Mons. Evelio Menjívar-Ayala, first bishop of Central American origin in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, He told Ewtn News How he tried to cross three times the border being an undocumented young migrant, along with his family, fleeing the civil war in El Salvador.
“I am an immigrant. I came from El Salvador in 1990, a year before I had already made an attempt to cross and I could not, I was deported from Tijuana, in Mexico, back to Guatemala. After a year, I made another attempt and at the third attempt I could cross. Mons. Menjívar to Montse Alvarado, president of Ewtn News.
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For the Washington Auxiliary Bishop, appointed by Pope Francis in 2022, it is this desire to build a better future that “pushes and motivates the walk of immigrants”, who arrive with a great craving for progress and surrender completely to their new country. “We usually come when we are young, so we give this life to this country,” he said.
“Then, the situation we are living today is quite painful, because a speech has been taken, a narrative, quite cruel towards the treatment of migrants. We know that every undocumented person, as I was, runs risk. Deportations are not new, they have always been there, we know that it is always a risk, ”added the auxiliary bishop.
Mons. Menjívar showed the danger of equating undocumented migrants with criminals, stating that criminals, in reality, are those “who cross the border with the idea of doing evil.”
He said that the vast majority of immigrants “crossed the border because of the situation that our countries live, (we do it) looking for a better future and with the great desire to contribute to the well -being of this country.”
The Trump administration and the treatment of migrants
The Prelate also referred to the letter that Pope Francis sent to the American bishops, in February of this year, in which he asked them to “not give in to the narratives that discriminate” to the migrants. Mons. Menjívar said that “it is very hopeful” that his work as shepherds receives the support of the Pontiff.
In the letter, Francisco said that he follows very “the important crisis” that takes place in the United States, after President Donald Trump began a mass deportation campaign.
The Pope recognized the right of the countries to defend his communities and to keep them safe “of those who have committed violent or serious crimes”, but also condemned the measures that equate the situation of illegality of migrants with crime, because they hurt their human dignity and place them “in a state of special vulnerability and helplessness.”
Mons. Menjívar remarked that the duty of the Catholic Church is to stay close to people and defend their dignity. “The Pope is not saying ‘open borders’ (…) but is asking that in everything the dignity of people is respected,” repeated the Washington auxiliary bishop.
Finally, he valued the figure of the Pontiff in these 12 years, and thanked “God for giving us a great Latin American Pope.” In addition, he highlighted the closeness that the Holy Father has shown “with everyone, especially with people on the periphery, people who often do not recognize.”
The bishop said that he also prays for the Pope, “so that the Lord of Health and continues to bless the Church with his presence.”
Andrés Henríquez
I am a writer for ACI Press and correspondent of EWTN since 2023. Since then, I cover events of the Catholic Church in Venezuela and Latin America. I have more than 5 years of experience in bilingual media. In addition, in Venezuela I have worked with non -governmental organizations for freedom and respect for human rights in the country. I am a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.