with the help of legislators like our own State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., the predatory lenders have succeeded in blocking reform by spending millions of dollars and hiring expensive lobbyists. That is why I support the Brownsville City Commission in demonstrating leadership through this ordinance which helps protect our families in Brownsville from predatory lending practices. 

Change happens at the local level. More than 18 cities like Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Houston have passed zoning and regulatory ordinances in order to provide some basic protection for consumers.  The restrictions on expansion and extension of consumer credit are critical for our residents.  

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Honduras and Guatemala PART TWO

On Tuesday we had the oportunity to speak with the US Ambassador in Honduras, and with other US officials. They gave us their perspective on factors in the country causing young people and families to head north. 

We spent time at CRS headquarters in Tegucigalpa. I was able to say Mass for the many local CRS staff who were there on Tuesday afternoon. 

Here is a picture of Tegucigalpa taken from the roof of CRS headquarters. We were able to speak to representatives of Casa Alianza, one of CRS's partners in the region who work with children caught in traps of violence. 

The violence we hear about in the American media is particularly pronounced in Honduras. Children are literally forced to move drugs within the country or face death if they refuse. Children who try to escape are tracked down by the gangs and brutally murdered as a way of preventing other children from trying to escape. These would be children from 8 to 14 years old. 

By late afternoon on Tuesday we took a flight to Guatemala City via San Salvador's airport. Guatemala City is quite large, and one of the things we did there on Wednesday was visit a settlement being built up in the north of the city. Small shelters made of tin-siding are built by families into the side of the hill. 

Most of the settlers there are from the rural west of Guatemala. They slowly build up their homes in Guatemala City, work there, and cooperate with each other to provide a kind of leadership team. I was very touched by the spirit of hope and cooperation I saw there. Perhaps 85 families in this one area, all from different parts of the country, look after each other, figure out how to get good water supplies, and make plans for the education of their children. The settlement is built under one of the major bridges in the city.

 

It was a long climb down to the place where the families live. And a long climb back. But it was one of the highlights of the entire trip. 

The families we met reminded us all that the greatest resource in a country is the hope present within it's people. In this sense, Guatemala and Honduras have tremendous human resources. But there are dark and powerful forces that threaten these resources on every side. 

Things can be made better. Desperate poverty and violence need not prevail. Peoples must be able to mold a future for themselves, and not simply be at the mercy of powerful interests. But without the human heart and will to work for a better future for the generations that follow, authentic human development is not possible. 

I think the presence of CRS and others in these countries seeks in diverse ways to work with people and communities to make things practically better in their lives, and thus sustain their hope into the future, so that entire peoples can be the principal protagonists of their own future. This work often requires great sacrifice. 

As Catholics, our solidarity must not stop at a border; it must embrace the suffering and laboring face of Christ everywhere. CRS helps us do that. 

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Visit To Honduras and Guatemala, PART ONE

I was invited by Catholic Relief Services to join in a quickly arranged journey to Central America to learn more about the migration of so many children from Honduras and Guatemala to the United Stares. Since I am a member of the Board, and since McAllen, Texas, is the focal point of passage into the United States, I thought it important to see and hear for myself about the complex circumstances that have contributed to the humanitarian upheaval we have been witnessing.

I left on Sunday morning for San Pedro Sula, the industrial center of Honduras. We had Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday evening. I concelebrated at the kind invitation of Bishop Angel Garachana. 

We spent Monday talking to CRS personnel in San Pedro, and visiting sites of repatriation. We saw where children are returned to Honduras from Mexico. Several buses a week arrive from Mexico to bring children to facilities in San Pedro. We saw and spoke to the Scalibrini Sisters who work at the airport with adults who are brought by plane from the United States for re-entry into Honduras. 

On Monday afternoon we took a flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and had a meeting with the First Lady of Honduras. She explained the fruits of her study of the complex causes influencing the departure of so many families and unaccompanied young people. 

As this journey progresses, I will try to post what we are seeing, and with time, after I return, try to put together some thoughts about the full hemispheric context of what we see on the Texas/Mexican border. All of us have to make the effort to see and understand, so that we can better meet our obligations before The Lord Jesus to act effectively in the defense of human dignity. 

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Southern Baptists and Catholics Together; And responses to some questions about Unaccompanied Minors from Central America

A few days ago, July 22, to be exact, I was happy to join a visiting delegation of the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention for a tour of the newly opened facility for processing unaccompanied minors, operated by Immigration Enforcement. It is important for religious leaders to see for themselves the extent of the human tragedy unfolding in our time here in the Western Hemisphere.

