Monday, October 13, 12025: Immigration Is 'Gospel Issue' Before It Is a 'Political One,' 

- Bishop Seitz 

Immigration is a "Gospel issue" first, then a "political one," said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas. In a recent interview, he reaffirmed Catholic social teaching, specifically the preferential option for the poor. Seitz said "immigration is a Gospel issue before it is a “political issue” in the United States saying  “It’s always the role of the bishop to speak the Gospel, to reflect on that Gospel and its implications for our daily lives,” 

"We have a task to form people based on that teaching of love and mercy and compassion that applies not just in exceptional cases, not just to certain people, but in a special way to the poor and vulnerable, and that includes immigrants," he said. The bishop added that the rights of immigrants should be "respected in law" but U.S. asylum law is not being respected "right now."

Speaking about the “inalienable rights” every person is endowed with by God, the bishop said "the rights of immigrants should not only be a concern of the Church but should also be “respected in law.”

“While we are not politicians — it’s not our task to develop rules and laws — we are responsible to help form consciences and bring people back to the basic underlying principles, which, by the way, are principles upon which our country was built,” he said.

According to the bishop, U.S. asylum law is not being respected “right now,” as several migrant families living in the El Paso Diocese, located near the U.S.-Mexico border, no longer feel protected and fear deportation. 

“We should practice that [respect for] human dignity when we are dealing with a person who simply fled here because they had no other option,” 

Having ministered to families who have felt threatened by criminal drug gangs, Seitz said it is unjust to deny asylum or security for those seeking protection outside of their countries of origin, especially when the gangs’ activities are “supported by our drug addiction in the United States.” 

Earlier this week, Pope Leo XIV met with Seitz, El Paso Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino, and Dylan Corbett of Hope Border Institute in a private Oct. 8 meeting at the Vatican. 

During the meeting, the bishop shared a four-minute video and handwritten letters from migrant families expressing their faith as well as their fears about the future.

“I said, ‘Holy Father, we’re so happy to stand with you,’” Seitz said, recalling the encounter. “Later on in the meeting [the pope] came back to that and he said, ‘In matters of injustice, the Church has to speak and, in that, I stand with you.’”

Pope Leo XIV told a group of U.S. Latino Catholics working with immigrants threatened by the Trump administration's deportation policies that their work is more important than ever. He met them on Oct. 7 at the Vatican with a delegation from the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry. "You have in your hands a very great task, which is to accompany the people who truly and profoundly need a sign that God never abandons anyone: not the smallest, not the poorest, not the foreigner, not anyone," the pope said.

And in other news: DHS Is Hunting for New Immigration Offices

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says her department plans to buy new buildings for law enforcement officers assisting with immigration enforcement. The administration is seeking to secure ten-year leases in nearly two dozen metropolitan areas. "We're hardening all of our buildings and making sure we have more security measures, snipers on the roof, people to protect our law enforcement while they're out there on the streets," she said. "We're not going to back off. In fact, we're doubling down," she added. "If we have to do it the hard way in Portland and Chicago, we will."