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Neighbors Build Human Barricade, Stopping Father From Being Detained by ICE

Currents News Staff

For four hours, a man and his son sat inside of their car as two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to get them to surrender.

The father is reportedly in the country illegally, so the ICE agents were tasked with bringing him into custody.

When neighbors heard what was going on, they came to assist the father and son.

“We made sure they had water, they had food, we put gas back in the vehicle when they were getting low just to make sure they were okay,” said neighbor Felishadae Young.

These citizens of Hermitage, Tennsessee say they don’t care how someone got here, it’s how they act when they are here.

“The family don’t bother nobody, they work every day, they come home, the kids jump on their trampoline, it’s just a community,” said Stacey Farley who helped create a human chain that brought the family from their car safely into their home.

She didn’t think twice about supporting her neighbors.

“I could see if these people were bad criminals, but they’re not, they’re just trying to provide for their kids,” she explained.

The standoff brought metro police to the scene to keep the peace, and council members as well as lawyers to evaluate the situation.

“There were two immigration officials sort of bullying a family inside of their own vehicle, telling them that they had an administrative warrant, which isn’t the same thing as a judicial warrant, and trying to harass them and fear them into coming out,” said attorney Daniel Ayoadeyoon.

At the end of the day the ICE agents left and the family ended up leaving too, in search of a safer place.

New York Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis: ‘All Elected Officials Should Visit the Holy Land’

Currents News Staff

New York State assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis has just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. Her journey took place at a troubled time for the region where Christians in the Middle East continue to face life-threatening persecution.

She joins us to discuss her experience at several of Christianity’s holiest sites, the long-term prospects for Christianity in the region and why all elected officials should visit and see the situation for themselves first-hand.

Holy Child Jesus Student Dies in House Fire

By Allyson Escobar and Tim Harfmann

A fire on the first floor of a Richmond Hill, Queens house took the lives of a mother and her seven-year-old daughter on Sunday, July 21.

The child, Guadalupe Perez, was a rising 2nd grade student at Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy.

Silvia Umana was home with Guadalupe and two teenage sons, Gilbert and Gabriel, when a two-alarm fire broke out in their building around 9:30 a.m.

The fatal fire was “accidental and electrical,” caused by a damaged air conditioner cord, according to FDNY Deputy Press Secretary Myles Miller.  “A working smoke alarm was not present,” Miller said.

FDNY arrived on the scene two minutes after receiving a 9:38 a.m. 911 call.

According to firefighters, the blaze at 117th Street and Atlantic Avenue began on the first floor where Umana and her daughter were trapped from escape by barred windows.

“They were met with fire on the first floor extending to the second,” said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Michael Ajello told CBS News.

Witnesses say Umana’s 15-year-old son, Gabriel, was able to jump out of a rear window before the fast-spreading blaze made its way to the second floor.

Umana, 51, and her daughter were taken to Jamaica Hospital and unable to be saved.

Gilbert, 19, was transferred to Cornell Hospital and in critical condition as of Monday (July 22) afternoon, according to the NYPD. Gabriel, 15, was transferred to Kings County Hospital and in stable condition.

A community in mourning 

Umana, a pharmacist who immigrated from El Salvador, was remembered by her community as a mother who worked endlessly for her children.

“Her kids were number one,” Richmond Hill neighbor Ramona Elahie told the Daily News.

Andre Scott, who works across the street at a lumber yard, remembers his lunch breaks seeing Guadalupe always playing with her mother on the block, full of joy.

“This is crazy. It’s really heartbreaking to know someone died in here,” Scott said. “Every time I see her she’s always playing, always running up and down the block.”

Soon after the news of the tragedy spread, a memorial fund on GoFundMe was started by Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy principal Patricia Winters, with the goal of raising $75,000.

Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros, the pastor at Holy Child Jesus Catholic Parish, expressed his deep sorrow, and shared how parishioners are coming together to both heal and help.

“The parish is in mourning, and we are all shocked,” Cisneros told The Tablet. “Our reaction is first of all one of prayer. We pray to almighty God for Silvia and for the brothers in the hospital. We know that Guadalupe is with the Lord — she’s one of those whom God has said, let the children come to me. We are very sad because of this situation, but we entrust these souls to the Lord, and we pray for the two boys.”

Auxiliary Bishop Cisneros also said that the parish community “doors are open to celebrate the funeral, and to offer our best to this wonderful little girl and her mother.”

Father Christopher R. Heanue, parochial vicar and administrator, appealed for prayers over Facebook. “We mourn as a family – and we will do all we can to help. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.”

A parish community meeting about dealing with loss was held on the evening of July 23 at the school library, followed by a memorial Mass celebrated by Bishop Cisneros.

