By The Border Mass 250 included a conversation on immigration with U.S. Catholic bishops, celebration of a Mass, and a rosary procession across the international line.
Catholic bishops, clergy, and hundreds of faithful processed across the U.S.–Mexico border to celebrate the contribution of immigrants in America ahead of the 250th anniversary of the nation.
“Weʼre here as shepherds and as pastors to walk with people, to listen to people, and to be well together with the people of God here at the border,” Bishop James Misko of Tucson, Arizona, said at the event.
“We call ourselves Christians. To be called a Christian means to be like Christ — to be living a life as conformed to Christ as possible. And we know that justice is being in right relationship with God and one another,” Misko said.
Organized by the dioceses of Tucson and Phoenix in partnership with the Kino Border Initiative, the Hope Border Institute, and the Center for Migration Studies, the June 26 event included a conversation on immigration with U.S. Catholic bishops, Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Nogales, Arizona, and a rosary procession across the international line.
The pastoral conversation on migration and human dignity “was a great conversation with five bishops about what the Church holds to be true when it comes to migration and human dignity,” Misko said.
Misko and Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix were joined in conversation by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas; and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas of Tucson.
“As we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we are reminded that we are made by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. Theyʼre given by God,” Seitz said at the event.
“That is a fundamental reality that we in the Church always have in mind and that no policy, no executive order or Supreme Court decision can take away,” Seitz said.
After the bishops celebrated Mass, the procession began at the Arizona parish and concluded at Parroquia De Pa Purísima Concepción — a Catholic church in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The group ended the event with a meal with migrants hosted by the Kino Border Initiative.
Mexican bishops José Luis Cerra Luna of Nogales and Enrique Sanchez Martinez of Mexicali also participated in the binational event.
U.S. bishops have ‘almost complete unanimity’ on immigration matter
“What is discouraging for me is that as a country, we have not yet been able to address the issue of immigration,” Kicanas said. “The conference of bishops has been clamoring, crying out, for comprehensive immigration reform, and we have not yet been able to accomplish that.”
“We have to address the immigration policy of our country — as [do] most countries around the world today. Itʼs a serious concern. All of us want this situation to improve,” Kicanas said.
“The bishops have been advocating for comprehensive immigration reform for a long, long time,” and Border Mass 250 “was just one more example of that,” Wester said.
The event followed other calls for reform including pastoral letters on immigration and a special message from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops highlighting their opposition to “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”
The bishops approved the message at their 2025 fall plenary assembly on Nov. 12, 2025, where the motion passed with support from more than 95% of the American bishops who voted.
“One of the key principles of Catholic social teaching is solidarity — that weʼre together,” Wester said. “But this is an issue, Iʼd say, that enjoys almost complete unanimity in the bishops’ conference.”
The bishops are addressing the matter as communities across the country “are looking for a clear moral response to the human cost of mass detention and deportation,” Dylan Corbett, executive director at Hope Border Institute, told EWTN News.
“In union with Pope Leo XIV, who will soon go to Lampedusa, the border Mass in Nogales was a way for the Catholic community to name the suffering, affirm the dignity of those affected by these policies, and commit to working for reform,” said Corbett, who is also a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
“In this moment, moral clarity must be matched by ongoing action that recognizes the contributions of immigrants to our country and the urgent need to work for justice,” he said.
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U.S. should follow the example of what the Pope’s Vatican does, not what he says:
Vatican Promises Stiff Penalties for Illegal Aliens Crossing its Border
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/01/16/vatican-promises-stiff-penalties-for-illegal-aliens-crossing-its-border/
Unfortunately, many bishops are endangering us, our families and our children.
