Visitors to El Paso, Texas’s Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on March 1, 2026, must have been startled when thumbing through the parish bulletin. On page six, they found there a reprint of a poster promoting the “March and Vigil for Human Life and an End to Mass Deportations.”
An Outrageous Image
The poster depicts the back of a person wearing a green robe with a gold border and gold stars. Her hands are crossed behind her back and bear the shame of being handcuffed.
The poster does not explicitly identify the person depicted in the image. However, anyone who knows even a tiny bit of Catholic symbolism would have little doubt that the artist intended to depict the Blessed Virgin Mary. After all, the robe closely resembles one shown in the most popular image of Our Lady—that of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. While that image is widespread, it is especially common in areas along the Mexico border that are involved in the immigration debate.
Seeing an image of Our Lady from the back is jarring, as most of her images show her full face. Others may depict her looking down adoringly at her infant Son, in three-quarter or profile view. None shows the back of her head. The handcuffs make the artist’s intention obvious. Clearly, the poster intends to communicate that Our Lady is under arrest.
Using Our Lady to Promote a Political Position
Notice of the march itself would surprise no one. The Bishop of El Paso, The Most Reverend Mark J. Seitz, is well known as a radical advocate of all things liberal, especially immigration. Last year, according to The Catholic Review, he participated in a similar march with the archbishops of San Antonio and Santa Fe and the bishops of Las Cruces (New Mexico), Lexington (Kentucky) and Valleyfield (Quebec).
It is not difficult to grasp the intended meaning behind the image. At one point in the Gospel narrative, Our Lady fled into Egypt. The pro-immigration people are quick to seize on one of Our Lady’s seven sorrows in hopes of swinging Catholics to support their position.
However, the facts as presented in Matthew 2:13-20 do not support such an analysis. There is no sign that Mary and Joseph entered Egypt in violation of Egyptian law. They were not part of a mass migration that included criminals. They were not going to Egypt to better their economic situation, nor did they intend to stay. Mary and Joseph went to Egypt, obeyed its laws while they were there, and returned to their home as soon as they knew it was safe to do so.
The Purposes of Marian Images
Thus, this particular image distorts Our Lady and turns her into a political prisoner. Such a practice is contrary to how Holy Mother Church has long used the image of Mary to spur virtue, devotion and love of God. She bestows graces and favors to those who venerate her.
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared as a mother. Her words to Saint Juan Diego are inexpressibly beautiful and full of compassion and encouragement. “Hear me, my dear little son, and let it penetrate into your heart: Let nothing discourage or frighten you, let nothing weigh you down. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?”
However, she also conveys power. The rays of light behind her indicate “she who is clothed with the sun.” She stands “with the moon under her feet.” (See Apocalypse 12:1-2.) She literally wears the stars on her garment and is borne up by an angel.
She is a tender and all-powerful mother and queen, not a common foreigner apprehended by police. She can obtain everything for those who have recourse to her.
A Criminal Queen?
In El Paso, this sacrilegious image of the Mother of God is being used to excuse and spur disobedience to well-understood and properly established laws that protect the nation from disordered and unregulated entrance into the country.
Even worse, the portrayal links Our Lady to the leftist cause and its distorted narratives. Many of these same activists use the same class struggle claims found in the immigration crisis to justify abortion, same-sex “marriage” and transgenderism.
Thus, these activists have weaponized and politicized the debate by this horrific portrayal of Our Lady as bound. She, who is the Queen of Heaven and Earth, is purposefully degraded and used for a political purpose. Indeed, it is not government officials who have bound Our Lady, but activists who have forced her to play a role in their class struggle.
Faithful Catholics need to stand up for their queen and protest legally and peacefully against such shameful and sacrilegious use of Our Lady’s image wherever it is found.
First published on TFP.org.