One Daughter of Charity reflects on the current context of ministry with migrants coming to Master Calendar hearings at immigration court in El Paso, TX.

FACTS:

Between January 2025 and March 2026, immigration judges issued 80,000 Voluntary Departure Orders, according to the Vera Institute of Justice.

Between October 2024 and September 2025, ICE deported 442,637 persons. Perhaps two million self-deported.

THE PEOPLE:

A young truck driver was detained in El Paso Processing Center for 9 months. At his recent hearing with a judge, he requested voluntary departure to his home country.

A young Mexican oil field worker has been in detention for 20 months. His parents, wife and 8 children remain in Odessa, TX.

FACTS:

Between January and September of 2025, ICE deported 174 DACA recipients.  (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a US immigration policy that protects from deportation eligible undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.)

In addition, 270 DACA recipients have been arrested.

THE PEOPLE:

I observed a hearing with a DACA recipient who graduated from college and was working when he was summoned to court. The immigration judge asked him why he was in court. His attorney responded that, as a teen, the young man was in a car with friends when police arrested the driver. The other teens were not detained.

FACT: According to the American Bar Association, 200 immigration judges have been fired, forced out or retired.

In my experience, the judges deal compassionately with the people coming to court for their routine Master Calendar hearings on their application for citizenship. The judges counsel them about the need for a lawyer, sharing with them information about local pro-bono attorneys. However, many are unable to find an attorney.

There is a US government attorney present at every hearing. If the government attorney asks the judge to dismiss the case and the judge agrees, the person no longer has court protections and moves to expedited removal without further hearings or judicial review.

People called to court have the choice of appearing in person or on Webex.

DIOCESAN AND ECUMENICAL RESPONSE:

At the El Paso Federal Courthouse a team that includes a Jesuit immigration lawyer meets and orients the persons coming to court. Another group of people volunteer as court scribes and have the right to observe court proceedings without interacting in any way. The scribes submit reports to the American Bar Association.

Every Wednesday morning, there is a prayer service led by multiple religious leaders in front of the Federal Courthouse.