VATICAN CITY - The tragic deaths of thousands of men, women and children who die while searching for a better future should trigger compassion and action, not indifference, Pope Francis said.
New refugee rules will tear families apart
On the eve of the annual June 20 World Refugee Day, Citizenship and Immigration Canada quietly announced changes to immigration rules that refugee sponsors say will tear apart refugee families who hope to restart their lives in Canada.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court, in a mixed opinion with several dissents, affirmed the section of an Arizona immigration law that requires state law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of detainees who they suspect are in the country illegally.
But the court threw out other parts of the law, called S.B. 1070, as an infringement on the powers of the federal government.
The decision in Arizona v. United States was announced June 25, but the court delayed its rulings on four lawsuits related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act until June 28, the final day of its 2011-12 court term.
Agnes Raduly discovered she was diabetic after she arrived in Canada five months ago. She’s one of thousands of Roma from Hungary and the Czech Republic in Canada claiming refugee status, living on less than $1,000 a month, struggling with a new language and a vastly foreign culture.
In mid-May she got a letter from Citizenship and Immigration Canada telling her that her medication for diabetes won’t be covered by the federal government’s health plan starting July 1. The two pills in the morning and two in the evening are more than she can possibly afford, she said.
Three 16-year-old Nicaraguan students’ had their dreams shattered as an all-expenses-paid trip to Canada ended before it began when they were denied visas to enter Canada.
“The day I got the phone call here in my office I sat here and cried, literally sat here and cried,” said Brenda Holtkamp, chaplaincy leader at Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School in Caledon, Ont., which had sponsored the Nicaraguans. “Not only was I sad for myself and all the students here in the school that worked so hard for this reality, I was really very said for the young people in Nicaragua who have never had the opporunity to travel, who were so close to being here . . . and just because of bureaucracy they were turned down.”
OTTAWA - Canadians must stand together to oppose Christian persecution that is increasing around the world, said religious and political leaders at an event hosted by a prominent Jewish leader.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said it has become almost politically incorrect to discuss the persecution of Christians. He noted a disturbing trend that blames the actions of Christians in the past for the present persecution.
