Dialogue Resource
The Immigration Experience at the Border by Bishop Daniel Flores (2013)
The Immigration Experience at the Border: An address to the 2013 assembly of Christian Churches Together, January 30, 2013, Austin, Texas by Bishop Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville
I propose to discuss the current social and pastoral situation affecting our families in the Rio Grande Valley. And I will do this by describing some of the immigration challenges we face on the Border, complicated in recent days by the criminal violence afflicting northern Mexico. Many of my descriptions are anecdotal, though there is no lack of law-enforcement records and testimonies to support the particular accounts I will offer. I will also propose some social and pastoral commentary based upon the reality I describe. Many of these are based on intuitions and reflections that, it seems to me, are appropriate for myself and others dedicated to the mission of the Church.
What I speak about flows from a sense of pastoral urgency as a Catholic Bishop on the Border. I consider it an obligation that flows from my office in the Church to speak about the plight of the immigrant.