 

I am particularly fond of this picture to the side. Not because I am speaking, but because I am really happy to have these gentlemen of faith covering my back!

 

While inside, we had a chance to see the children and speak briefly with them. We also spoke with law enforcement personnel who assist in interviewing the children.  I think the common witness of the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, calling for a humanitarian response to the current influx of unaccompanied minors from Central American, is a singularly important witness. We call on our political leadership to recognize that we as a nation have the resources to respond calmly and effectively to women and children who are fleeing violence and extreme poverty. After we visited the new detention center in McAllen, we traveled together to San Antonio, Texas, where we visited the detention center located at Lackland Airforce Base. Again, we had a chance to speak to officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, who oversee the operation at Lackland. We also had a chance to talk to some of the young people.

 

I think this would be a good moment to answer some basic questions I have heard asked by ordinary folks. Many tell me that the media reports they hear do not necessarily clarify what is happening.

 

1. Who are these children?

Most of these children are between 7 and 17 years old. I spoke to a seven year old at the center in McAllen. The ones I have spoken to often speak of having left Guatemala or El Salvador or Honduras for a journey by bus or train to the Mexican border with the United States. Sometimes they travel in groups, seeking safety in numbers. The majority of children are not accompanied by an adult. Sometimes a Mother or two is in the traveling group. More rarely, a Father. The journey for most of them has taken three weeks or more. Some will tell you they have no family left in their home country. They are all dead.

 

2. What dangers are they fleeing, and what dangers do they face on the journey?

It is a delicate matter to talk to children about what they are fleeing, because the trauma is very deep. Still, some will say voluntarily that they have no family left, that they have been killed by gangs in lawless regions of their home countries. For many, the entire family has been threatened by gangs, and there is no effective law enforcement to whom they can turn for help. As they cross Mexico, they are often subjected to abuse and kidnapping by gangs, who demand money from relatives in the US. Children report seeing companions brutalized, kidnapped, raped or killed. Sometimes they report what brutalization they themselves have experienced. Again, it is a delicate matter for the children to talk about these things. Professionals in childhood trauma are needed at some point to help them deal with their experience.

 

3. Are we bringing gang members into the US?

When minors are detained, INS officials are quite effective at distinguishing gang members from those fleeing gang members. They themselves have told me this. Sometimes, gang members are seeking a way out of the gang culture. Unfortunately, many of the gangs currently holding power in Central American countries had their origin in the United States. Typical practice has been to deport gang members who organize in the US back to Central America. This has had the effect, tragically, of unleashing gang systems into countries far less capable of capturing and imprisoning leaders and members. This has had a role in the break-down of order in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

 

4. Do the unaccompanied children have rights under current law?

Many of the unaccompanied minors have some kind of relative in the United States with whom they are seeking to make contact. Sometimes they have a phone number sewn into their jeans. By law, if the minors are from Central America, they have a right to be reunited with a family member until such time as their case is heard by an immigration judge. Mexican children are not treated in the same way, because the law says that minors from those countries that are contiguous to the United States are deported more immediately, without recourse to an immigration judge. The law passed and signed in 2008 under President Bush afforded this extra protection to unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries in an effort to prevent the inhumane treatment of children. If the minors from these countries do not have relatives in this country, they await a hearing before an immigration judge either in a detention center like Lackland Airforce Base or in foster families.

 

5. What is the local Church doing to address this situation?

Here in the Diocese of Brownsville, we have been working with many volunteers from the community, including many from local Baptist communities, the Methodist community and the Jewish Temple in McAllen who have generously joined with our Catholic Charities in providing assistance to children accompanied by a mother or relative. We have two centers, one at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, the other at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville. These mothers and children receive a change of clothes, baby supplies, a chance to shower, and a good meal. They are screened again for any medical needs (I say again, because INS officals have already done a preliminary screening). Usually they are with us for just a few hours. They are persons who have been processed by officials of the Immigration Service, and who have permission to travel to meet a relative elsewhere in the United States. We try to help them maintain contact with the relative they are going to see. And we help them prepare for the journey with food and water.

 

6. What happens to Unaccompanied Children when they are detained by INS?

Unaccompanied children do not come to our centers. This is because the government handles their situations differently. They are processed through Health and Human Services, and after leaving the Rio Grande Valley, they are taken to detention centers elsewhere, where they await a family connection or a hearing before an immigration judge. This can take months. Pastoral services are needed in those detention centers elsewhere in the country.

