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By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger Vanessa Torres accepted a position as administrative assistant with the Diocese of Davenport’s Immi­gration Office unaware that the office had assisted her family two decades ago. Her mother told her about it after Torres began working for the diocese last year. In gratitude, Torres, a recent Drake University graduate, shared her family’s story as part of the diocese’s application to nominate the Immigration Office for Catholic Extension Society’s Lumen Christi Award.

Our country’s determination to protect our southern border comes with tangible costs. We lose the talents, skills and dedicated labor of hundreds of thousands of productive immigrants. We lose their participation in our parishes — 40 percent of all growth in registered parishioners in Catholic parishes between 2005 and 2010 was from Hispanic or Latino/a Catholics, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. We lose their attendance in our schools and engagement in our neighborhoods. We lose their diversity, one of the most positive traits of these United States.

By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger DAVENPORT — A police report detailing threats on the lives of a family from El Salvador is one of the documents on diocesan Immigration Counselor Gricelda Garnica’s desk. She is striving to assist the Illinois family to prevent the deportation of two of their loved ones — the wife of one of the siblings and the sister of the siblings, both of whom are undocumented.

By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger The Diocese of Davenport/ Catholic Charities has been awarded a $10,000 one-year grant from the Amy Helpenstell Foundation Fund Advisory Committee to go towards an administrative assistant position in the Immigration Office. Immigration Counselors Gricelda Garnica and Karina Garnica received the award during a reception last month in Moline, Ill. Kent Ferris, director of Social Action and Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Davenport, expressed gratitude for the grant, which will buttress the work of the immigration counselors.

By Anne Marie Amacher The Catholic Messenger DAVENPORT — “You need to trust in God. God will help you,” Immi­gration Counselor Gricelda Garnica told Rodney Swanson last fall. He had all but given up hope of being reunited with his wife, who lives in Vietnam.

Filing fees for a wide assortment of immigration applications and related paperwork will increase under final rules released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Oct. 24. The increases take effect Dec. 23. Click link to learn more.