No Man’s Land
Andrew Bedai, one of our newest American citizens!
“No Man’s Land” is an indeterminate or undefined place or state. Our pride has allowed us to deem this land as our land—when in fact, it is no man’s land. The America we know today is the mere product of years of hard labor by millions of migrants—some tragically uprooted and others forced to flee from tragedy.
After his installation, Pope Francis’ first trip from the Vatican was to the Italian island of Lampedusa to visit with migrants and refugees. Pope Francis says there are four things we must do for migrants: Welcome, Protect, Promote and Integrate.
For months, Louisiana correctional centers have housed asylum-seekers. During the waiting period, these individuals undergo vaccination before being taken to their new homes. Asylum-seekers are individuals seeking international protection –whose claim has not been finalized in the receiving country—in this case, America. As we welcome our foreign brothers and sisters, our concern should be the safe and legal routes for migrants and refugees, and an orderly process respecting the laws of each country involved – the sending, transit, and receiving country.
The Haitian asylum-seekers from Winn Correctional Center and Jackson Parish Correctional Center unexpectedly arrived on unfamiliar lands Thursday, July 15th. Threatened at the thought of getting left behind, they had no choice but to board the bus without a single word to relatives. After arriving, some received plane tickets from their loved ones, while others were provided air transportation by a local nonprofit, Miles for Migrants. All of these individuals have since reunited with family and friends but, the effect of the hate spewed at numerous individuals and organizations left a loud reminder that all are not stewards of God’s word.
Since the arrival of our brothers and sisters in Shreveport, organizations like Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention, Freedom for Immigrants, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and several other groups filed a civil rights complaint against ICE. Their complaint calls out, “blatant violations of the ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards 2011 regarding release protocols in Louisiana and Mississippi, causing serious harm to the well-being and safety of those being released.” Impressively, local advocates have aided over 400 immigrants from 42 countries to reunite with their families.
News reports mentioned Catholic Services as an organization affiliated with this unexpected event. However, many mistook this bit of information as Catholic Charities of North Louisiana. As a result, Catholic Charities has received numerous calls from angry individuals accusing our organization of helping illegal immigrants—when that is far from what we do.
We at Catholic Charities of North Louisiana take pride in the work our legal practitioners do—aiding immigrants and asylum seekers with interpreting legal documents to fulfill requirements necessary to become working-class citizens of our community. It would have been an honor to assist the asylum-seekers with their transition into our society. Within the last year alone, our team of three women assisted 717 immigrants.
Catholic Charities of North Louisiana receives partial funding from the Louisiana Bar Foundation and Community Foundation of North Louisiana.