Walter, a friend and former parishioner of mine, was deported last week. It all happened quickly and quietly. On Monday morning, very early, I received a text from his wife saying he was stopped by immigration agents on his way to work. They took him into custody. Three days later he was in Guatemala, separated from his wife and two young children, his friends, and parish family. I was able to speak with him. He is alone and far from everyone he knows and loves. He has been thrown back into the extreme poverty, rampant violence, and political upheaval that pushed him to migrate to the United States more than 10 years ago.
I’ve known Walter since 2015. He never committed a crime. He is not a drug trafficker, gang member, murderer, sex offender or terrorist. To the contrary, he is a loving husband, a great father, a good friend, a skilled carpenter and electrician and an exemplary Catholic man. I welcomed him into the Church, journeying with him through the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). I witnessed his marriage to his beloved wife, baptized his children, and enjoyed memorable barbecues at his home. He helped begin the Knights of Columbus chapter in our parish. He led our young adult men’s soccer league. He played the keyboard at Sunday Mass. He led the parish’s young adult ministry for Spanish-speakers.
This hurts! The hurt isn’t just mine. It’s the kind of hurt that reaches deep into the core of the Church, the People of God. The human and spiritual-ecclesial cost of the present anti-immigrant campaign is catastrophic. The relentless portrayal of immigrants, real people, across the broad spectrum of social media and communications in our country is dehumanizing. When people are portrayed as less than human, it is easier to get rid of them, to round them up and deport them, to make them disappear. Our immigrant neighbors are being robbed of their human dignity and more. Doesn’t Jesus show us a different path? He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31) We can choose to be “neighbor” to whoever we meet, if we meet them with mercy and compassion in our hearts.
Thousands of families are being forcibly split up, broken up. Wives are separated from husbands and children from their parents, all with no clear understanding of how or when they will be reunited. The toll this takes on one’s physical and mental health is inestimable. Families, once stable and thriving, are now thrust into economic uncertainty and left to fall into poverty and need. How will the rent get paid and food reach the table for households that depended heavily on the man or woman now deported? The demands for charity are increasing and will be great.
We shouldn’t forget that National Migration Week 2025 concluded this past Sunday, Sept. 28. The Jubilee for Migrants will be held in Rome on October 4 and 5. From September 15 to October 15 many will mark Hispanic Heritage Month. These observances highlight immigrant people and their sacrifices as well as their contributions to the well-being and progress of our nation. Our immigrant brothers and sisters, representing so many cultures and languages and traditions have enriched life in America for centuries. This hasn’t changed. They still do today. We are better for their presence here. We need them as much as they need us.
Our Holy Father, Pope Leo, has asked Catholics across the globe to pray the rosary daily during the month of October. His special intention is for peace in war-torn countries. Looking across our country, we are being torn apart by a war waged against good and honest people. This is not immigration reform. Many have stopped taking their children to school. They’ve stopped going to work, to the laundromat, the supermarket, to their medical appointments, and even to church, that one place that offers peace and comfort. They are not the problem. They are not stealing jobs from Americans. They are not cheating the government of health care and education benefits. They are not the enemy.
In the Diocese of Providence, we are American, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, French-Canadian, Indian, Korean, Filipino, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Irish, German, Haitian, Nigerian, Kenyan, Lebanese and Brazilian, together with people from every country of Latin America and the Caribbean. When one immigrant family is hurting, we all hurt. They are God’s children and our “neighbors.” Our Church is being deported. Please pray the rosary this October as our Holy Father asks. And please include in your prayers the needs of our immigrant brothers and sisters who are enduring great suffering. The “American Dream” they have worked so hard to achieve has become a true nightmare and there is no end in sight. I beg you, please pray for Walter.