 

7. Is there a danger of diseases spreading to the general population through these refugees?

The health screenings conducted by INS are quite effective, and contagious diseases are rarely discovered. If they are, they are dealt with in a way that protects the life and health of the child. There are minor infections and rashes. And these are taken care of quickly. The greatest health threat the children experience is dehydration. Government and Church centers try to deal with this immediately, as it can be life-threatening.

 

8. What is the position of the Church in the face of this tragic situation?

In general: Resources should be allocated to fund those government entities assigned the task of processing refugee minors. Further, we should not retreat on current human rights protections inscribed into US law designed to protect women and children fleeing from life-threatening conditions. These children and mothers should be afforded due process, and have legal representation before an immigration judge. The US government must pursue common hemispheric solutions to the break-down of law and order in the countries from which these children are fleeing. We also think that governments and Churches should discourage parents from permitting their children to leave their homes in order to cross the interior of Mexico in order to reach the United States. The journey is often deadly; many Central Americans do not know this. Thousands never make it anywhere near the Mexican/US border. Sadly, children have told me that conditions were so bad, they left home without telling their parents and relatives.

 

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St Anne's Day at St. Anne's Quasi-Parish (Bilingual post): Los Abuelos de Jesucristo y el crecimiento del reino de Dios

Last Saturday I was able to spend a good part of the day in Pueblo de Palmas at the community of Saint Anne for the patronal feast of Saint Anne, who is celebrated in the memory of the Catholic faithful as the Mother of Mary, and thus the Grandmother of Jesus. The community prepared a beautiful liturgical procession. And many of the 75 young people who had recently participated in a youth retreat helped with the preparations. Saint Anne's is located on the western side of Hidalgo County, and is one of our more recently established parish communities. The Mass was a great and joyful expression of faith.

Quisiera felicitar la comunidad por la belleza de la fiesta. La celebración de la Santa Misa, y la comida después, manifestaron la fuerza de la fe uniendo a la comunidad en el camino con y hacia el Señor. ¡Me da animo ver la alegría que acompaña el camino de Santa Ana! 

 



The occasion gave me a chance to preach about the importance of making time appreciate our grandparents and our elders:

 

El mundo ha cambiado mucho desde los tiempos de Nuestro Señor. La tecnología y la globalización nos pone en medio de una época distinta en comparación con los que nos han precedido. Leemos el Evangelio y a veces las imágenes y el lenguaje nos recuerdan de lo que ha cambiado. El Señor nos habla de semillas, y de redes donde se captan peces de todos tipos; nos invita a contemplar las flores del campo, y nos habla de como la masa se fermenta de una manera misteriosa. Quizás muchos no pueden identificar con el mundo agrario que conocía directamente el Señor. Pero para entender el mensaje del Señor, no hay para que enfocarnos en lo que ha cambiado en el mundo. Mejor enfocarnos en lo que permanece en cada época. Estoy pensando en la calidad de nuestras relaciones humanas.  Nada de la experiencia humana, menos el pecado, queda fuera del ámbito que el Señor quiso abrazar por medio de su encarnación. Se hizo hombre para darnos acceso al misterio de Dios. Como Católicos la relación con Dios empieza y crece por medio de los puntos de contacto que tenemos con el Dios que se hizo carne.  De chico me daba gusto saber que Jesucristo tenia una abuela, y que Él y yo compartimos la experiencia de escuchar los consejos y cuentos de la abuela materna. Para mí fue un punto de contacto, una entrada para identificarme con el Señor Dios que había bajado del cielo. Fue como una semilla de fe viva que Dios me concedió.

 

During the Mass new Processional Crosses were presented and I had the opportunity to bless them for use in the four distinct communities that make up the Quasi Parish of Saint Anne. Each cross is decorated with medallions with symbols for the four communities: Saint Anne, Saint Michael the Archangel, San Juan Diego, and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

 

Todas las enseñanzas del Señor nos dirigen a reconocer la presencia misteriosa de Dios dentro de nuestras relaciones. Los abuelos, y los ancianos que forman parte esencial de nuestras vidas tienen un papel de alta importancia en la misión de fomentar el crecimiento del reino de Dios. Los abuelos nos trasmiten una identidad que tiene raíces en una historia que se ha desarrollado desde un pasado largo, pero no necesariamente tan remoto. Por medio de ellos reconocemos de donde venimos, y por medio de ese reconocimiento, sabemos mejor para donde vamos como familia, comunidad, y pueblo. De igual manera, los abuelos nos invitan a disfrutar de la ternura humana. ¡Cuantas veces he presidido los funerales de un abuelo en una familia, y he visto al lado de ataúd a hombres maduros con músculos reventando las mangas de la camisa, y con bigotes de Pancho Villa, llorando lagrimas como niños chiquitos! Hasta el luto muestra que la relación con los abuelos puede compartir un tipo de amor muy especial. La ternura es algo que necesitamos en este mundo tan lleno de amargura y venganza.  

