Two nuns have a
message for Catholics angry about their ministry to immigrants: ‘We don’t have
any intention of stopping.’
Sister Norma Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries
of Jesus, is pictured along a border wall between Texas and Mexico
The angry emails and
phone calls have been pouring in this week, and Donna Markham, O.P., the
president and C.E.O. of Catholic
Charities USA,
has been among C.C.U.S.A. staff shocked by all the vitriol.
“We certainly have received hateful, hateful
calls from people who say they are Catholics,” Sister Markham said, “and
speaking to us in language that I would never repeat and threatening our
agencies. It’s a very sad situation.”
The unpleasantness
followed quickly in the wake of press
releases and
news reports about a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the political
action groups Judicial Watch and CatholicVote. The suit demands records of
communication between the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and of Health
and Human Services “with Catholic organizations near the Texas border that were
aiding illegal immigrants.”
“I’m mystified by any
group that would call itself Catholic that is attacking the Catholic Church and
its ministry,” Sister Markham said. “Our work with those who are poor takes its
impetus, really, from our Catholic faith, and the Gospel mandate that calls all
of us for over 2,000 years, especially as Catholics, to care for those who are
vulnerable, homeless, hungry and suffering
.“It’s Matthew 25,” Sister Markham added. “And Catholic Charities
in particular has been doing this since 1910. This is really our identity, and
we don’t have any intention of stopping this ministry
“For I was hungry and
you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was
in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When
did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe
you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to
visit you?’
The King will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.” MATT. 25 Vs. 37-39
“Our
work is humanitarian,” she added. “It is not political. It is grounded in our
faith.” Fueling the furious phone calls have been due to recent coverage and commentary
from Fox News and other media, which purport that C.C.U.S.A. and other
faith-based humanitarian groups encourage migration to the United States by
providing aid at the border.
The attacks include
commentary from a Texas member of Congress who charged that C.C.U.S.A., which
he called the “biggest villain of them all,” has been engaged in what amounts
to human trafficking. “Nonprofit groups operating a secretive, taxpayer-funded
and likely illegal operation must be honest and transparent about their role in
exacerbating the border crisis,” Texas Republican Lance Gooden told Fox News
Digital.
Norma Pimentel, M.J.,
the executive director of Catholic
Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville, Tex., has become a primary focus of the ire
of anti-migrant forces. “The claims made by the congressman show a lack of
knowledge and understanding on his part of immigration law and our work here on
the U.S.-Mexico border,” Sister Pimentel countered in an email to America,
adding, “I invite the congressman to come here and visit with me and see what
we do firsthand.”
The unassuming entrance
to the Rio Grande office’s Humanitarian
Respite Center in McAllen, Tex.,
is now a regular backdrop for anti-immigrant and right-wing commentators intent
on associating Catholic Charities’ assistance to migrants with human-smuggling
or even a murky conspiracy to alter
political realities in
the United States with immigrants from Latin America Sister Donna Markham: “I’m mystified by any group that would call itself
Catholic that is attacking the Catholic Church and its ministry.”
“It is outrageous to
think that our work is driving the immigration numbers,” Sister Pimentel said.
“Do you really think that people are uprooting themselves, putting themselves
in danger as they undertake a difficult journey just so that they can come to
our respite center to take a bath and have a meal or sleep on a mat?
“They are leaving dire circumstances back in
their home countries,” she said, “risking everything to come here with the hope
that they can find a safe place to raise their families. Government policy
determines whether they enter or not.”
“Restoring human
dignity,” Sister Pimentel said, “that is what we are doing. Once the federal
government determines the immigrant families can enter this country, we simply
offer humanitarian assistance in their time of crisis.”
As wild accusations of people-smuggling circulate on social media,
Sister Markham explained that Catholic Charities “does not enter into this
situation until an individual or family has been processed” through the
Department of Homeland Security.
C.C.U.S.A. has provided food, clothing and a
chance for rest to migrants who have had applications for asylum accepted and
who now await a court hearing. The agency has also assisted in getting those
families and individuals to cities where they will connect with U.S. sponsors
and where their applications for asylum will be adjudicated.
Sister
Pimentel: “Restoring human dignity; that is what we are doing. Once the
government determines the immigrant families can enter this country, we simply
offer humanitarian assistance in their time of crisis.”
