North Texas immigrant allies hope Pope Francis’ message resonates in U.S.

Liz Magallanes won’t get to see Pope Francis at her birthplace, Ciudad Juarez, but she will listen for a message she hopes will temper attitudes about the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. with no legal status.

“I think he is using his very powerful platform to uplift this very important issue that is immigration,” said Magallanes, 21, who was raised in Dallas. The University of Dallas student is a self-described Dreamer, because she was brought to the U.S. without a legal status. She currently is protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly called DACA.

Travel outside the United States is limited under DACA, so seeing Pope Francis in Ciudad Juarez is out of the question for her.

“The fact that I still am not able to visit my hometown for this Mass is a reminder of why we must continue to organize and build power in our communities, because it is with that power that we will win,” Magallanes said.

Pope Francis arrives Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez, on the border with El Paso. Immigrant allies said the location of the visit is a strategic move. The U.S. border — the destination of thousands of migrants — will be within eyesight of the papal Mass in Mexico.

“He will be with the migrants and talk to the migrants,” said Rev. Javier Calvillo, director of Casa del Migrante at the Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Juarez.

Calvillo said a family of migrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca will present the bread and wine offering to Pope Francis.

Douglas Interiano, director and founder of Proyecto Inmigrante ICS, Inc., an immigration counseling service with offices in Fort Worth, Dallas and Wichita Falls, said the border visit is a continuation of a message Pope Francis delivered to U.S. lawmakers last year.

“He has identified himself as a messenger representing the stranger,” Interiano said. “He spoke to Congress and said: ‘Don’t be afraid and welcome the stranger.’ ”

A message to Texas

Texas is at the center of many immigration and refugee issues, among them border security, the handling of hundreds of Central American children who arrived alone at the U.S. border in 2014 and the resettlement of Syrian refugees.

The state has an unauthorized population of about 1.46 million. It has been leading the nation in the number of refugees resettled and is on track to continue. From Oct. 1 through January, 574 people with refugee status or with special immigrant visas arrived in Texas, according to U.S. Department of State. California followed with 536.

In 2014, former Gov. Rick Perry activated the National Guard when the wave of unaccompanied Central American children arrived at the border.

Last year, Texas challenged an executive order by President Barack Obama that would have expanded the pool of unauthorized immigrants who could seek deferrals allowing them to stay in the United States without threat of deportation.

In December, Texas filed a lawsuit against the federal government and the resettlement organization, International Rescue Committee, in an effort to stop the resettlement of Syrian refugees.

“The message is coming directly to Texas because Texas has been a hostile state to the immigrant community,” Interiano said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Texas is trying to preserve separation of power.

“Whether you agree with the policy or not, every single American should be concerned with the president’s use of executive action to accomplish what he couldn’t in Congress,” Paxton said in a statement. “The president’s failure to secure the border caused a humanitarian crisis in the summer of 2014, not to mention the risk of criminals and terrorists who take advantage of such vulnerabilities.”

Mohammad Abdollahi, advocacy director for RAICES, or the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, which has an office in Dallas-Fort Worth, said the pope may help instill a greater sense of respect for refugees. He noted that Syrians fleeing from their violent homeland arrived at the Texas border and were placed in detention.

“Treat refugees as refugees,” Abdollahi said in a telephone interview.

RAICES is also advocating for temporary protective status for Central Americans who have been arriving at the Texas-Mexico border in recent years. He said his group continues to search for attorneys who can help represent the children who arrived in 2014.

‘A nation of immigrants’

Immigrants and their allies along the border are pushing for reform in the U.S. in the days before Pope Francis arrives.

The Border Network for Human Rights plans an event Monday morning at the border fence between Sunland Park, N.M., and Anapra, Mexico. Families will offer testimonials on both sides of the fence, which is near El Paso. The group is concerned that border security has become “militarized,” said Fernando Garcia, the group’s executive director.

The social media hashtag #immigrantlivesmatter also aims to bring attention to worries that Mexican immigrants have been labeled criminals by politicians, Garcia said.

“It is part of the national politics,” Garcia said. “We are seeing a labeling of people as criminals and therefore encouraging their mistreatment.”

Many hope the pope’s visit will result in more respect and human dignity for newcomers to the U.S.

“At the end of the day, we are a nation of immigrants. I think it is often easy to forget that,” Magallanes said. “I think it is important to remember … these folks are fleeing something.”

This report contains material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "North Texas immigrant allies hope Pope Francis’ message resonates in U.S.."