Bishop Seitz speaks on immigration – lauds Iowa bishops
April 7, 2025
By Dawn Prosser, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Sioux City
Originally published on Lumen Media on March 7, 2025
Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, known as a “border bishop” offered a keynote presentation on immigration March 2 for the Des Moines St. Catherine of Siena Dialogue Series. Several hundred filled the Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University for his “Broken at the Border” presentation.
Although immigration and immigration enforcement have long been divisive issues in the United States, concerns became heightened after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and issued several executive orders on immigration Jan. 20 and 21.
Bishop Seitz thanked his host, Des Moines Bishop William Joensen for the invitation to speak and for the leadership of the four bishops of Iowa on the topic of immigration. He referenced the Nov. 19 bilingual message to Iowa migrants published by Bishop Joensen, Bishop Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Archbishop Thomas Zinkula of Dubuque and Bishop Dennis Walsh of Davenport.
“I want to express my gratitude to Bishop Joensen and all the bishops in Iowa who have been so clear and spoken with a united voice on this important issue,” the El Paso bishop said. “In Texas and across the country, we’ve been moved by your witness here in Iowa.”
The speaker pointed out that having the discussion about immigration is one that the Holy Father has said is important. He acknowledged Pope Francis’ “challenging health condition” at the time of the presentation.
“I think one of the things we can do to show our closeness and our gratitude to Pope Francis is by having this conversation on a topic dear to his heart. He has made it a prime issue of his papacy,” Bishop Seitz said before offering a prayer for the Holy Father.
Despite the title of the bishop’s presentation, the speaker said that the communities along the border such as El Paso are “vibrant and beautiful places” that are safe.
“The border is home to many wonderful binational communities which straddle both sides of the border like my home in El Paso, Texas. These are places where people cross the border every day – college students, faculty, workers, family and priests – just as we’ve done for hundreds of years,” Bishop Seitz said.
He pointed out that the American and Mexican bishops along the border have historically met to coordinate, share perspectives and learn from one another.
“By sharing we also grow in the life of faith. It helps us to weave a common story, a common future. So, my friends, the border is not broken, our immigration system is,” the bishop stressed. “The issue of immigration is broader than the border. The brokenness around the issue at the border is just a symptom of a broader brokenness.”
He pointed out that recent actions regarding the border and immigrants are troubling including suspension of programs for refugees, actions terminating legal status such as temporary protect status (TPS) and even the language used to describe migrants “with irregular status.”
Church and immigration
Although immigration is currently a prominent topic, the bishop pointed out that the Catholic Church has historically been involved in immigration.
“The role of the Catholic Church in the United States has always been an immigrant church, whether the Spanish setting in the southwest, the Germans who immigrated to Iowa to tend to the fields or the recent arrivals from Mexico and Central America. Many of these persons came to this country bringing their Catholic faith,” Bishop Seitz explained. “For historical reasons, the Catholic Church in this country is particularly sensitive to the immigration question.”
Catholic institutions, especially, schools, hospitals, universities and social service agencies were established to serve immigrants, the bishop said. The church often partnered with the federal government “with the administrations of both parties” to serve and resettle immigrants fleeing conflict and persecution from countries around the world.
“I think we can be proud of the role of these institutions in fostering the integration of new generations of Americans into our national story,” the speaker said.
Large numbers of U.S. immigrants are affected by the lack of proper documentation, including 11 million undocumented, 22 million who live with someone undocumented and 4.4 million children living with a parent who is not documented, he shared. Over half have resided in the U.S. over 10 years and some for over 20 years.
“I don’t have to mention how important immigrants are to our health and economic resilience as a country, disproportionately occupying essential jobs in critical fields of agriculture, healthcare, elder care, construction and hospitality,” the bishop said. “For these reasons, if the campaign of mass deportations should come to pass, it would undoubtedly be an economic catastrophe. A social and family catastrophe, and more importantly, a moral catastrophe.”
Catholic parishes should be concerned with the fate of the undocumented and their families as they are members of American Catholic parishes.
“Documents or no documents, they are an important part of US and there must be a response. As St. Paul said to the Corinthians, ‘If one suffers, all suffer. We’re part of the same body.’ There’s a role for everyone in addressing the situation of migrants in this country that we’re facing today. We need to learn new ways to collaborate,” the El Paso bishop said.
Concerned by the recent actions of the current administration in regard to immigration, Bishop Seitz pointed out that turning away refugees and asylum seekers and mass deportation plans “are fundamentally incompatible with the moral law and certainly incompatible with the Gospel.”
“It is also consistent with the lessons the world community should have learned in the wake of the Second World War, when we experienced an appropriate national sense of guilt for having turned Jewish refugees away to face certain danger and death in concentration camps,” Bishop Seitz said, noting that was the origins of the current asylum system in the U.S.
‘Sensible measures’
He stressed that a reformed immigration system that provides for order and safety is needed and that the Catholic Church “has long supported these sensible measures.” Reform should also meet humanitarian needs and recognize the dignity and contributions of the newcomers.
The bishop also pointed out that there have been “deeply rooted historical patterns of injustice which exceed any one administration and we have seen many of the same dynamics at play at different times.”
Communities and the church are currently working to assist their immigrant neighbors navigate the new reality in the U.S. and help access the available legal options.
“We do what we can to equip them to prepare and protect their families, their homes and their businesses and assist those families affected by deportation,” Bishop Seitz explained, noting local schools, civic and religious leaders need to collaborate to assist immigrants and reduce fear and anxiety. “This is the work we are engaged in in my own diocese. We are working very hard to provide ‘Know Your Rights’ sessions in our parishes and Catholic schools.”
Referring to the parable of the Good Samaritan, the bishop reminded the attendees of the injured man who was abandoned by his fellow Jews who chose to walk on the other side of the road instead of rendering aid. He illustrated the similarities between the beaten man at the side of the road and the immigrant.
“That ‘God’ that you meet on this road, that smelly, bruised, battered, inconvenient person right in front of you. By paying attention to that person, that person is your neighbor. When you realize that person is your flesh and your neighbor, everything changes,” he said. “You open yourself up to something transcendent. You open yourself up to a force capable for weaving deeper ties in humanity.”
As the church enters into the season of Lent, the bishop challenged the audience members to adopt a Lenten practice to consider the difficulties that those who migrate might experience and then consider how they can help.
“We are openly a generation or a few generations away from the immigrant experience,” he pointed out. “How can we support them? How can we make a difference to those affected by the new reality? How do we make sure we are not walking by on the other side of the road?”