Currents News for Monday, July 22, 2019

On the newscast: A Catholic schoolgirl and her mom die when a fire rips through their Richmond Hill home. Desperate attempts to save them fell short; Thousands of teenagers come together to grow closer to Christ, packing the arena at Saint John’s University; An inside look at the Pope’s radio. For years the station has sent the Holy Father’s words around the world; And the gigantic Giglio is lifted into the air, after a delay.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

90 Years Later, ‘Pope’s Radio Station’ Continues to Spread the Good News

Currents News Staff

For nearly 90 years the Vatican has had its very own radio station, otherwise known as the ‘Pope’s Radio Station.’ It transmits his messages all over the world.

It was created on Feb. 12, 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, as a powerful means of communication to share Pope Pius XI’s message. 

The Pope’s Radio Station may be nearing 90 years old, but it hasn’t lost its mission. 

“It was a great instrument to bring the pope’s voice to many countries,” explained Andrea Tornielli, the Editorial Director of Vatican News.

“It also served as a free voice to get information in time of war, and to share the pope’s voice and other information in the years of communism for other countries,” he said. 

“Vatican Radio was the first international broadcasting outlet in the world. So the Church has always been in the forefront of media, understanding that technology must be at the service of humanity,” said Vatican News Director of English Programming, Sean Patrick Lovett.

“Our purpose is to spread that message of hope, which is essentially what the Good News is all about, isn’t it?”

Transmitted in multiple languages, the radio’s mission hasn’t changed. Yet, communication within the Holy See continues to be a reform process.

“We’re bringing together nine different communications departments. It’s a process. It involves people, first of all, technology as well. It’s a complicated process,” said Lovett. 

Now, the radio is part of a larger team, Vatican News. Composed of nearly 600 people in total, the staff are all working to spread the pope’s message to the world. 

Despite the changing world of media, Vatican News says radio is not dying. By 2025, it’s expected radio listening will beat out TV viewing, which is declining three times faster than radio. 

Island-Wide Demonstrations Continue as Puerto Ricans Call for Governor to Resign

Currents News Staff

Thousands of Puerto Ricans filled the streets on July 22 shutting down a highway in San Juan for another day of protests against Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, a scene that some have called “unprecedented.”

At the heart of these demonstrations are leaked messages between Governor Ricardo Rosselló and his inner circle, many of them profanity-laced, homophobic and misogynistic in nature.

At one point Rosselló responded to a message that threatened to shoot San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín cruz by saying, “you’d be doing me a grand favor.”

“The crimes committed by the governor are so horrendous that it cannot wait,” Mayor Cruz said. 

She believes his behavior warrants impeachment.

But Rosselló isn’t backing down. He’s apologized and said that he won’t run for re-election next year, but has also said he plans to continue serving as governor.

“I need to work beyond politics so that we can address some of the long standing problems of corruption here in Puerto Rico and fix that problem,” Rosselló said. 

As calls for his impeachment grow, he may not get that opportunity.

As protests are close to entering a second week, everyone is telling Ricky that the game is over.

Honduran Migrants Deported From Mexico Forced to Return

Currents News Staff

After a long journey north, immigrants making their way to Mexico are being returned by the busload back to Honduras. 

Dozens of buses are entering Honduras each day carrying men, women and children whose hopes of reaching the U.S. were cut short in Mexico. 

There they were stopped, and forced to come home. 

“It’s really difficult,” one migrant said. “I can’t lie to you. I don’t recommend it. All the centers are full in the city where I was in Mexico. I was there and got deported.”

Tens of thousands are still desperately trying to enter the U.S.. 

In 2018, caravans of Central American migrants marching towards the U.S. border began drawing worldwide attention, including from the American president. 

“We are a country that is under siege. A lot of people don’t like this word. We have a country that’s being invaded,” said President Donald Trump. 

His administration’s hard-line approach to immigration has since intensified with renewed efforts to build a wall along the border and controversial policies separating families and putting minors into detention centers.

The administration’s approach to the immigration crisis also includes tighter restrictions on asylum applications and pressure on America’s southern neighbor to keep migrants from reaching the border.

“If Mexico does a great job, then you’re not going to have a lot of people coming up. If they don’t, then we have phase two. Phase two is very tough,” Trump said.

With a 45-day deadline, Mexico has appeared eager to comply with Trump’s demands by dramatically increasing deportations of Central Americans.

In Honduras alone, nearly 40 thousand have been returned from Mexico since the start of 2019. 14 thousand of those migrants are unaccompanied minors, according to the Honduran Consular and Migration Observatory.

Among those forced to return, some are warning others against attempting the same journey:

“In Mexico, they don’t want to give us shelter or anything. There’s no point of going there. There’s no water. They don’t want to give us food, nothing. It’s very difficult. I recommend people stay put,” said one person of their experience. 

But many are undeterred, feeling they have little left to lose. 

“The poverty here, that’s why we look for a better future for our families,” another migrant explained. 

“We are fallen but not defeated. God willing we will try it again within a couple of days.”

As murder rates, gang violence and unemployment all soar in Honduras, the choice remains a difficult one for some in this country: 

Stay, or leave with the chance you’ll have to return.