Alerts

Take action for DACA recipients after the Supreme Court ruling.

The HEROES Act fails to include any funding for foreign assistance for impoverished countries sinking under the weight of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Join us in celebrating the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si’

Take action to oppose the United States government's approval of Israeli annexation of portions of the West Bank.

During this pandemic, immigration detention centers are at high risk of coronavirus outbreaks, given the crowded conditions and poor medical capacity of the facilities.

Today, March 17, is the 40th Anniversary of President Carter signing the Refugee Act of 1980. This legislation established the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program, which has resettled over 3 million refugees since 1980. Today we are celebrating our country's legacy of leadership in refugee resettlement by thanking President Carter and all those who brought about the Refugee Act and who continue to work for the success of the program today. 

Tuesday, March 10 will be a Day of Action to promote justice for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. There are several steps you can take to raise your voice in support of vulnerable people on the move on this day.  

Take action: 

Call or email your Members of Congress asking them to support two bills that would support the asylum and refugee protection systems in the U.S.  

Tell SEC Chair Jay Clayton that you oppose the proposed rule changes designed to stifle shareholder advocacy.

Sign up for a one-hour time slot during the 24-hour prayer vigil in solidarity with those affected by HIV/AIDS on December 1. 

Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition that includes Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, has initiated a campaign asking House Representatives to uphold the right to boycott companies and governments at home and abroad.

As we celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day this week in the United States, the Synod on the Amazon begins its second of three weeks of meetings in Rome. Meanwhile, fires continue to rage in the Amazon in Brazil, threatening this vital ecosystem and the lives of indigenous peoples who live there. 

MOGC joins the Korea Peace Network in promoting a National Call-in Day for Korea Peace on Tuesday, October 8. 

September 2019

This is a critical moment. President Trump has until September 30 to decide the number of refugees to be admitted into the United States for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. Some in the Trump Administration are reportedly calling for "zeroing out" the refugee resettlement program. This means setting the goal for the number of refugees admitted into the United States in 2020 to zero. 

Call your Senators and the White House on Sept. 4.

July 18 at the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

Take action for Honduras on the tenth anniversary of the coup.

Support the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019

From CLINIC, the Catholic Legal Immigration Netowrk, Inc.

In honor of Mother’s Day 2019, CLINIC has collected the stories of four mothers who have gone through or are currently going through the asylum process. It is our hope that these stories illustrate the experience of motherhood under extreme circumstances, and how they are connected by perseverance, love, and hope.

Tell Congress to defend the people and the environment in the Amazon.

Send a message to President Trump.

Speak out against the Honduran government’s attacks on human rights and environmental defenders.

On February 15, 2019, President Trump declared a national state of emergency. The day before, Congress passed a funding bill that includes an increase in immigrant detention and $1.375 billion for wall construction. The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (MOGC) condemned both the emergency declaration and the legislation.

“What is the just and humane way to secure our borders and treat those fleeing persecution? It is not with more immigrant detention and a border wall,” said Susan Gunn, Interim Director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. 

Call your Senators by 12pm ET Thursday, January 24.

This is the most important climate change meeting since Paris.

Seeking asylum is a human right.

Stop immigrant family detention.

September 21

Pray with us, make personal commitments, and take action.

Ask Congress to support resettlement of 750,000 refugees in the U.S. in 2019.

The Trump administration is requesting a large increase in discretionary funding for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2019.

Join Women of Faith Prayer Vigil in D.C., June 19, and keep calling Congress!

Together we can move the U.S. to do it's part.

Ask Congress to urge an end to Israel’s killing and wounding of Palestinian protesters, accountability for these actions, and respect for human rights for all.

On Wednesday, May 9, Gina Haspel’s confirmation hearings for director of the CIA will begin. The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and seven national Catholic organizations sent a letter to Congress opposing Haspel's nomination to be CIA Director because of her record on torture. 

Call for an end to the use of violence by Israeli forces against the protesters in Gaza.

Tell Congress to take immediate action to protect Palestinians at the Gaza border.

Dialogue works. Peace is possible.

We are as close as we have ever been to nuclear Armageddon. 

Use our form to submit your comments in support of the Clean Power Plan before April 26.
 

Oppose funding the move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

For the first time, Congress is considering a bill that bars the United States from financially supporting human rights abuses of Palestinian children by the Israeli military.

It's up to Congress to keep the United States in this critical nuclear accord.

Ask Congress to protect immigrants with "Temporary Protected Status."

Ask your Members of Congress to urge the State Department to firmly appeal to the Israeli government to stop demolishing Palestinian property.  Ask Congress to insist that U.S. military aid be conditioned on Israel’s compliance with U.S. law and policy, including respect for human rights.

Join prayer and action for a big shift for Creation

Ask President Trump and Congress to allow for an open, transparent and democratic process that ensures that all voices are welcome at the NAFTA renegotiations table and that our economic policies ultimately serve the common good.

Pray and take action for peace!

Tell Congress to vote NO on the Israel Anti-Boycott Act.

As Congress considers the budget for fiscal year 2018, it is critical that advocates speak up for the needs of Palestinian refugees.

