Invited as honored guests by Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, leaders of EPISO and Border Interfaith traveled to the US levee to celebrate mass with Pope Francis during his historic visit to Ciudad Juarez on the border. They were included in a "small contingency of the faithful" to greet him as he approached the river's edge from Ciudad Juarez to deliver a special blessing and prayer for the safety and security of immigrants in their search for a better life.

Before departing to the levee, leaders joined US Catholic Bishops and Cardinals for a special gathering in which they reported local action around immigration, including work around the recent increased presence of State Troopers in El Paso County.

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Due to its work in closing the achievement gap for Latinos in college access and STEM education, Project ARRIBA (established by EPISO and Border Interfaith) was named one of three El Paso "Bright Spots" by the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics. Since its inception, ARRIBA has graduated and placed over 1,100 students in the El Paso economy.

EPISO and allies, including the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, celebrated the passage of a wage theft ordinance created in collaboration with city council, El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Leeser declared that El Paso will be "only the second city to ever" enable the city to refuse to award contracts to employers who violated wage theft laws.

Over the next 60 days, EPISO and Border Interfaith leaders will work with the city to consider amendments potentially granting additional powers to refuse to grant, or revoke, permits and licenses to wage theft violators.

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For the second time in one year, IAF organizations in El Paso (EPISO and Border Interfaith) dealt a harsh blow to the bottom line of payday lenders.

During last year's fight to restrict how much payday lenders can legally make off the backs of lower-income families, opponents from the lending industry couched their financial predation under the guise of "providing a valuable service" to residents. After winning a significant victory in 2014 limiting payday lending profits, leaders wanted more.

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With over 100 leaders in attendance, Border Interfaith assembled with candidates for County Commissioner Precinct 4 to challenge them to work with the organization for greater regulation of payday lending, a boost to the wage floor for County employees and contractors to $10 / hour, and the investment of $100K in County funds into job training program Project ARRIBA. One candidate, Julio Diaz, committed to the agenda. The other candidate did not. Leaders vowed to spread the word and get out the vote.

Diaz, Haggerty Offer Stark Choices in Race for El Paso County Commissioner in Precinct 4, El Paso Times

Victorious from a January move to limit payday lending profitability in El Paso, leaders of Border Interfaith and El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO) are setting their sights on statewide legislation.

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Asserting that anyone under 18 years must have an attorney and should never be subjected to expedited processing, hundreds of bishops and clergy from every major religious denomination in Texas denounced proposed changes to the Trafficking Victims Act of 2008 and called on the White House for a better approach to the humanitarian crisis at the border.

In El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas, religious leaders preached about the crisis at the border, organized relief efforts and held press conferences reminding the White House and Congress of the Judeo-Christian admonishment for nations to "show kindness and mercy to one another, not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner or the poor (Zechariah 7:9-10)."

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Bishops, and clergy from congregational members of Border Interfaith and El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO), are calling for additional protection of the tens of thousands unaccompanied Central American children that are at the Texas border.

In a press conference in El Paso, Bishop Mark Seitz walked through a letter signed by hundreds of clergy and addressed to the President and to Congress, that details specific recommendations. Clergy leaders want the White House to preserve the protections established in the Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Act of 2008 for those that arrive on our border seeking refuge, provision of legal assistance to any minor under 18 years of age, and attention to the religious needs of the children and family by granting clergy access to US Border Patrol detention facilities and the US Office of Refugee Resettlement.

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The same week Project ARRIBA celebrated its 1,000th graduate, leaders received word that the labor market intermediary won a Texas Innovative Adult Career Education (ACE) grant, giving it half a million dollars to train 300 more El Paso Community College students for living wage careers. EPISO and Border Interfaith, with their sister organizations in the Texas IAF, helped establish the Texas Innovative Adult Career Education grant to support projects that prepare low-income workers to attain degrees and certificates in high demand occupations including nursing and information technology.

According to a 2010 report prepared by the Institute for Policy and Economic Development at the University of Texas at El Paso, Project ARRIBA's work provides a $26 return for every dollar invested. Graduates of the labor market intermediary "contribute half a billion dollars to the El Paso economy," ARRIBA Executive Director Roman Ortiz said.

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Leaders "celebrated the completion of the new water distribution system by El Paso Water Utilities. The celebration took place at San Patricio Catholic Church in Canutillo. More than 240 homes in the Mayfair and NuWay communities are now connected to the water system, and 60 more residences in the Schuman Estates will have running water in the next few days.

The community fought for years to get reliable water service, said the Rev. Pablo Mata, a member of the community group Border Interfaith....'At the end, the people got it done,' Mata said."

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