McAllen, Texas — As Ofelia De Los Santos prayed for the immigrant children along the U.S. border Tuesday night, torrential rains and lightning pounded the Rio Grande Valley here in South Texas.
"God is very angry at us," De Los Santos remembered thinking.
By Wednesday afternoon, her prayers were answered. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to stop children from being separated from their parents.
"It was like God had spoken," said De Los Santos, who has been coordinating ministries for the children through the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville. "I'm glad that the nation has released this is not right."
De Los Santos said the church will continue providing ministry services at the facilities where the children – some who arrived at the border on their own, and some who were separated from their parents – are being held.
For the separated children, De Los Santos was not sure how the reunification process would play out. Still, "it's a good day for us," she said.
"For the church, it's a good day. The truth is relentless...We are all each other's brothers and sisters. And shame on anyone who says otherwise."
At a Catholic Charities shelter in McAllen, where immigrant families who haven't separated are staying, Sister Norma Pimental called the executive order "a step in the right direction."
As Pimental spoke to reporters, a line of families from Guatemala filed into the building. The parents held babies in their arms and their young children by the hand. The families carried trash bags and small sacks filled with their belongings.
"I prayed for respect for one another," Pimental said, "for protection for people who need respect and cared for, not harmed."