“When they’re released [by Border Patrol],
that’s when Catholic Charities enters into the humanitarian work,” she said.
“The government agencies often will bring the migrants to our facilities, or to
the Lutherans’ facilities or to the Jewish facilities, because those faith
communities are also involved in this humanitarian work.”
Allegations that
assisting migrants represents
a profit-making opportunity are
part of the misinformation C.C.U.S.A. has been forced to contend with. Sister
Markham tried to set the record straight: “Most of the work that we do is
sponsored through private donations. And some small part of that is
reimbursement by federal grants back to us after we do get [asylum applicants]
settled.
“We have to raise some money, help them get
where they’re going, and then the government reimburses a certain portion of
their food, their shelter, [and a] minimum amount of their travel.” Sister Markham is at a
loss to explain the flare-up of attention now on work that C.C.U.S.A. has been
associated with for decades. C.C.U.S.A.’s outreach on behalf of migrants and
refugees has been a consistent component of its historical social service
efforts, she explained.
“We’ve certainly been respected by various
administrations on both sides of the aisle [for our work], so this is puzzling
to me.“I think we have to
acknowledge that our U.S. immigration system is really broken, and I think that
this situation at the border is, quite frankly, very, very disturbing, and we
need to fix it,” she said. “I wish that instead of taking shots at the people
that have been affected by it, that we would try to direct our energies toward
fixing it.
“No administration has
been able to really accomplish that to date…. All of us are trying to do the
best we can within a broken system.”Sister Pimentel:
“Do you really think
that people are uprooting themselves, putting themselves in danger just so that
they can come to our respite center to take a bath and have a meal or sleep on
a mat?”
In 2021 a record 1.9
million arrests at
the border were made by the Border Patrol. Many of those arrested—27
percent—were responsible for multiple crossing attempts and about one million
of those detained were immediately expelled, but 400,000 others, primarily
unaccompanied minors and families, have been permitted to stay in the United
States while their asylum claims are processed.
A border where
thousands arrive year upon year exhausted, hungry and increasingly threatened
by criminal gangs makes a poor location to attempt to “fix” the U.S.
immigration system, according to Sister Markham. “It has to be a much larger
endeavor, and I know that various administrations have tried, and continue to
try, but certainly in the short term, I would hope that Congress would pass
the American
Dream and Promise Act at
least to establish a path to citizenship for the migrant youth and [Temporary
Protected Status] holders, at least to get that part regulated.
”A spokesperson for the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that the social service efforts of
C.C.U.S.A. are undertaken “in tandem with the church’s longstanding call for comprehensive immigration
reform.”
“Jesus teaches that we must welcome the newcomer and accompany them. But we also need to respect the right and responsibility of a country to control it's borders,”
the spokesperson said. “The work being done by the church’s social service
ministries at the U.S.-Mexico border and elsewhere upholds the dignity of human
life and is carried out in accordance with the law and in close cooperation
with many entities of good will including local, state and federal
governments.”
According to Sister
Pimentel, the Rio Grande Catholic Charities office works in close collaboration
with local and federal law enforcement to “address the needs of our community,
especially in relation to immigrants.”
She added, “I greatly
respect the fine men and women in law enforcement whom we work with. They keep
our border safe, and together with many others, we all do our part to uphold
the dignity and respect of life, especially the most vulnerable in our
community who are hurting.”
The families and
individuals who come to the center, frequently dropped off by Border Patrol
agents themselves, have the opportunity there to contact family members and
sponsors so that they can make their travel arrangements. “While they wait for
confirmation from their families, they have an opportunity to shower, get clean
clothing, eat and rest,” Sister Norma said.
“As a Catholic, I
firmly believe that God desires that we care for our brothers and sisters in
need, those who are suffering,” she said. “My focus remains unshaken. I refuse
to be distracted from helping others. I am consoled and inspired by those who
do support the work we do, who care for those who suffer and who stand up and
protect and defend those in need.
“There is nothing wrong with feeding the
hungry and providing care for those here in our country,” Sister Pimentel said.
“We do it because the Lord asks us to.”
Excerpted from AMERICA Magazine (February 16, 2022)
