Catholics must educate themselves on “the facts” regarding the U.S. immigration system and the Church’s teachings on the matter, according to Washington, D.C., Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala.

Following his participation in a panel at the New York Encounter titled “Seeking a Home: A Catholic View on the Status of Immigration to the U.S.,” Menjivar-Ayala told EWTN News that he is “very hopeful” about the future of immigration in the U.S. “When people show up for a talk like this, and you see standing room only, that tells you of the great desire of people to get informed, to get educated.”

The D.C. auxiliary bishop emphasized the need to “get the facts,” not only about the immigration system in the U.S. but also where the Church stands on the issue. “For the Church, the first and the most important thing is human dignity,” he said. “It is the dignity of every person, undocumented or citizen.”

While the government must enforce its laws and protect its sovereignty, Menjivar-Ayala said, it is necessary for the government to “look at the eyes of the person, the dignity of every human being,” and to ensure that enforcement is “done in a humane way that respects the dignity of the human person.”

“Let us educate ourselves,” he said, adding: “As they say, the social doctrine of the Church is the best-kept secret. And the Church teaches, has beautiful teachings, about the social dimension of our faith.”

Dialogue with Catholics in the Trump administration

Menjivar-Ayala noted that previous administrations in the past had participated in dialogue with the Catholic Church, consulting with organizations such as the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. (CLINIC) on the issue of immigration. However, he said, the current administration has not.

Menjivar-Ayala noted the disparity between the Church’s emphasis on human dignity and the Trump administration’s position that every unauthorized border crossing is a criminal act.

He said we should be careful about narratives surrounding the issue and refrain from categorizing those who cross the border without authorization the same way as perpetrators of crimes such as murder, rape, or theft.

Menjivar-Ayala said criminals should be prosecuted as criminals and not categorized in the same way as immigrants, noting that “immigration laws are a different set of laws than criminal laws” but that the current administration is now “pulling them together.”

Responding to high-ranking officials who are Catholic, such as “border czar” Tom Homan, who has described the Catholic Church as being “wrong” about immigration, Menjivar-Ayala said he believes “it’s a question for them” about “how are you living the Gospel?”

“I would say that the question is not for me, because for me and for the bishops it is very clear. Every person has dignity, and in every migrant, no matter if they are documented or undocumented, we should see the face of Christ,” he said. “So the question is for them, for those who claim to be Catholic but are not seeing the face of Christ in the migrants.”

Menjivar-Ayala stressed the need for one’s politics to be informed by the Gospels and faith, rather than one’s faith being informed by politics or one’s personal views. “It is the Gospel that needs to tell me how I should see the world and not politics,” he said.

Life for the immigrant community in Washington, D.C.

Immigration enforcement among Catholic migrant communities in D.C. is “dying down a bit,” according to Menjivar-Ayala.

Sacred Heart Shrine in the Columbia Heights neighborhood reported that six of its parishioners were detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in August 2025, including an usher who was on his way to evening Mass.

Menjivar-Ayala said the immigrant community at Sacred Heart Shrine “has been affected the most” in the city but has also become the most tight-knit. During the panel, Menjivar-Ayala described parishioners in immigrant communities banding together to bring food and provide other support for one another. “I was thinking about that parish,” he said.

“I believe right now it’s dying down a bit, but nobody knows when you are going to have ICE in the streets,” he concluded.

Panel highlights broken system, need for congressional action

For the panel, Menjivar-Ayala was joined by Mario Russell, executive director of the Center for Migration Studies, and Ashley Feasley, a legal expert in residence at The Catholic University of America’s Immigration Law and Policy Initiative.

During her remarks, Feasley described the U.S. immigration system as “old,” having not been reformed since the late 1990s.

“What has happened here is people may have many perspectives about the failures of one president or another on immigration reform,” she said. “But the one place where I think we can really circle in on is the failure of Congress to act regardless of who is in the White House or who controls Congress.”

Feasley noted the presence of a number of comprehensive bills seeking to address border security and asylum but have had a difficult time garnering bipartisan support. This, she said, has ultimately been “one of the biggest problems.”

During his remarks Russell, similarly to Menjivar-Ayala, encouraged Catholics to inform themselves about the immigration system by reading reports such as those from the Center for Migration Studies or from diocesan sources.