The future of U.S. participation in the landmark Paris climate agreement is in jeopardy.

Right now, there are approximately 58,000 Haitians in the U.S. who could be deported after July 22.

Forcing these vulnerable people to return to Haiti – a country still recovering from a devastating earthquake in 2010 and a massive hurricane in 2016 – would be inhumane and untenable.

Deadline is June 1, 2017.

Maryknoll Lay Missioner Flávio José Rocha writes from Brazil about Pope Francis' lessons about water in Laudato Si' and how we can take action.

Sign up for a webinar on February 7 to learn more about the invitation from U.S. Catholic Bishops to join a local group and visit members of Congress.

On Wednesday, January 25, President Trump issued two executive orders that greatly increase the U.S. immigration enforcement system, challenge sanctuary cities, and move forward with building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ask your Senators to consider rejecting Scott Pruitt as administrator of the EPA.

Pope Francis shared his message for the upcoming World Day of Peace and the launch of a global effort in the Church for peacebuilding through active nonviolence.

Now that the TPP deal is signed, Congress has to approve it. This is the time to raise our voices for economic justice.

Send postcards to the CEOs of Macy's and Kohl's.

Join Christians and others around the world in praying, educating, and advocating for a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis through the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel.

Dozens of organizations are working together to make TODAY a Nationwide TPP Call-In Day — to ask members of Congress to take a public position on the TPP.

Water can’t wait – ask Congress to support equal water rights for Palestinians and Israelis.

Ask your Congressional representatives to support the creation of a national Commission on the Disappeared in El Salvador.

Send a letter to the World Bank president and Board telling them to safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples.

Maryknoll Sisters in Zimbabwe ask for prayers as a nonviolent campaign by church leaders and citizens against systemic corruption and economic mismanagement by the government grows.

The Supreme Court has blocked DAPA. Tell President Obama to protect undocumented parents - stop the deportations.

Ask Congress to support H.R. 5474, the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act.

Sign a letter to the women of the U.S. Senate asking for their support of the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act (S.1968).

Urge your Congressional representative to sign a letter asking President Obama to appoint a Special Envoy for Palestinian children.

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns staff member, and returned Maryknoll Lay Missioner, Dave Kane, reports from João Pessoa, Brazil, on the political turmoil upsetting the country.

Join a nationwide prayer at Noon on April 22 and find out what other events are happening near you from April 15 - 24.

Two environmentalists murdered in less than two weeks. Tell Honduras: "Stop the violence!"

Solving the climate crisis is a global effort that will take years. Ask Congress to keep up support of the Green Climate Fund.

The life of Mexican human rights defender Gustavo Castro Soto is at grave risk in Honduras! Please send emails and call now!

Urge your members of Congress to attend this important briefing on the effects of the Israeli occupation on ordinary people.

12 countries signed the sweeping, unjust Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, but that's not the end. Now it's up to Congress to approve it.

Call 1-888-897-9753 to tell your Senator not to shut down the U.S. resettlement program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

Call the White House at (202) 456-1414.

Now is the time for the U.S. to follow through on our pledge to the Green Climate Fund.

Download our weekly series of prayer-study-action guides to help you join the millions of people worldwide praying and acting for the climate justice at the UN Climate Summit in Paris. Editor: Susan Gunn

Our colleagues at ActionAid USA are circulating this petition to demand the Guatemalan government investigate the murder and detention of human rights defenders.

Take action to ensure countries that condone human trafficking are held accountable in trade agreements.

In 2015, 70 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world community is making important moves toward nuclear abolition.

A court victory to stop building the separation wall on private Palestinian land has now been undone.

Many members of Congress travel during the August recess, and many take trips to Israel. It is important that they get a full picture of the region during these visits, and we can help them do that.

In response to this critical issue around the treatment of children by the Israeli military (which receives the largest amount of U.S. foreign assistance), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN-4) has drafted a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, and invites her fellow members of Congress to sign on.

Tell your elected officials to support peaceful solutions with Iran, in Syria: Don’t stand in the way of Iran negotiations, and do support urgent help for Yarmouk refugees.

In December, during the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, the Holy See contributed a ground-breaking paper entitled Nuclear Disarmament: Time for Abolition, which presents a compelling argument to move beyond limits set by political realism: “Now is the time to affirm not only the immorality of the use of nuclear weapons, but the immorality of their possession, thereby clearing the road to nuclear abolition.”

A peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue is in the best interest of its neighbors in the region – including the Israelis and Palestinians – as well as the best interest of the United States and the world.

The House Judiciary Committee will be considering the Michael Davis Jr., in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act (HR 1148), a very negative bill that would harm our communities and congregations.

The controversial speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress scheduled for March 3 is problematic for a number of reasons including the way the invitation was issued without coordination with the White House, the anticipated content of the speech which is expected to deal with the Iranian nuclear issue at a critical time in the negotiations with Iran, and the timing of the speech just prior to the Israeli elections.

On January 27, 51 people, including 30 Dominican-born children, some of their mothers and 14 other adults were deported without due process to Haiti from the Dominican Republic. More mass deportations of Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants are feared.

