News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Arkansas faith groups worried about federal policies hindering immigrant, refugee ministries

Published

5 months ago

February 18, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Antoinette Grajeda – 2025-02-18 06:00:00

Arkansas faith groups worried about federal policies hindering immigrant, refugee ministries

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
February 18, 2025

Arkansas religious organizations are concerned about the effect of recent immigration-related directives on their ability to practice their faith and the fear created by these federal policies.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security last month rescinded guidelines that prevented immigration and customs enforcement at protected areas, such as schools, hospitals and places of worship.

More than two dozen faith groups filed a lawsuit challenging the order last Tuesday, while a federal judge considered a request Thursday in a separate lawsuit for a nationwide injunction blocking the policy.

At Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Rev. Katye Chambers, pastor of missions, justice and emerging ministries, said the new policy is concerning.

“The church is historically committed to providing sanctuary for folks, and what does it mean that we can no longer say without doubt that this is a safe place for people to come,” she said.

Faith groups sue Trump administration over immigration enforcement in places of worship

Beyond the fear of immigrant communities who might be the targets of enforcement, Chambers said officers removing someone from a church would be difficult emotionally for anyone who witnessed it, and “we don’t want this to be a traumatic space for anybody.”

In speaking with colleagues working in this field, Jennifer Verkamp-Ruthven, director of Catholic Immigration Services and Refugee Resettlement, said they don’t think agents will raid a Spanish-language Mass, for example, but nevertheless, these policies are creating fear.

“We have heard of arrests that have happened outside of church, like people being pulled over and things like that…I haven’t gone on the extreme thinking that [raids are] going to happen, it’s just the fear element of it is the part that is very upsetting,” she said.

That fear could keep practicing Catholics from attending a weekly Mass service, which Verkamp-Ruthven said is “going against religious liberty.” For someone to not have protection in their own church is “an extreme that I really didn’t expect,” she said.

The separation of church and state has been a cornerstone of democracy in the United States and to see the gap narrowing is worrisome for many religious institutions.

“It is scary that that line has gotten so blurry and that our mission is potentially impeded by what others say we can and cannot do,” Chambers said. “That feels really scary.”

Refugee resettlement

Verkamp-Ruthven’s work with refugees, one initiative of Catholic Charities of Arkansas, has been directly impeded by President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending refugee resettlement and withholding funds for those services appropriated by Congress.

A coalition of faith groups providing refugee services sued the Trump administration over the order last week.

“It does feel like a major service that we provide as a church has been stripped away,” Verkamp-Ruthven said. “It’s very painful and it’s disturbing, especially when it’s so clear on what it is that we’re called to do by Jesus, who we serve.”

For the current fiscal year, which runs October to September, Catholic Charities agreed to receive up to 80 refugees. Thirteen had already arrived in the U.S. and more than 20 were in the pipeline when Trump signed his executive order and flights were canceled, Verkamp-Ruthven said.

Catholic Charities is one of two refugee resettlement agencies in Arkansas. The other, Canopy Northwest Arkansas, has resettled more than 900 refugees since 2016, including 294 refugees last year. Thirty-six people due to be resettled in February and March by the nonprofit had their trips canceled because of the executive order, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Arkansas nonprofits prep for anticipated challenges serving immigrants during Trump administration

Refugee status is a legal immigration status that may be granted to people who may have been persecuted or fear they will be due to race, religion, nationality or membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Despite a “stop-work order” calling for agencies to halt their federally-funded work, both Canopy NWA and Catholic Charities have committed to continuing to serve refugees who have already arrived in Arkansas.

“We’re blessed. We have the funds to keep doing what we’re doing for now, and we have to do what everyone else is doing — we have to wait and see what’s going to be the outcome after this 90-day review of refugee resettlement programs in the United States,” said Dennis Lee, executive director of Catholic Charities of Arkansas.

The refugee executive order calls for a report regarding whether resumption of refugee resettlement “would be in the interests of the United States” within 90 days. The pause on refugee resettlement could be extended beyond that initial three-month period, Lee said.

