Catholic Church concerned about Donald Trump’s immigration policy

The beginning of Donald Trump’s mandate in the United States, marked by the immediate implementation of immigration policies stricterhas raised concerns about possible mass deportations. Given this panorama, what do the pastoral agents of the Catholic Church who work directly with migrants and accompany their processes think?

Between October 2023 and September 2024, more than 2.1 million encounters with undocumented migrants were recorded on the border between Mexico and the United States, OK with data from the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Of this total, nearly 110,000 were unaccompanied minors.

In a message on his social network Truth Social, Trump assured: “On January 20, as one of my first executive orders, I will sign all the necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products entering the United States and its ridiculous open borders.”

Mexico

Although the immigration policy of the government of Claudia Sheinbaum—who assumed the presidency on October 1, 2024—has not yet been clearly defined, was carried out the Consultation Forum for an Orderly, Safe and Regular Migration, organized by the Ministry of the Interior, to outline the strategies that will govern in this matter.

Meanwhile, the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) assured that links are being strengthened between the institutions of the Catholic Church that serve migrants “in order to be attentive to the local, national and international situation, and respond as best as possible to the challenges regarding migration, deportation of migrants and refugee seekers.”

Through a statement signed by Mons. Eugenio A. Lira Rugarcía, responsible for the Episcopal Dimension of Pastoral Care of Human Mobility (DEPMH) and Bishop of Matamoros —on the border with Texas (United States)—, it was assured that the Catholic Church will continue to “offer a warm reception in our facilities”, through its 54 houses and shelters, as well as dining rooms and other facilities available.

“Providing them with lodging, food, clothing and personal hygiene items; support in caring for your physical, emotional and spiritual health; contact them with their families; help them obtain the documents they require; accompany them in the legal procedures they need to carry out, as well as in access to education, recognition of skills and the job market,” the statement reads.

Father Héctor Julio López, executive secretary of the DEPMH, expressed to ACI Prensa his concern about the possible regulations that are implemented once Trump comes to power, since they would be “totally unfavorable to the entire immigration issue, to all people in human mobility: women, children, men, young people, families.”

Honduras

In Honduras, there is also growing concern about what could happen in the event of a drastic change in immigration policies. For Clara Bonilla, from the Human Mobility Pastoral of the Episcopal Conference of Honduras, “the intensification of migration policies (only) generates that migrants are exposed to greater dangers in their desire to reach that route.”

According to the UNthe border between the United States and Mexico is the most dangerous land migration route in the world. In the words of Bonilla, in an interview with ACI Prensa, “many of them are captured by organized crime, they are used, practically enslaved for years, and then they are simply murdered.”

This context of insecurity has given rise to the phenomenon of migrant caravans, in which hundreds or even thousands of people walk together, according to Bonilla, in a “desire to protect each other, because they begin to see or begin to to understand that going together will give them a little more security.”

On the other hand, Juan Torres, also a member of the Honduran Human Mobility Pastoral, revealed that recently “a caravan was organized that began to be organized since the end of last year, when it was already known that Trump had won the election.” “It is not just one, there are also more initiatives of people who are organizing to leave the country and arrive before he (Donald Trump) takes office in the United States,” he added.

Panama

Jorge Ayala, national executive secretary of the Human Mobility Pastoral of the Panamanian Episcopal Conference, expressed his concern about “the different messages and announcements made by the president-elect of the United States.”

Panama is a key country on the migratory route to the United States because it is the entry point from South America to Central America. Migrants leaving South America arrive in Panama through the Darién Gap, a difficult-to-access jungle region that also covers part of Colombia.

According to the Ombudsman of ColombiaBy 2023, more than 520,000 people crossed this territory into Panama, with an increase of 110% compared to the previous year, including 406,905 adults and 113,180 minors.

Ayala expressed his concern about the possible implementation in the United States of immigration policies “that violate the human rights of people, including the separation of families, ‘hot’ deportations, not allowing access to the due process of asylum, the termination of Temporary Protected Status for some nationalities, among other restrictive and repressive measures announced.”

According to the website From the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Temporary Protected Status is the category granted by US authorities to some countries that are in conditions “that prevent the country’s citizens from temporarily returning to their country safely.” Citizens of those countries are not removed from the United States and can obtain employment authorization and travel authorization documents.

Among the countries that are currently in that status are Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Sudan, Lebanon, Yemen and Ethiopia.

Given these circumstances, Ayala called to “seek a balance between the right of people to migrate and the right of countries to control their borders from a focus on human rights, social justice and the common good.”