In response to the ongoing trauma of potential deportation for immigrants trying to comply with the legal process, a new ministry has emerged called FAITH. This acronym stands for Faithful Accompaniment In Trust and Hope. Both lay and clergy volunteers accompany immigrants to their scheduled court hearings to support them in the face of masked federal agents waiting to detain them if their cases are dismissed. A recent Religious News Service article explained the situation this way:
Immigrants are facing court appointments with newly heightened levels of fear as the Trump administration has begun sending agents to detain migrants as they leave the courtroom. If immigration judges dismiss their cases, they can immediately face expedited removal proceedings without a chance to make their case for asylum. Previously, a 10-day response time to the dismissal was allowed…Guided by their faith, clergy… and other representatives from religious groups are accompanying immigrants to court appointments to provide comfort and information and, in cases where their worst fears are realized, to pick up the pieces of a shattered American dream.
The FAITH volunteers also bear witness by speaking out against this cruel system that causes unjust and unnecessary suffering in the name of “law and order.” That same article shared the powerful experience of the Catholic Bishop of El Paso, TX who accompanied immigrants to court:
El Paso, Texas, Bishop Mark Seitz was also in immigration court on Tuesday, said Scalabrinian Sister Leticia Gutiérrez, the director of the diocese’s migrant hospitality ministry. Seitz witnessed the detention of three people — “the sobbing, the anguish of the wife of one of them,” said Gutiérrez in Spanish. Seitz told her, “I saw Jesus walking through the hallway, sister, defenseless.”
Sister Guitierrez added her own moving testimony: “There really is no escape. You have to pass, no matter what, by the immigration agents. So it’s like Jesus, who goes directly to the cross.”
Bishop Seitz and Sister Guitierrez get to the heart of the matter – recognizing the presence of Jesus in people who are exploited and marginalized. I am grateful for the witness of FAITH as an example of what it means for the Church to serve Jesus by affirming the image of God in all people and resisting the inhumanity and injustice of this administration’s policy of mass deportation.
The video posted below is a local news report about FAITH.