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 of EPISO and Border Interfaith leveraged enough City Council votes to restrict how much payday lenders can make off low-income families. Lobbyists flew in from Dallas and Austin to fight this ordinance, but this did not keep the council from heeding the organized voice of families and institutions, and voting 6-1 in support. Bishop Mark Seitz of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso supported these efforts to protect families from compounding debt and excessive fees.

The new payday lending reform in El Paso allows lenders to loan no more than 20% of a borrower's gross income. Contracts must now be presented in the person's dominant language and short-term loans cannot be rolled over more than three times.

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