"We really have to keep our eye on the developing situation-to see how families are going to be housed," Flores said. "Part of the delegation, I hope, is the chance to really ask some questions about how this is going to unfold, so that we're prepared for it."
At the Humanitarian Respite Center, Cardinal DiNardo and the other bishops served chicken soup and tortillas to children who had just arrived with their parents from a detention center run by the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Center. Many of the children refused to leave the arms of their parents.
The adults at the center wear GPS ankle bracelets to track them to ensure they attend their immigration court date closest to their U.S. destination.
Sister Pimentel said the community gathered together "to make sure that we take care of these families, and that we welcome them."
"We must offer compassionate and humane processes that care for these families who are victims of structures that are corrupt and abusive in their home countries," she told the Washington Post.
Earlier that Sunday, the bishops celebrated Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, a national shrine in San Juan, Texas regarded as pilgrimage site for migrants. The basilica exceeded its capacity of 1,800 people for the Mass.
During the Mass, Bishop Flores said in his bilingual homily "The plan of the Lord is to always be attentive to what's right in front of Him… That's Jesus' way."
Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston celebrated a high-profile border Mass in 2014, while Pope Francis prayed on the Mexican side of the border during his 2016 visit.
On Monday, the bishops were scheduled to meet with U.S. government officials and members of the Catholic community, with their visits intended to focus on family unity. Stops on their schedule included the U.S. Custom and Border Protection's Ursula Processing Center in McAllen, Texas and the Southwest Key Casa Padre detention center in Brownsville. The latter center, hosted in a former Walmart building, has become a place for unaccompanied minors.
The Austin-based Southwest Key programs, a federal non-profit contractor, operates 26 shelters in Texas, Arizona and California, CNN reports. It has cared for 19,000 children in the most recent fiscal year, but has been the focus of news coverage due to hundreds of citations by Texas state regulators inspecting its shelters in the last three years.
After U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a "zero tolerance" border policy, the average population of its shelters increased by 300 people in under one month's time.
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The U.S. bishops' delegation is set to hold a press conference at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle at 6 p.m. Central Time, to be live-streamed on YouTube.
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.