While the nation remains locked in a political battlefield over immigration, a far more pressing issue is being ignored: What happens after immigrants arrive? 

Every year, about 2.6 million foreign-born individuals legally settle in the United States — enough to fill 43 football stadiums. Yet their challenges and concerns beyond entry are left out of the conversation.

As a Catholic priest and pastor at a parish community consisting mainly of African and Latino immigrants, I know firsthand that there are more immediate concerns than the immigration debate. Among these concerns are how to balance responsibilities between home and work, how to manage newly found wealth in the U.S. in a way that avoids wasteful spending and consumerism, and how to guard children against the sexification and secularization of the public-school system. And yet, these concerns are nowhere to be heard in public discourse. 

This deficiency is what Sicilian Bishop Emeritus Domenico Mogavero from the Diocese of Mazara del Vallo, Italy, which saw massive immigration from Africa in the last decade, called Il problema del dopo (“The problem of the aftermath”), by which he meant the problem of integration.  

According to the Pew Research Center roughly 7 in 10 of all legal migrants to the U.S. are Christian, while only 14% are religiously unaffiliated. Few of these immigrants and their children, however, will remain Christian because of the great obstacles presented to the faith in the process of integration into the American mainstream. This great crisis of faith should be of utmost concern especially for the Catholic Church, since in the case of the U.S. most immigrants are from Latin America, where the majority are baptized Catholics. 

The overwhelming majority of immigrant families cannot afford to send their children to Catholic schools. By the time these children reach eighth grade and prepare for the sacrament of confirmation, many have drifted away from the faith. 

Some years ago, the mother of an El Salvadorian family whose son was going to an inner-city public school in the District of Colombia came to me distraught because her eighth-grade son did not want to get confirmed. “He said he was an atheist,” she anxiously lamented. My first thought was “How does an eighth grader become an atheist?” 

One reason may be the way students are taught in public schools, where teachers tend to be more facilitators than educators — education having the original meaning of “to lead out” from the allegorical cave of ignorance into the light of understanding. 

Students are asked to provide thoughtful, original feedback and expand upon the information available to them on the internet rather than learning concepts, ideas, history or causality of events. Teachers encourage their students to develop a growth mindset and view challenges simply as learning opportunities rather than failures. There is no “right or wrong” response in this amoral environment and therefore no emphasis on what is true, good, beautiful or worthy to be understood for the formation of good character. 

Consequently, the student basically becomes the sole arbiter of what is right and wrong. The student becomes his own god, so there can’t be a true God or authority beyond the self. 

Another serious problem for families, in addition to education, however, comes from what the Book of Proverbs frequently warns about regarding the moral corruption of youth, emphasizing the importance of wisdom, discipline and righteousness. 

In recent years, newly arrived immigrant parents have come to me with tragic stories about how their children are petrified of going to public school because of bullying or violence. The teachers are helpless to do anything about it and often ignore the concerned parents. Other worries are that children are picking up vulgar language in public schools and being introduced to social media and chatrooms that undermine the faith formation provided by their parents. 

Growing concerns for parents also include the inappropriate sexual content in preschool and primary public-school curriculums, amounting to the sexification of children. Because immigrant parents struggle with speaking English, they remain ill-informed on the educational material their children are receiving and are unable to effectively communicate their concerns with the school administration. The result is that we have a colossal crisis of faith. 

So, what is the solution to this profound problema del dopo, or integration? One option, in addition to fighting for change in the public-school system, is focusing on providing accessible alternatives to the public-school system to which the overwhelming number of Catholic immigrants are bound. 

Most dioceses have a generous tuition-assistance program for low-income families, but few immigrant families can afford Catholic tuition even with generous discounts, especially if they have multiple children. Partnerships with home-schooling communities, especially in the poorest counties across the U.S., would be a practical first step. Why not invest in the proven home-schooling model for immigrant communities? 

The success of home education and formation is difficult to overstate. According to research, home-schooled students generally perform significantly better academically than their public-school peers, often scoring 15 to 25 percentile points higher on standardized tests, with most peer-reviewed studies showing significant advantages for home-schooled students in terms of academic achievement. This includes higher SAT scores and a higher rate of college attendance compared to public schools.

A 2021 study published in the Journal of College Student Development examined the college experiences of home-schooled students compared to their traditionally schooled peers. The findings indicated that home-schooled students had similar levels of academic achievement and social integration in college. However, they reported slightly higher satisfaction with their college experience, attributing it to self-directed learning habits developed during home schooling. 

On another front, according to the “Class of 2023: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood” by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, approximately 10% of ordinands reported being home-schooled for at least part of their education. This percentage has remained relatively stable over the past decade, suggesting a consistent representation of home-schooled individuals among new priests. 

Given these statistics, one wonders why dioceses are closing schools instead of partnering with home-schooling communities to provide spaces to Catholic homeschool co-ops, which often must rent spaces in non-Catholic Christian schools.  

Furthermore, given everything we know today about the success of home-schooling communities, it is surprising home schooling is not mentioned in the “National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry,” a product of the last Encuentro V conference. 

The plan, thankfully, recognizes the need for Catholic education on various instances but always within the context of somewhat abstract solutions: “advocating for public policies,” “redoubling our efforts to better reach Hispanic/Latino families and to welcome, embrace, mentor, and form them,” “providing information about Catholic educational institutions in ways that are attractive and accessible,” “developing strategies to make Catholic education more affordable, and communicating with Hispanic/Latino families about the financial assistance available,” “raising awareness” and, finally, “offering a variety of formats, languages, and online components in higher education.” 

If adolescent immigrant students are losing their faith in public schools, shouldn’t we be more intentional as to where we are focusing our efforts as a national and local Church? What about training immigrant parents on how to organize themselves into home-schooling communities focusing specifically on pre-K to eighth grades, before the damage is done? 

The time has come for faith leaders, educators and communities to address the crisis of faith and values among immigrant families in America. Losing your religion should not be an inevitable consequence of integration. If we truly care about preserving the faith of the next generation, we must prioritize real solutions, like home-schooling partnerships and faith-centered educational initiatives, over abstract advocacy and bureaucratic rhetoric.

If dioceses, parishes and Catholic organizations step up and invest in home-schooling cooperatives, creating accessible, affordable options for immigrant families, then perhaps the battle for the faith can be won in the early years of formation. 

Let’s move beyond politics and take concrete steps to build faith-filled communities where immigrant families are formed as faithful citizens of character. The future of the Church and the nation depends on it.

Father Avelino González is a pastor and Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Washington. He is also associate professor of theology at Catholic International University. From 2016 to 2021 he served as a Vatican official for the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.