“What is happening is basically what is happening,” he said. “Robert Reich, the old labor secretary, recently said, ‘Why would the Immigration Customs Enforcement go to Home Depot to find criminals? Why would they go to a posada or a corner to find criminals? Those are workers,’ so the evidence doesn’t support the narrative.”

A group of Buddhist monks who walked from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., spreading a message of peace, returned home Saturday morning.

Thousands of people welcomed them back as they arrived at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth.

The “Walk for Peace” was led by Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, who said completing the 15‑week journey was emotional.

“In front of the gate, I was touched, and, emotions by so many people coming out,” said Pannakara.

The message behind the walk was simple: peace and mindfulness.

“It is something that people really needed at this time… The more we react, the more we suffer, so our message is to ask people slow down, slow down, look back within. Feel each and every heartbeat. See each and every breath going in and out. That is when peace begins,” said Pannakara.

Daily routine and long miles 

The group of 19 began the trek in October.

“Every day we start at 4 a.m., we wake up and do our thing, chanting and meditation, and then, about six something, we start to walk. There are days that we walk 20 miles, there’s days that we walk 25, there’s days that we walk 32 miles,” said Pannakara.

Injuries along the way 

Along the route, two monks were injured. One was struck by a car near Houston.

“He got his leg amputated, and so he cannot walk anymore, but he’s waiting to put the artificial leg in. He did join us in Washington DC,” said Pannakara.

The message continues beyond the walk 

Thousands followed the journey online, and Pannakara said the work is not finished. He believes anyone can take part in creating peace.

“Today is going to be my peaceful day. Tell the universe that. Tell the universe that today is going to be my peaceful day, so no one in is world can mess it up,” said Pannakara.

A month ago, Maya Pinson and her mother sat down with News4 to discuss the duo’s movie premiere. Then, they made viewers aware of Maya’s desperate need for a kidney donor.

None of their family members were a match, and there was no one to donate a kidney to the 21-year-old Penn State senior.

“We had nothing,” Maya’s mother, Minyon Pinson said.

“We were relying on the community, prayers. We were just completely trusting God that somebody was going to come forward,” she said.

That’s when Nadia Bennett, widow of the D.C. officer who was killed after being hit by a car while helping a driver, answered their call.

Weeks later, the two finally met face-to-face. Nadia was ecstatic.

“I’m so grateful that you are recovering, you are doing well, and I’m just happy to know that Terry was your match,” Nadia said when the two first met.

“And it just, everything was just so divine,” she said.

Nadia is the widow of late D.C. police officer Terry Bennett. While helping a driver whose car broke down in the eastbound lanes of I-695 near South Capitol Street, Bennett was struck by a high-speed car, police said in a statement.

Bennett rushed to the hospital. Nadia sat with her husband for 15 days.

“Every day throughout Terry fighting through his injuries, I’m just sitting beside his bedside and I’m like, he did a good thing, he did a good job,” Nadia said.

And when doctors told her that Bennett would not recover, she knew what to do.

“They had to let me know that Terry was an organ donor and immediately, Maya popped up in my mind,” she said.

Nadia remembered seeing Maya’s social media post about her kidney disease. The two turned out to have friends in common.

Nadia coordinated a direct kidney donation to Maya, a miracle the family had prayed for.

“It’s so unexplainable,” Minyon said.

“My heart dropped then because it became real. And I said, Maya, you have a donor, because this is her first surgery,” she said.

Weeks after the transplant, Maya is grateful. The young filmmaker is taking her final Penn State courses online.

“And one of my assignments is to make a PSA about the importance of organ donation. So I’m doing a bunch of research,” Maya said.

Film is one of the hardest industries to break into, but two filmmakers from the DMV are taking the industry by storm in their own way. News4’s Molette Green spoke with the duo about their moviemaking magic and the health crisis one of them is facing.

“It’s really hard for me to put into words. I’m just beaming with joy and so fortunate,” she said.

Nadia told News4 her husband was a hero in life and now in death.

Officer Bennett died at 32 years old. He was a native of Southeast D.C.

To honor Bennett’s life and service, the D.C. Council told News4 they’re declaring July 21, Bennett’s birthday, as Terry Bennett Day.

Nadia, too, honors her late husband, by sporting a custom badge sweatshirt.

“Custom made by the 1st District. It has Terry’s end of watch date and this is his badge,” Nadia said.

On July 21st, Bennett’s birthday, the D.C. Council will honor his life and service as Terry Bennett Day in the District.