 

Las relaciones humanas son el campo donde la semilla de la palabra de Dios recibe una bienvenida, y donde puede crecer y donde puede dar fruto. Se trata de compasión, paciencia, entrega para el bien de otros, y todo esto por motivos de amor. Y este amor entre personas sirve como un fermento para dar vida a la masa. Hoy celebramos como esa gracia del reino se vive en la relación con nuestros abuelos. Y recordamos que los abuelos tienen una responsabilidad de compartir con los hijos y nietos lo que han aprendido durante lo largo de la vida.

 

Sabemos que las circunstancias hoy en día, con mucha frecuencia, separan a las familias. Muchos no tienen presente a sus abuelos. Ya no es tan fácil trasmitir la memoria y la ternura de generación a generación. Quizás en esto nos podría ayudar los medios modernos de la comunicación. Conozco a  familias de múltiples generaciones que hacen el esfuerzo de mantener la comunicación por medio de los textos, el Facebook, y los Apps que facilitan la comunicación telefónica. Vivir en distintos países no tiene que implicar vivir sin comunicación. Les quiero animar a usar la tecnología para mantener el contacto humano y real, para sostener las relaciones familiares hasta que puedan disfrutar el abrazo y la sonrisa, cara a cara.

 

After the Mass, we enjoyed a good meal together and watched the matachines dance the native dances so dearly loved by the community. Congratulations to the young people who practice so hard to share their talents with us! In the background of this photograph is the new office complex that I was able to bless after the Mass. So many thanks to the Community of the ICM sisters who have so generously worked over the years to build up the community around Saint Anne's. And thanks for how they continue to help the community. The new office center is a fruit of that continued commitment to the people of the area. Thanks to all!

 

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Letter of the Bishops of Texas to Texas Congressional Delegation

The following letter has been sent to the Congressional delegation representing the State of Texas in Washington D.C.:

Dear Congressman:

As the bishops of the Catholic Dioceses of Texas, we strongly urge you--and your fellow policymakers at both the state and federal levels--to work toward achieving a policy consensus that compassionately and effectively addresses the humanitarian crisis along our southern border.

The influx of Central American women and children seeking asylum from the poverty and violence of their homelands has created a severe challenge along the border.  As bishops, we have been touched by the valiant efforts of people of good will and faith-based service agencies from across the country and especially here in our own state of Texas to welcome and care for women and children in desperate situations.   Effectively addressing this challenge requires, first of all, a continued commitment on the part of us all to uphold the human dignity of immigrant refugees. Further, facing this challenge requires a commitment from the government for sufficient funding and resources to adequately care for and protect women and children legitimately seeking asylum.  These measures should be accompanied by sincere efforts that offer other alternatives to the stream of refugees, inform people of the dangers of such a journey, provide for legal and secure immigration, and develop policies that promote long-term solutions and stability in the migrants' countries of origin.  

These goals are not impossible, nor are they mutually exclusive.  What they require is time, resources, and commitment.  The real challenge is how we collectively respond as a nation and as a people.  To be sure, ensuring a stable and secure border between nations is essential to protecting and providing for order.  At the same time, a just and reasonable society works to protect and defend the vulnerable and defenseless from harm.  As Catholics, we feel keenly this responsibility, since our faith calls us to serve the least of these our brothers and sisters. Hence, we lend a vigorous voice to all men and women of good will who recognize that all people should be treated with dignity, compassion, and justice. We are most especially concerned for the innocent mothers and children, who are the most at the mercy of the decisions that we as a nation make in their regard.

This is not an isolated problem.  In his letter this week, Pope Francis cast these circumstances within a broader international humanitarian crisis of globalization, where national borders increasingly open for commerce, media and technologies, but people remain burdened by restrictions, abuse, and dangerous situations.  In his letter this week, Pope Francis reaffirmed his plea earlier this year in Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, that "A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world."

With this in mind, we ask for your support in securing emergency funding to address this problem; and we further ask that any future legislation ensure sufficient due process consideration for those seeking asylum in order to avoid pre-emptive deportation of refugees back to lives of suffering, abuse, and quite possibly death.   We appeal to you and other policymakers on both the state and federal levels to eschew the bitterness of contemporary political rhetoric and instead uphold the best of American principles and serve the needs of the most despairing and vulnerable in our midst.

Sincerely,

+Signed by the Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, and the Bishops of the Dioceses of Texas

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