Following the defeat of a UN Security Council resolution that would have set parameters and a timeline for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian impasse, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed a number of international treaties and conventions including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), paving the way for Palestine to join the ICC.

The scriptures for the third Sunday in Advent call us to action – to be a voice in the wilderness, a light, and to bring the good news to the oppressed and poor in our world.

Financial support for reconstruction in Gaza is urgently needed. Adequate oversight will be important to ensure that materials are used for their intended purposes, but restrictions should not be so onerous that they tie the hands of those seeking to rebuild. In addition, to end the cycle of violence, underlying causes must be addressed, including the lifting of the Gaza blockade.

ECPAT-USA asks those of us in the U.S. to contact our senators and urge their support of S. 1738, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which has already passed the House of Representatives.

NRCAT circulated the following alert.

Urgent: Call the Senate and House today: Demand that Congress REJECT rollbacks to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act

The following alert is based on information from our colleagues at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA and other sources.

Tent of Nations, a peace project located on the 100-acre Nassar family farm near Bethlehem, came under attack on May 19 by the Israeli military. Between 1,500 and 2,000 mature, fruit-bearing apricot and apple trees and grape vines were destroyed along with terraced land, according to a report by Friends of Tent of Nations North America (FOTONNA).

In countries where Maryknollers serve such as Peru, the Philippines, and Kenya, to oppose destructive mining practices becomes an issue of life and death. Communities not only face death threats with impunity, but they also never see the economic benefits of the projects.

Holy Week brings pilgrims from all over the world to Jerusalem, yet Christians who live just next door to the city must get permits to worship there and may be denied entry altogether.

In collaboration with the Justice for Immigrants (JFI) campaign of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns urges you to take action for immigration reform during Lent 2014.

Take action to support the fifth annual Open Shuhada Street Campaign to help the residents of Hebron. Tell Congress to call for a halt to all settlement activity and an end to restrictions on movement for Palestinians.

January 11, 2014 marks the 12th anniversary of the opening of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms offers this action for January 1; Pax Christi International sent the following message of solidarity to the people of South Sudan on December 27, 2013.

Each year during Advent, Pax Christi International invites prayers and wishes for peace in the Holy Land.

For this "third Thursday" alert for November, tell your members of Congress that the people of Gaza need hope, not collective punishment. Tell them it is time to take action lift the Gaza blockade.

For this "third Thursday" alert for October, tell your Members of Congress in person or in writing that you oppose ongoing Israeli settlement expansion, particularly its effects on Palestinian movement and access.

The following alerts are circulated by SOA Watch and the International Labor Rights Forum.

The following alert is circulated by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission.

From our colleagues at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT).

This August, tell your member in person that peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians need to be founded on justice.

The following alert is circulated by the Friendship Office of the Americas.

Pax Christi International invites signatures on this petition urging Presidents Obama and Putin to hold peace talks on Syria.

An action request from our colleagues at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

The following alert is circulated by the Africa Faith & Justice Network (AFJN).

The following update is from our colleagues with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.

Important international food aid programs governed by the farm bill – such as Food for Peace (PL 480), which was first signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954, and which reached over 53 million people last year – are at risk of devastating cuts.

The following alert is circulated by Jubilee USA.

No More Deaths has circulated the following alert to respond to the death of 16-year old José Antonio Elena Rodriguez.

Send this electronic postcard your U.S. senators and representatives asking that they pass just and compassionate immigration reform legislation in the 113th Congress.

Urge your member of Congress to investigate whether U.S. military aid to Israel is undermining prospects for peace in the region.

Monday, Feb. 4 is the faith community's call in day to urge an end to gun violence.

Kathy McNeely, interim director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, along with 35 other faith leaders, recently signed this letter to President Obama calling on him to bring the full energies of his administration to bear towards facilitating a just, durable and final negotiated agreement to end the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter was organized by Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP).

From our colleagues at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT):

January 11, 2013 will be the 11th anniversary of the opening of the detention center at Guantanamo. Please email your members of Congress and the president now and remind them that you expect them to close the prison at Guantanamo.

The Rwandan-backed M23 militia withdrew from the eastern area of the DRC on December 1, but, according to Bloomberg news, "the rebels have remained in a ring around the city, within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) neutral zone they had agreed to leave."

Pray for peace in Gaza, and urge President Obama to demand a cease-fire and to investigate Israel's misuse of U.S. weapons.

The following alert is circulated by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC).

Write to Guatemalan authorities to ask for an independent investigation into the actions taken by military forces on October 4 which resulted in the deaths of six people and injuries of over 40.

From SOA Watch: This past Saturday and Monday (September 22-24), two human rights lawyers, Antonio Trejo and Eduardo Diaz, were brutally murdered in Honduras, bringing to over 60 the number of victims caught in the struggle for life and land in the Bajo Aguan in Honduras. The debate over the production of food for families versus bio-fuels for corporations has reached a high note.

Learn more about the ongoing conflict in the DRC and sign a petition at Change.org to urge Sec. Clinton's response.

Click here to sign the petition