ATLANTA—On the feast day of Mother Cabrini, patron of immigrants, Fernanda Mucchiut and scores of others assembled at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to pray for migrants, marching behind a colorful banner of the Virgin Mary to the nearby federal building that houses the immigration court. They recited the rosary outside the building.   

Mucchiut, 41, is a native of Argentina. She is a consecrated member of the Focolare Movement in the Atlanta area, in addition to being a staff member of St. Thomas More Church, Decatur.   

Mucchiut has become a regular face at a federal immigration office downtown. Arriving before business hours, she focuses on the people standing in line, talking about their home country, food or any simple conversation as the people wait to see the authorities. She described her approach as “being alongside them in that moment, which is a stressful moment, which is a fearful moment.”  

It was a parish trip with teenagers to El Paso, Texas, that sparked her involvement with immigration and the nonprofit Casa Alterna.   

On that trip, the young people befriended a family from Venezuela seeking asylum. Without anyone to welcome them, in a spontaneous decision, the parish invited them to Georgia, she said. The family settled in the Atlanta area with the help of Casa Alterna and the parish. A year later, the oldest teen joined parish youth on another border immersion trip, before moving to another part of Georgia. Their temporary protective status has since been removed, like the other 240,000 Venezuelans in the country.    

Advocates for immigrants said people show up for routine scheduled check-ins, doing what the law requires, but some are unexpectedly detained.   

Mucchiut and other volunteers from Casa Alterna let people know they are not from the government or lawyers but simply there to say, “we are here for you.”  

Catholics Fernanda Mucchiut and Bernadette Naro accompany immigrants facing hardships by showing kindness and listening to their stories. They are involved with the nonprofit Casa Alterna. Photo by Julianna Leopold

That presence matters.   

“There’s a lot of uncertainty because there’s a lot of inconsistency,” she said.   

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, 5,670 people in Georgia were arrested for immigration violations during the first six months of the Trump administration, compared to 1,570 arrests during the last six months of Biden’s presidency.   

Bernadette Naro, a program director with Casa Alterna and a member of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, said what has been a routine process with immigration authorities is now worrisome because “they may not come back out.” She recalled a bawling mother whose son was detained without his diabetes medicine, and she had no way to retrieve them from their Stone Mountain home. People follow the rules at the risk of being taken into detention, she said.   

Advocates said people of faith should be engaged on the issue, offer support and compassion, rather than being disengaged.   

As believers, “our job is to be instruments of mercy, instruments of justice, instruments of salvation,” Naro said.   

For Mucchiut, there is “an element of cruelty and injustice” that should not leave any Catholic “at peace.” Immigration is a political issue where people can have different views, but she sees cruelty introduced in the process now, she said.  

It’s a core principle of the Catholic faith to respect the dignity of every person and that each life is sacred, she said. Instead, immigrants face hardship they do not deserve, she said.   

“What is something that combats cruelty,” she said, “is love, is caring, is kindness. Those are things I think we can all practice.”  

What can you do?  

• Reach out to people in your community (fellow parishioners, school parents, classmates, coworkers) who might be experiencing anxiety or fear for themselves or family members. Get to know their story with genuine interest. That act of compassion may lead to a new friendship that offers safety and trust amid uncertainty and fear.  
• Contact nonprofit organizations or grassroots groups that are advocating for immigrant justice to see how you can get involved such as Catholic Charities Atlanta, El Refugio or Casa Alterna.   
• Sign up for the restorative justice newsletter from the Archdiocese of Atlanta: https://bit.ly/RestorativeJusticeNewsletterArchAtl.