Since the Refugee Act in 1980, the U.S. has admitted more than 3.2 million refugees, according to the U.S. State Department. Of the roughly 100,000 refugees who came to the U.S. in fiscal year 2024, nearly 350 resettled in Arkansas, according to the Refugee Processing Center.

Trump slashed the annual cap on refugees to a record low of 18,000 during his first term, according to the Migration Policy Institute. During that time, Catholic Charities helped resettle five Afghan families in central Arkansas with the help of local organizations, including Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church which sponsored one family.

The church has continued helping the family acclimate to their new home by donating clothes and toys, getting their children settled in school and providing transportation to tutoring and medical and immigration appointments, Chambers said.

Members of the congregation are working to help the family find a “sense of long-term stability and peace,” she said, but recent federal policies have created uncertainty about their immigration status.

“I think they feel a lot of anxiety about double and triple checking that everything is in place and that I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed so that they can continue to feel safe and secure in the life they’re building here,” Chambers said.

As organizations that serve refugees and immigrants also continue to deal with uncertainty, they’ve sought advice from lawyers and spiritual leaders, the latter of whom have referenced scripture when discussing how their faith dictates the treatment of immigrants.

The leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock and the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church both last month called for empathy and the consideration of the humanity of immigrants.

One-third of Arkansas Catholics worship in Spanish at 43 parishes and many of them are living in fear, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said in a statement.

“The contentious issue of immigration continues to dominate the public square, often without any serious consideration of what Jesus and our Christian faith has to say about this matter,” Taylor said. “It is my hope that our elected officials will have the courage and wisdom to do what is right, to do what Jesus would do — to do the loving thing.”

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post Arkansas faith groups worried about federal policies hindering immigrant, refugee ministries appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Man shot and killed in Benton County, near Rogers

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-11 21:51:07

SUMMARY: A man was shot and killed late last night in the Beaver Shores neighborhood near Rogers in Benton County. Police identified the victim as 41-year-old Kevin Nikel, who was shot in the abdomen and later died at the hospital. Neighbors described the area as usually peaceful and quiet, expressing shock and concern over the incident. Authorities have not disclosed what led to the shooting or if there are any suspects. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office declined to provide an on-camera interview. Residents say the tragic event has changed the neighborhood’s atmosphere, making them more cautious and uneasy.

Man shot and killed in Benton County, near Rogers

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Judge likely to keep Abrego Garcia detained to prevent quick deportation

Published

2 days ago

July 11, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Ariana Figueroa – 2025-07-11 13:14:00

by Ariana Figueroa, Arkansas Advocate
July 11, 2025

GREENBELT, Maryland — U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis seemed inclined during a Friday hearing to grant a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is released from pretrial detention next week.

Xinis said if she granted a temporary restraining order, it would be narrow and would prevent immigration officers from deporting Abrego Garcia from the U.S. It would also keep the longtime Maryland resident at a detention center near Maryland as the immigration lawsuit about the conditions of his deportation under a final order of removal proceeds.

She also upbraided Justice Department attorneys for claiming immigration officials had a detainer on Abrego Garcia, but not producing the document.

The attorneys for Abrego Garcia’s case in Maryland, which was brought after the longtime resident was unlawfully arrested by immigration officials and mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, are asking Xinis for a 72-hour restraining order if he is released from pretrial detention Wednesday.

Abrego Garcia awaits federal trial in Tennessee on criminal charges lodged while he was mistakenly removed to El Salvador.

The restraining order, if granted, would prevent the Trump administration from removing Abrego Garcia to a third country without proper notice and an opportunity to challenge his removal.

“The concern that we have here is that he’ll be gone in a blink and never to be heard from again,” Andrew Rossman, one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, said.

Abrego Garcia detailed psychological and physical torture he experienced at the notorious Salvadoran prison CECOT. The U.S. is paying El Salvador up to $15 million to detain roughly 300 men at the prison.

