Sister Susan Gatz spent two weeks this spring welcoming asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, mindful during her stay of Ezra Lazarus’ invitation inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. The well-known inscription is an entreaty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

“That’s what was in front of me, day after day. We were trying to wrap our arms around them,” said Sister Gatz, a Sister of Charity of Nazareth, during a phone interview last week. Her desire to be the hands and feet of Christ led her to El Paso, Texas, assisting people granted asylum in the U.S.

She is one of hundreds who have responded to a call to walk with people at the border. Another is Kathleen Lee, an immigration attorney for Catholic Charities of Louisville. Read more.