Catholic officials are making contingency plans to temporarily house and care for some of the tens of thousands of kids streaming across the United States’ southern border.
Catholic Conference of Illinois Executive Director Robert Gilligan says some of these children could be headed to Illinois and, eventually, Springfield. But, he says, it is more than just a matter of housing and food.
“While they are waiting their deportation and/or their immigration proceedings, these kids have obviously been traumatized and may need some counseling,” says Gilligan.
Already 400 are being cared for in the Chicago area. Gilligan is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with the Illinois bishops in a response he says the Church is required to give.