Kate Scanlon

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision late March 19 once again blocking Texas from enforcing its controversial law that makes it a state crime for unauthorized migrants to cross into Texas from Mexico.

District Judge Francisco Dominguez in El Paso issued an order blocking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's subpoena of Annunciation House, indicating both that Paxton's effort seemed politically motivated and that it must go through appropriate due process in the state court system.

"My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality," President Biden said during his March 7 address.

Biden said, "the issue facing our nation isn't how old we are -- it's how old our ideas are."

"Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas," he said. "But you can't lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be."

Four major nonprofits recently launched a joint effort to counteract rising polarization and isolation in the U.S., including Catholic Charities USA, the organization dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States. For the Team Up Project, a new initiative to foster service and human connection, Catholic Charities has partnered with Habitat for Humanity International, Interfaith America and YMCA of the USA. 

Ivan Cantu was executed Feb. 28 by the state of Texas despite claims that the Texan's 2001 conviction for killing James Mosqueda and Amy Kitchen, his cousin and his cousin's fiancee, was based on false testimony.

The ability of Catholic and other faith-based groups to "meet migrants' basic human needs" at the U.S.-Mexico border is a religious liberty issue and must be defended, U.S. bishops said in recent statements.

Catholic leaders and local officials condemned Feb. 23 an attempt by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to shut down a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants and asylum-seekers at the Southern border, calling it an abuse of power and a violation of religious liberty.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos qualify as children under state law has raised complex legal questions about artificial reproductive practices opposed by the Catholic Church.

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak warns that failing to support Ukraine as Russia's war machine relentlessly presses its attack will have a vast impact on religious freedom in the region as well as on global security.

Congressional lawmakers appear to be at an impasse on immigration as a bipartisan border deal failed in the Senate and House Republicans failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Key Senate negotiators Feb. 4 released an approximately $118 billion emergency national security bill that would send a fresh wave of aid to Ukraine as that nation fends off Russia's invasion and would implement strict new migration policies for the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Supreme Court Jan. 24 rejected an appeal by death-row inmate Kenneth Smith, whose planned execution by the state of Alabama -- the first known execution by nitrogen gas -- was openly decried by more than 100 Alabama faith leaders just days earlier.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 22 allowed Border Patrol agents to cut through or remove razor wire that Texas installed on a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the state's effort to prevent illegal border crossings.

As immigration shapes up to become a key election issue in 2024, the church must remain steadfast in its advocacy for migrants, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, told OSV News.

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed an immigration bill into law Dec. 18 that makes it a state crime for unauthorized migrants to cross into Texas from Mexico. Catholic organizations including the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops have opposed the legislation.

Lawmakers and exiled Nicaraguan nationals at a congressional hearing Nov. 30 called for the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a Catholic prelate imprisoned by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passed away Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia, according to a statement from The Carter Center.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's anti-Catholic persecution is part of a broader trend of threats to democracy around the globe, experts on a Georgetown University panel said Nov. 14.