Prosecution

As soon as Wednesday, Abrego Garcia could be released from pretrial detention on charges that accuse him of human smuggling that stem from a 2019 traffic stop. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Tennessee federal court on an order pausing Abrego Garcia’s release, at his lawyers’ request over concerns the administration could deport him if he is released from jail.

DOJ attorneys have said that the Trump administration intends to deport Abrego Garcia before his trial in Tennessee is complete.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. His attorneys have accused President Donald Trump’s administration of using the indictment to save face in light of court orders finding Abrego Garcia’s deportation unlawful and the Supreme Court’s order for the federal government to facilitate his return.

Abrego Garcia has had deportation protections in place since 2019, barring his removal to his native El Salvador due to concerns he would experience gang violence there.

The Trump administration has labeled Abrego Garcia a leader of the gang MS-13, but has not produced any evidence of those allegations in court.

Xinis also raised the concern that Abrego Garcia could face harm in a third country because the Trump administration has labeled him a gang leader.

She raised the possibility that if Abrego Garcia is deported to a third country, that country could then take him to El Salvador.

ICE detainer produced

The Trump administration has placed a detainer on Abrego Garcia upon his potential release, meaning U.S. Marshals would hold him until immigration agents can arrest him and take him into custody.

Xinis has repeatedly asked DOJ lawyers for a copy of the detainer to determine what statue Abrego Garcia is being detained on.

DOJ attorneys said they were still working on it and Xinis slammed them for not producing it and said she wouldn’t take the DOJ’s word that the detainer even existed.

“You have taken the presumption of regularity and you’ve destroyed it, in my view,” Xinis said.

Halfway through the hearing, DOJ attorney Sarmad M. Khojasteh produced the detainer and gave a copy to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers, who have also been asking for a copy of the form.

Rossman said the detainer “has a massive hole in it.”

He said that according to the detainer, the reason for holding Abrego Garcia is a final order of removal.

However, a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official testified Thursday that because Abrego Garcia is not in removal proceedings yet, the federal government cannot detail what actions it will take in removing him.

“We have an obvious chicken-and-egg problem,” Rossman said.

DOJ argument ‘defies reality’

Thomas Giles, ICE’s assistant director for enforcement and removal operations who testified Thursday, could not detail which track the Trump administration planned to take for Abrego Garcia. The agency is likely to try either deporting him to a third country or challenge the bar on removal to El Salvador.

Xinis also expressed doubt that the Trump administration has not had conversations on what to do about Abrego Garcia, given the high-profile nature of the case.

Khojasteh said that an immigration officer would determine next steps for Abrego Garcia.

“It defies reality that this is going to be left to a desk officer,” Xinis said.

Xinis said she’ll make a decision before Wednesday on a temporary restraining order.

The post Judge likely to keep Abrego Garcia detained to prevent quick deportation appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The article presents a narrative critical of the Trump administration’s handling of the immigration and deportation case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia. It highlights concerns raised by a federal judge about due process, the lack of transparency from the Department of Justice, and allegations of mistreatment and unlawful deportation. The language emphasizes legal and humanitarian issues, portraying the administration’s actions in a negative light without explicitly endorsing a particular political ideology. The framing aligns with concerns commonly emphasized by center-left perspectives, focusing on immigrant rights, government accountability, and judicial oversight.

News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Grant Hardin used black marker & soup can to create disguise that allowed his escape

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-10 22:12:16

SUMMARY: Grant Hardin, a convicted murderer, rapist, and former police officer, escaped a medium-security prison in Arkansas using a disguise he crafted from kitchen materials. He dyed a shirt with a black marker, fashioned a makeshift badge from a soup can, Bible cover, and button, and used an apron as a bulletproof vest. The escape, lasting 12 days in the woods, revealed serious staff failures: a kitchen worker let Hardin unsupervised for over an hour, and a guard left a gate open unattended. Two prison employees were fired, but lawmakers remain unsatisfied. Hardin’s threat level was reportedly too low for his offenses, prompting ongoing investigations.