Catholic Priest Who Called Out Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Named Bishop in West Virginia

In a move that flies in the face of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration agenda, Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as the new leader of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia. Menjivar-Ayala, who fled El Salvador’s civil war as a teenager and entered the United States illegally before gaining humanitarian status, has been an outspoken advocate for immigrants and a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies.

Menjivar-Ayala’s appointment on May 2026 comes as a clear rebuke to the “shock and awe” immigration raids and aggressive enforcement tactics that the Trump administration deployed, including a notable surge in federal law enforcement actions in Washington, D.C., where Menjivar-Ayala served as an auxiliary bishop. In a 2025 article for the Catholic Standard, he condemned these tactics as “highly visible operations of questionable legality” that went far beyond legitimate immigration enforcement.

Despite his immigrant background and advocacy, Menjivar-Ayala emphasized unity and service to all West Virginians in his first address as bishop. West Virginia, one of the nation’s least racially diverse states, is 92.6 percent white with only 2.4 percent Latino population. Menjivar-Ayala vowed to listen to the marginalized, including immigrants and the poor, quoting Matthew 25 to underscore the Church’s mission to care for society’s most vulnerable.

His predecessor, Bishop Mark Brennan, acknowledged the challenges Menjivar-Ayala faces in a less Catholic, rural diocese but assured the community that the new bishop “will be bishop for all the people.” Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington praised Menjivar-Ayala’s “passion for justice” and his sensitive care for Hispanic and immigrant communities.

Menjivar-Ayala’s appointment is part of a broader trend of foreign-born clergy filling crucial roles in American dioceses amid declining priestly ordinations. Another Latin America-born priest, Father John Gomez of Colombia, was also named bishop in Texas the same day.

This appointment comes just weeks after Pope Leo XIV publicly disagreed with Trump over U.S. military actions in Iran, suggesting a papacy willing to challenge the former president’s policies on multiple fronts. The White House has yet to comment on Menjivar-Ayala’s elevation.

In a time when the Trump administration weaponized immigration enforcement as a tool of fear and division, Menjivar-Ayala’s rise to bishop in a predominantly white, rural state signals a renewed commitment from the Catholic Church to stand with immigrants, the marginalized, and those fighting for justice.

For those tracking the ongoing fallout of Trump’s authoritarian immigration tactics, this appointment is a reminder that resistance often comes from unexpected places — even inside the Church.

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