They protect people whose first moral act in the U.S. is to disregard and violate our laws by entering illegally; then lowering wages for Americans, crowding schools, overtaxing health systems (notice how much longer it takes now to get an appointment with your doctor), raising rents and housing costs, WITH 50% OF ILLEGAL ALIEN FAMILIES ON WELFARE, far higher than the average for non illegals (see below), not to mention the STEALING OF BILLIOS of taxpayer dollars as in Minnesota and california (see information below),
or “non-violent crimes” such as DWI, fraud, theft, identity theft, drug trafficking, child pornography possession, and some forms of human trafficking and child molestation
or the horrible crimes, such as:
“THE OFFICE OF THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS GENERAL CONFERENCE HAS RELEASED ITS ANNUAL STATE IMMIGRATION REPORT REVEALING THAT IN 2025, ILLEGAL MIGRANTS COMMITTED 2,183 VIOLENT OFFENSES, INCLUDING 41 HOMICIDES, 145 SEXUAL OFFENSES, 11 CHILD RAPES, AND MORE.” Tennessee Releases Staggering Stats on Migrant Crime
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/02/02/tennessee-releases-staggering-stats-migrant-crime/
ICE Arrests Illegal Alien Accused of Raping 5-Year-Old Girl in Long Island, New York
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/25/ice-arrests-illegal-alien-child-rape-long-island/
Taxpayers Footed Housing Costs and Tuberculosis for Illegal Alien Accused of Murdering Sheridan Gorman in Sanctuary City Chicago. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials say Medina-Medina was apprehended crossing the southern border on May 9, 2023, but was released into the U.S. interior under former President Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas’s expansive catch and release policy. ICE officials have confirmed that Medina-Medina was first apprehended at the southern border on May 9, 2023, and that, as a result of the Biden administration’s expansive catch and release policy, he was released from Border Patrol custody into the United States interior, where he made his way to Chicago. A month later, in June 2023, Medina-Medina was arrested in Chicago for shoplifting, but ICE was not contacted about his arrest, thanks to the city and state’s sanctuary policies, and therefore, he was not turned over to federal agents to face deportation.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/25/report-taxpayers-footed-housing-costs-for-illegal-alien-accused-of-murdering-sheridan-gorman/
An illegal alien accused of raping and murdering 13-year-old Oscar Hernandez last year in the sanctuary state of California has been hit with additional child rape charges involving two other teen boys.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/02/12/sanctuary-california-illegal-alien-hit-with-more-child-rape-charges-after-allegedly-murdering-boy/
414 Illegal Alien Child Sex Offenders Arrested in Houston During President Trump’s First Year
ICE: 414 Illegal Alien Child Sex Offenders Arrested in Houston
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a plea for authorities to keep a Lexington inmate in custody on Wednesday, April 1. Jorge Luis Martinez Ulloa, 31, was arrested on March 28 following the reported kidnapping, rape, and strangulation of a minor. He faces kidnapping of a minor, first-degree strangulation, two counts of first-degree rape of a victim under 12, two counts of first-degree sodomy of a victim under 12, and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a victim under 12 charges. This child predator should have NEVER been in our country, but illegally entered our nation 4 TIMES under the Obama and Biden administrations,” DHS wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
https://fox56news.com/news/local/lexington/homeland-security-pleads-to-keep-sick-monster-accused-of-lexington-kidnapping-rape-in-custody/
Illegal Alien Arrested for Sexually Assaulting 14-Year-Old Girl in Swank Utah Ski Town
24-year-old arrested, accused of sexually assaulting Park City High School student
Nearly Half of Immigrant Households in U.S. Are on Welfare
Analysis: Nearly Half of Immigrant Households in U.S. Are on Welfare
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/19/analysis-nearly-half-of-immigrant-households-in-u-s-are-on-welfare/
An illegal alien, released into the United States by the Democrat administration, is now charged with murdering 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, a freshman at Loyal University in the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois.
Five Biden Illegals Wanted for Homicide in Their Home Countries Arrested by ICE Boston
https://x.com/EROBoston/status/2041492701984551040
ICE Agents Find Illegal Alien Wanted for Murdering Woman in Mexico Hiding Out in Arizona
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/04/08/exclusive-ice-agents-find-illegal-alien-fugitive-hiding-out-in-arizona-after-allegedly-murdering-woman-in-mexico/
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says the horrific murder of a woman who was bludgeoned to death at a Fort Myers gas station on April 3 was totally preventable, pointing to the fact that the suspect is a Haitian national in the U.S. illegally who benefited from former President Joe Biden’s open border policies.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/04/08/florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-another-horrific-illegal-alien-murder-this-was-preventable/
An 18-year-old illegal alien student at Fairfax County High School in Virginia has been convicted on nine counts of groping girls in the hallways. On Friday, Israel Flores Ortiz, an illegal alien from El Salvador who crossed the United States-Mexico border in 2024 and was released into the United States by the Democrat administration, was convicted after he groped girls at the high school.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/04/10/illegal-alien-convicted-nine-counts-groping-girls-virginia-high-school/
ICE Arrests Illegal Alien Killers, Child Predators, Sexual Abusers on Anniversary of Victims Unit for Angel Families
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/04/10/exclusive-ice-arrests-illegal-alien-killers-child-predators-sexual-abusers-anniversary-victims-unit-angel-families/
ICE Arrests Trio of Criminal Illegal Aliens Convicted of Child Sex Crimes in Minnesota in One Day
Release Date: April 16, 2026
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/04/16/ice-arrests-trio-criminal-illegal-aliens-convicted-child-sex-crimes-minnesota-one
Officials in New York City are reportedly refusing to hand over an illegal alien accused in a deadly arson attack that killed four, including a 3-year-old boy. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News the city is refusing to hand over 38-year-old Mexican national Roman Ceron Amatitla to immigration officials, the outlet reported Thursday.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/04/17/report-nyc-refuses-ice-detainer-illegal-alien-charged-arson-killed-4-including-3-yr-old/
JD Vance Exposes $15 Million in Medicaid Theft by Single Migrant in Maine
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/05/15/jd-vance-exposes-15-million-in-medicaid-theft-by-single-migrant-in-maine/
Decmocrat-Released Illegal Alien Accused of Repeatedly Raping 12-Year-Old Girl in Florida
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/05/18/biden-released-illegal-alien-accused-repeatedly-raping-12-year-old-girl/
Democrat-Released Illegal Alien Gets 50 Years in Prison for Producing Child Porn of His Special Needs Niece, Nephew
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/05/21/illegal-alien-gets-50-years-in-prison-for-producing-child-pornography-of-special-needs-niece-nephew/