Episcopal church shelters migrants in Texas
SOME of the thousands of migrants who are seeking entry into the United States at the border crossing in El Paso, Texas, are being sheltered at St Christopher’s Episcopal Church, ENS reports. The number of would-be migrants on the border has grown massively in recent months, made all the more acute by the lifting this week of pandemic restrictions known as Title 42. As a result, the mayor of El Paso declared a state of emergency on Saturday, citing the hundreds sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures. Since the diocese of the Rio Grande opened the shelter in March, its staff and volunteers have been focused on assisting 25 people, the maximum that can be accommodated at one time. Entrants are fed, clothed, provided with a shower and a place to sleep, and offered basic information about the US and the asylum process. They typically leave the shelter after two or three days, travelling to points around the country to await hearings. Canon to the Ordinary, the Revd Lee Curtis, said: “They’re with us for enough time to kind of catch their breath, get their bearings, and move on to their sponsoring friends or family members.” In El Paso, Mr Curtis said that, with additional funding and volunteers, the shelter could double its capacity.
US groups deplore Nigeria’s blasphemy law
A COALITION of religious-freedom and human-rights organisations in the United States has urged the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to intervene on behalf of Rhoda Ya’u Jatau, a Nigerian Christian woman who has been imprisoned while awaiting trial for blasphemy. The letter was organised by Christian Solidarity International, and signed by ADF International, Genocide Watch, and Baroness Cox, among others. It states: “We likewise urge you to make it clear to the Nigerian authorities your firm opposition to blasphemy laws.” Ms Jatau, who is 45, was arrested in Bauchi State on 20 May, after she shared a video condemning the recent murder of Deborah Yakubu, a Christian university student in Nigeria who had herself been accused of blasphemy (News, 20 May).
