The Daily Star: Catholic group lobbies La. congressmen for funds
28 March 2025|The Daily Star: Ella Armstrong and Caroline Burk LSU Manship School News Service
New Orleans native Mary Baudouin trekked across Capitol Hill Tuesday to the offices of the top Republicans from Louisiana – House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy.
She and other Louisiana residents were volunteers for Jesuit Refugee Services, a Catholic group seeking reinstatement of funds for humanitarian aid.
Like many business, education and health groups, they had fanned out across the Capitol looking for help mitigating cuts in federal spending.
Baudoin said that the meetings went well, and even though no promises were made, she felt listened to as she advocated for food and medicine for refugees displaced by wars and political turmoil. She added that Sen. Cassidy’s staff talked to her group about different ways to advocate, which she found helpful.
“I think it’s positive that they even took the meetings at this time,” Baudouin said. “This is such an unpopular issue right now in our country and in Congress, and nobody really wants to be dealing with it.”
Since taking office in January, President Trump has slashed government spending and fired federal workers in many areas. He is seeking to reduce federal spending and impose tariffs in foreign goods to help pay for tax cuts, and he has said he wants to focus spending on domestic rather than foreign issues.
His actions have unleashed a blizzard of lobbying in Washington, with auto companies and farmers appealing for exemption from tariffs, states seeking to avoid cuts in Medicaid and education spending, and universities fighting to preserve research spending.
The Jesuit group held its advocacy day Tuesday in Washington, and several Louisiana residents took part.
Baudouin said she and the others emphasized that aid for refugees accounts for only a miniscule part of the federal budget.
In 2023, the Jesuit Refugee Service supported over 1.2 million refugees worldwide with a budget of around $3.2 billion.
“The programs really are saving lives, and they were just cut off automatically,” she explained. “That’s happening at a time when there’s a growing need for refugee assistance around the world.”
Nabila Rana, an LSU graduate who is now a law student at Loyola University, and Yvonne Hymel, another New Orleans resident, also participated in the Jesuit advocacy effort.
Rana was 3 years old when she and her parents immigrated to the United States from Pakistan. Her father, who obtained a U.S. visa in 1995, was searching for safety for his family.
“I’ve learned that if you have a voice and if you have a platform of any kind where you can get in and speak for someone who’s not where you are at or does not have the resources that you have, then you can advocate for them,” Rana said.
Rana, Hymel and three others spoke on Zoom Tuesday with staff members for U.S. Reps. Troy Carter and Cleo Fields, both Democrats from Louisiana.
Hymel said others from her church group stood with her in support of immigrants and refugees in Louisiana.
“I’m coming from a moral, ethical and spiritual foundation,” Hymel said.
In the New Orleans area, organizations are providing training for immigrants and legal services to people seeking asylum.
“Louisiana is like a melting pot, and I believe that’s what our congressmen should see when we go to advocate for something,” Rana said.
Baudouin added that it is “a part of our faith to care for those who are least among us, those who are most marginalized.”
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