DALLAS, Texas — Dallas Bishop Edward Burns and several other Catholic leaders visited immigrants in El Paso late last week in an attempt to draw attention to the plight of children separated from their parents in the federal government’s zero tolerance crackdown on illegal immigration.
"While I said every country has a right to protect its borders, every person has a right to a better life," Bishop Burns said in an interview with WFAA after his return.
The Dallas bishop joined several ecumenical leaders and hundreds of others in a march from Cleveland Square to St. Patrick's Cathedral in El Paso, where they held a candlelight vigil to bring attention to immigrant rights and demand faster family reunification.
Bishop Edward J. Burns also visited a shelter where some children were finally being reunited with their parents in advance of a federal judge's Thursday deadline.
"The pace I would identify it as is frantic," he said. "It seems as though they do not have enough volunteers to keep up with the pace of the families who are coming in. There were 100 families a day coming through the shelter. So when I said the pace was frantic, they were trying to keep up."
Burns said he saw both the good and bad of that process. First, some children weren't immediately happy to see their parents again.
"The volunteers indicated there were some children who wouldn't look at their parents, and the reason why is because they thought that their parents abandoned them," Burns said. "They thought their parents just left them."
But then he met a father from Mexico at the shelter who had been separated from his 9-year-old daughter, Julieta.
"He drew something for his daughter on a napkin, a cloth napkin," Burns said. "He drew it for his daughter's birthday."
Bishop Burns said the man's hope was to give it to his daughter, eventually in person. He did.
"They were reunited and I can tell you that their being reunited for her was the best birthday gift," he said.
Finding the balance of a country protecting its borders while also protecting human dignity, Bishop Burns said he'll continue to push for immigration reform.
"It is a great opportunity for us in this country to welcome those who are seeking a better life," he said.
Like the life of a little girl named Julieta, whose future is uncertain but at least now has her dad by her side again.