Mission School Plea
The Rev. Raquel Feagins (at podium) leads the Rio Texas Annual Conference in a litany in support of immigrants. Behind her at left Rio Texas Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey and Dr. Carla Cardoza, president of UMC-related Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas. The U.S. State Department's suspension of international student visas threatens 40 percent of the school's student body, who regularly cross the U.S.-Mexico border to attend classes. Editor's note: This photo is from a computer screen, so faces may appear distorted. (Photo Courtesy of John P. Feagins)
A United Methodist Insight Special | June 17, 2025
Carla Cardoza, president of United Methodist-related Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas, has been telling this story at annual conference sessions across the denomination’s South Central Jurisdiction:
“Karla is a rising senior at LPI. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA, including in college-level courses, and is recognized as a leader on campus. Recently, she was accepted into a prestigious college prep program. Her dream is to become a mechanical engineer—and her family has followed every rule in the process. Now, because of this arbitrary suspension, Karla may not be allowed to return to continue her studies in the fall. She is just one of many students now left in limbo.”
The “arbitrary suspension” to which Dr. Cardoza refers is the May 27 shutdown of all international student visas by the U.S. State Department. The shutdown is one of many actions that the administration of President Donald Trump has taken to eliminate immigrants from American society, according to multiple news reports.
Nahal Toosi of the online journal Politico, wrote: “The Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting — a significant expansion of previous such efforts, according to a cable obtained by POLITICO.
“In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering U.S. Embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants, according to the cable, dated Tuesday (May 27) and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.”
The Trump Administration has alleged the measure is for national security reasons, but the move is affecting students with no apparent history of anti-American sentiments or actions.
Dr. Cardoza was unavailable for an interview at the time of this writing, but reports from annual conferences, individual United Methodists and a press release on the school’s website tell a tale of shock, anger and determination.
From the institute’s press release:
“For over 100 years, Lydia Patterson Institute (LPI), a historic El Paso institution that has educated thousands of young people along the U.S.–Mexico border, has provided a faith-centered, bilingual education to students from both El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
“LPI was recently ranked #3 among private schools in El Paso and placed in the top 20% of private schools statewide in Texas. The Class of 2025 includes 34 graduating seniors, all of whom were accepted into college, collectively earning more than $1.8 million in scholarships.
“Our students are legally enrolled, fully documented, and deeply committed to their education.
“… On May 28, 2025, the U.S. State Department has paused all new and some renewed student visa appointments to implement expanded social media screening. The policy was issued without notice and with no clear guidance for schools or families.
“LPI has reached out to SEVIS, and Homeland Security but no further information has been provided.”
About 40 percent of LPI students require student visas and 99 percent of its student body crosses the U.S.-Mexico border daily to attend the high school.
“Many of these students now face indefinite delays in securing or renewing the documentation that allows them to be physically present on campus,” said the press release.
Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, resident episcopal leader of the Rio Texas Annual Conference, posted an account on Facebook of Dr. Cardoza’s report. Lydia Patterson Institute is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and is required by its covenant to bring annual status reports to the nine annual conferences comprising the jurisdiction.
“On Friday, during the Rio Texas Annual Conference session, Dr. Carla Cardoza, President of Lydia Patterson Institute presented, through tears, the current status of LPI. The Conference stood in solidarity sharing a beautiful litany prepared by conference delegates.”
The Rev. John P. Feagins, pastor of Manchaca UMC in Austin, Texas, sent a photo from Dr. Cardoza’s report showing Rio Texas clergy and laity standing behind her on stage.
Louisiana Conference
Comforting Embrace
Louisiana Conference Bishop Delores Williamson embraces Dr. Carla Cardoza after her report on the crisis over student visas facing UMC-related Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas. (Louisiana Conference Photo)
In the Louisiana Annual Conference, communicator Mark Lambert said the LPI report and recent immigration raids in U.S. cities prompted a petition for United Methodists to support immigrants.
“Attendees unanimously approved of the Love Our Neighbor petition submitted by Rev. Ann Sutton (retired, Asbury UMC, Lafayette) and Rev. Drew Sutton (St. Andrew’s UMC, Baton Rouge) that calls on United Methodists to ‘give prayerful consideration’ to what the word ‘sanctuary’ means, and that churches and congregations ‘be aware of immigrant communities in their neighborhoods and seek opportunities to be good neighbors.’”
“… Friday, the Council on Finance Administration of The Louisiana Conference and the United Methodist Foundation of Louisiana together pledged to meet and contribute a sizeable financial gift to support Lydia Patterson Institute.”
Lambert’s article continued:
“On Thursday (May 29), Dr. Cardoza was only minutes into an address to the 2025 Annual Conference when she broke into tears, explaining she had just been informed of the visa situation moments before taking the stage.”
On June 18, Arkansas and Great Plains conferences distributed LPI's press release with an "urgent" request for United Methodists to help the school.
As word of the situation at Lydia Patterson Institute spread across social media, individuals expressed outrage at the Trump Administration’s action and urged church members to contact their federal representatives to demand the student visa ban be lifted.Longtime United Methodist photojournalist Paul Jeffrey posted on Facebook a photo he took in 2017 of a student and her mother walking toward the Mexico border so she could attend Lydia Patterson. He wrote:
“A unique United Methodist mission school is the latest victim of Stephen Miller's xenophobia.
“Yesterday the Trump administration announced it was halting visa interviews for students at the Lydia Paterson Institute, a private, faith-based United Methodist school that serves students in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border region, providing education from sixth through twelfth grade. The school has long supported binational learning opportunities for students from both the U.S. and Mexico.
“I wrote about the school in 2017. … The photo is of Yarely Arellano and her mother, Patricia Esquivel, walking through the predawn darkness of a poor neighborhood in Juarez. They are on their way to the U.S. border, where Arellano will cross into El Paso, Texas, to study at LPI. Arellano made the journey every school day, and most days her mother accompanied her to the border for safety. Arellano was born in the United States, and is thus a U.S. citizen, but her mother, a Mexican national, was later deported and thus is not allowed to reenter the U.S.”
The LPI press release includes a rationale for opposing the student visa ban:
Our View
We believe this policy is:
- Unjust to students who are following the rules
- Unnecessary, as these students are fully vetted and legal
- Harmful to families who did everything right
- Contrary to the values of compassion, opportunity, and fairness
- This is not about border enforcement. This is about access to education.
Our Plan
LPI remains fully operational and prepared. Here’s how we’re responding:
- School enrollment will remain open through mid-August
- Remote learning options will be available for students facing delays, including access to technology tools and digital platforms
- A dedicated team will support students residing across the border.
- Counseling and spiritual care will be provided for those experiencing distress.
- We will continue advocating at every level for a just and timely resolution.
The school also requested financial donations to help with its efforts to continue educating students (see links below).
Dr. Cardoza’s report to the Rio Texas Conference concluded:
“Please contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives. Let them know this matters. This is not about border control—it’s about protecting educational opportunity for students like Karla who deserve better.”
Donations to Lydia Patterson Institute may be sent
- By Text: DONATE to 915-292-2200
- By Mail: Make checks payable to: Lydia Patterson Institute, 517 S. Florence St., El Paso, TX 79901
- Online: Visit www.lpi-elpaso.org/give to make a secure one-time or recurring donation
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011 as a media channel to amplify news and views for, about and by marginalized and underserved United Methodists.