Texas Bishop Mark J. Seitz accompanied migrants from Central America across the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday to protest conditions of migrant holding facilities.

“Standing here at the U.S.-Mexico border, how do we begin to diagnose the soul of our country?” Seitz said, speaking in both Spanish and English.

The Roman Catholic bishop told protestors the “heart-sick government and society” of America views “fleeing children and families as threats.”

Seitz condemned Americans by stating “a government and society who turn their backs on pregnant mothers, babies and families and make them wait in Ciudad Juarez without a thought to the crushing consequences on this challenged city . . . This government and this society are not well.”

The bishop led migrants, protestors, and members of the clergy across the Lerdo International Bridge in what he called a “Faith Action” demonstration to highlight the “Remain in Mexico” program that returns migrants to Ciudad Juarez, where they wait for border agents to retrieve them and process their asylum claims.

The diocese issued a statement regarding the protest which stated:

As part of the recently expanded “Remain in Mexico” program, hundreds of migrants are returned daily to Ciudad Juárez from El Paso, including families, women and children. These migrants often experience distressing conditions in immigrant detention for several days before being returned, where there is a critical lack of access to shelter, food, legal aid and basic services. Thousands of migrants have already been returned to Ciudad Juárez as a result of “Remain in Mexico.”

More than 15,000 asylum seekers have reportedly been forced to return to Mexico while their cases are processed.

“We don’t want to be here,” said migrant Tania Palma.”We appreciate the help from some kind people, but we made the sacrifice to leave our homeland so that our children can have a better life, a better future.”

However, John Zmirak, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, told Breitbart News last year that Catholic bishops have financial interests in both legal and illegal immigration.

He said: