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U.S. Reacts After Video of Border Patrol Agents Confronting Haitian Immigrants Goes Viral

By Emily Drooby

Viral videos of U.S. border patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian immigrants have prompted outrage across the country and from the White House.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it’s unacceptable.

“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she said.

The events occurred near a refugee encampment near Del Rio, Texas where thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum are waiting to be processed by the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is fighting to uphold Title 42, a public health order issued by the CDC at the beginning of the pandemic used to allow the government to deport undocumented migrants who have crossed the border quickly.

Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, said they are securing transportation for deportation.”

“We in DHS are securing additional transportation to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of removal flights to Haiti and other destinations,” Alejandro said. “In the Western hemisphere, we are working to increase the capacity of return flights to Haiti and other destinations. We anticipate at least one to three flights per day.”

Many of the Haitians gathering at the border are believed to have been living in South America following the 2010 earthquake and have moved north to the U.S. border due to the coronavirus crisis. Their home country is still recovering from the latest earthquake and dealing with political unrest and increasing violence.

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral Named to Historic Place Registry

By Jessica Easthope

The stone walls inside St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral are the originals. Compared to the rest of the ornate church they’re not much to look at, but they’re part of why it’s been nominated by Governor Kathy Hochul for the state and national registers of historic places.

“Because of the history of this building and the history of this community being an immigrant church originally the two things combined went into this 70-something page document that was submitted,” said Father Thomas Zain the archpriest of the cathedral.

The State Street church which was first built as an Episcopal church in the 1850s joins a list of 19 other buildings. It became an Orthodox church in 1920, growing with a Syrian and Lebanese immigrant community of faith.

Father Thomas Zain says the nomination opens up opportunities for grants that could help his renovation project to add an elevator, handicap bathrooms and an access ramp.

“One of our concerns was is it like landmark status because with that you need permission to change a lightbulb and we didn’t want that because we knew we’d be doing these repairs but she said no it was just an honor for the cathedral,” said Father Zain.

So much of the church’s history can be seen from the outside, but Father Zain hopes this new title draws people in.

“While we’re still waiting for a lot of our older people to come back we’ve gotten a lot of new parishioners so hopefully this is another vehicle to evangelize and for people to hear about the church that are searching for a spiritual home,” he said.

The church has already been approved for the state historic place registry and is waiting for approval on the national level. 

Currents News Update for Monday, 9/20/21

The U.S. has begun flying hundreds of Haitians back to their homeland in what could be the swiftest large-scale expulsion of migrants in decades.

Nuns at Felician University in New Jersey have teamed up with students at a nearby Catholic school to help collect supplies to send to the Caribbean country.

A Queens woman says her faith and her son are the reasons she’s alive today. When it flooded because of Hurricane Ida, her legally blind son pulled her out of their home through a window.

Your younger kids could soon be rolling up their sleeves for a COVID shot — Pfizer says its vaccine works well on children ages five to 11.

How This Blind Man Saved His Mother From Tropical Storm Ida

By Emily Drooby

As Tropical Storm Ida raged, Danette Rivera ran down the steps into the basement of her Woodside, Queens home with a pump. She was hoping to slow down the water so she shut the door, but quickly came to a terrifying realization.

Danette explained, “When the water got about to my chest, or almost shoulders, I tried to pull the door back open so I could get out, and it wouldn’t open. So, I could get out, and it wouldn’t open. It was completely jammed.”

She was stuck in her flooding basement. A small window was her only escape but it was way above her head and water was still pouring in.

“Then I was getting tired and exhausted so I kept giving up. And when I would release the window, I would drop back down and realize I was a foot and a half under water,” she said.

After almost an hour of trying to escape, she was running out of energy and air. She was praying for help and that’s when her son, Justin appeared through the howling storm – he had somehow heard her screams.

Danette said, “God touched my sons’ heart and brought him down to me in just the right knick of time.”

Justin, who couldn’t join us for this interview, is legally blind in both eyes. He was able to fight his way through the flooding, to the window, and pull her out just in time.

Danette said, “he saved my life.”

Danette’s basement is ruined. But she still has the three most important things; her faith, her son, and her life.

How These Felician Sisters Are Empowering Haiti’s Earthquake Victims

By Jessica Easthope

The donations are sorted, packed and shipped in this massive container. 

It’s been a month since Haiti was struck by a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake. More than 2,000 people were killed and since Haitians have battled a hurricane, dealt with no clean water and a lack of supplies.

“Our people were struggling, suffering so I felt like I needed to be there but the Lord opened other doors,” said Sister Marilyn Minter, CSSF.

Sister Marilyn Minter lives in Jacmel, she left Haiti 4 days after the earthquake to come back to Felician University in New Jersey to quickly gather donations. 

“We realized wow there’s a need for clothing there’s going to be a need for mattresses, masks, hand sanitizers,” Sister Marilyn said.

The sisters are being helped by students at Immaculate Conception and for the girls it’s hands on experience not many high schoolers get.

“The core values of the Felician sisters, compassion, transformation, respect for human dignity,” said Jessica Cutrona, principal of Immaculate Conception H.S., “and we want these young women to understand what it means to live those core values, not just donate to them.” 

The supplies in this shipping container, diapers, baby clothes, furniture, the sisters say that’s the immediate need,  but what Haiti needs long term is something much more powerful.

“Let’s empower the Haitian people to help themselves,” Sister Marilyn said. “Let’s get them to be sustainable, let’s get them to be independent.”  

Due to security threats surrounding rising gang and political violence right now in Haiti, Sister Marilyn can’t say when the donations will arrive in Haiti, but they’re being received by Caritas International.

“They know the Diocese of Jacmel,” Sister Marilyn said, “they know the people down there and they know what’s needed and what’s not needed.” 

Sister Marilyn will soon be returning home to Haiti, her mission is far from over.

Senate Parliamentarian Deals A Blow To Democrats’ Plans To Include Immigration In $3.5 Trillion Reconciliation Package

Currents News Staff

A ruling from the Senate Parliamentarian Sunday will make it more difficult for Democrats to address what they call America’s “broken” immigration system.

Democrats asked the Parliamentarian if they could include immigration reform as part of the $3.5 trillion-dollar reconciliation package.

But Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that would be too much of an enduring policy change for the reconciliation process.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he is deeply disappointed by the decision, but vows to continue the fight for legal status for migrants.

Democrats say they can pursue other strategies in budget reconciliation and are hopeful they can still bring about meaningful change.