Pope Leo XIV’s eyes grew misty Wednesday as an El Paso delegation led by Bishop Mark Seitz presented him letters and a video that captured the fears and anxieties of people facing mass deportation in the United States, the El Pasoans said after Wednesday’s meeting at the Vatican.
“The church cannot remain silent. You stand with me, and I stand with you,” Pope Leo told the El Paso group, according to a summary of the meeting provided by El Paso’s Hope Border Institute.
The group from El Paso, which also included Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino, presented the pontiff with a packet of letters from immigrants in the United States and presented a four-minute video based on the words of people facing deportation. Pope Leo was moved by the video during the nearly 15-minute meeting at the Vatican, Seitz said.
“His love for immigrants and the appreciation for the situation, all their suffering that they’re going through, came through,” Seitz said in a phone interview with El Paso Matters shortly after the meeting.
The letters, and a video based on them, were gathered by Hope Border Institute, an El Paso-based nonprofit that uses Catholic social teaching to advocate for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Dylan Corbett, Hope’s executive director, accompanied Seitz to the papal meeting.
The video is titled “A letter to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV (and to our sisters and brothers in the Catholic Church in the United States).” It features the thoughts of migrants now facing an uncertain future in the United States.
“Many of us were forced to leave behind everything that was most precious – family, home, the communities that gave us a sense of belonging… . Now, when deportations strike, the loss is repeated. Family bonds are broken, communities are scattered and our children are stripped of safety, health and education,” voices in the video say.
Watch the video shown to Pope Leo
“We didn’t feel we needed to convince him or change his mind, but we did hope that we could just give him a firsthand feel for what we’re experiencing in the United States and how important his words of support are for our immigrants,” Seitz said.
The Trump administration said its immigration policies have made the country more safe.
“We have had the most secure border in American history and our end of year numbers prove it. We have shattered multiple records this year and once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of Southwest border apprehensions in 55 years,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement Tuesday. “Under President Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job and they have delivered.”
Pope Leo gave a message of support at a crucial time, said Lorena Andrade, executive director of La Mujer Obrera in El Paso, who was among the El Pasoans meeting with the pope at the Vatican. La Mujer Obrera advocates for the largely Spanish-speaking community in El Paso’s Chamizal neighborhood and gathered some of the testimonies presented Wednesday.
“We are grateful for the support of Pope Leo and the Catholic Church during this challenging moment when so many families across the United States are fearful of deportation and we are at risk of being separated from loved ones. The pope encouraged us to continue working for a world where the right of everyone to participate and contribute to building healthy and thriving communities is respected and protected,” Andrade said in a statement.
Other El Pasoans at the Vatican Wednesday included Monsignor Arturo J. Bañuelas, one of the El Paso church’s most vocal advocates for immigrants; Hilda Villegas from the Chamizal neighborhood group Familias Unidas; the Rev. Jose Morales, pastor of St. Mark’s Catholic Church; and Astrid Liden from Hope Border Institute.
The letters the El Pasoans shared with Leo are filled with anxiety and uncertainty about the future.
“I’m very sad and in a lot of pain and fear,” wrote an immigrant from a mixed-status family, asking for prayers for President Donald Trump “so that his heart may be filled with love, compassion and empathy.”
“We are currently living with a lot of fear, confusion and sadness,” wrote an immigrant living in California. “I believe that the church should continue to pray and continue to support us migrants.”
on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025.
(Courtesy Hope Border Institute)
“I’m an undocumented person with a lot of uncertainty, fear and insecurity. I hope the church can influence fair and balanced immigration,” wrote one person in Spanish.
A Guatemalan woman wrote: “I worry about my family who are here. They are afraid of immigration (officials) because of their immigration status. They don’t have papers. My younger sister is afraid. She is a mother of three and separated from her husband so she is their only caregiver. She is afraid that if ICE deports her, who will take care of her children? My whole family worries.”
Leo, who became pope earlier this year after the death of Pope Francis, has built on his predecessor’s record of defending the right of migration and the dignity of migrants. As the first U.S.-born pope, his comments on immigration are closely watched as Trump has promised record levels of deportations of people in the country without legal authorization.
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The papal meeting with El Paso’s bishop came as Trump sent National Guard forces from Texas to Chicago – Pope Leo’s hometown – where the administration has stepped up immigration enforcement.
In September, the pope criticized the “inhuman” treatment of migrants in the United States. The pope’s comments drew criticism from some conservative Catholics.
At a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Leo urged the world’s Catholics to care for immigrants. He didn’t single out any countries.
“In the communities of ancient Christian tradition, such as those of the West, the presence of many brothers and sisters from the world’s South should be welcomed as an opportunity, through an exchange that renews the face of the Church,” the pope said.
He echoed that sentiment in a post on the social media site X on Sunday.
Seitz was appointed bishop of El Paso in April 2013 by Pope Francis, less than a month after Francis’ elevation to the papacy. Francis several times singled out Seitz for praise, especially for his work on behalf of migrants and his efforts for social justice. They also met on several occasions, including Francis’ visit to Ciudad Juárez in 2015.
Seitz serves as chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration.
Wednesday’s meeting was Seitz’s first with Leo as pope, though they met in September 2024 when then-Cardinal Robert Prevost invited Seitz to speak to new bishops in Rome about his immigration ministry. Francis had appointed Prevost in January 2023 to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, which manages the selection of bishops.
The post ‘The church cannot remain silent,’ Pope Leo XIV tells El Pasoans in Vatican meeting on mass deportation fears appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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