Justice for Immigrants and Refugees Policy Brief
This is an excerpt from our two-page policy brief on U.S. immigration and refugee policy.
Migration
Maryknoll missioners have worked with migrants and people on the move for decades. They have served Burmese refugees in Thailand, Filipino and Thai workers all over Asia, Burundian and Rwandan refugees in East Africa, and have accompanied Guatemalans, who, after years in Mexico, returned home to start anew in a more peaceful country. Our faith compels us to stand in solidarity with migrants.
In the United States, we are profoundly affected by the contribution of migrants in our society, and we have a responsibility to treat them, like all the rest of God’s creation, with dignity and respect. Maryknoll missioners work in ministries serving migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. In our work on U.S. migration policy, we focus on access to asylum and humanitarian protection, refugee aid and resettlement, and access to citizenship.
Maryknoll Joint Leadership Statements on Migration: Toward Global Solidarity (2006) and Statement on the Migrant Caravan (2018)
Policy Brief: Justice for Immigrants and Refugees in U.S. Policy
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Heidi Cerneka reflects on the Gospel call to respond to our neighbors in need.
Trump Administration Fights Legal Immigration Status
The executive branch has waged legal warfare against the legal designations that protect people from deportation back to the dangerous countries they have fled. Immigration Advocacy Intern Rehema Klueg reports.
Maryknoll OGC Joins Amicus Brief to U.S. Court of Appeals on Behalf of Humanitarian Parole Plaintiffs
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 11 religiously-affiliated organizations that provide support to immigrants in writing to the U.S. Court of Appeals on the side of Plaintiffs, immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who are challenging Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decision to end humanitarian parole.
One Big Beautiful Bill’s Impact on Immigration
The U.S. budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives includes anti-immigrant policies. Immigration Advocacy Intern Rehema Klueg reports.
Salvadoran Bishops Call for End to State of Exception
On May 29, the Bishops’ Conference of El Salvador released a pastoral letter urging, among other things, an end to the state of exception that suspends civil liberties and an end to the detention of migrants from other countries.
Haiti: Trump Administration Ends TPS
The Trump Administration announced it will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) early for about 500,000 Haitians living in the United States, exposing them to deportation as soon as Sept. 2. This comes three months after the Trump Administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the country under a humanitarian parole program.
Stop the “One Big Beautiful Bill”
Congress is considering harmful funding cuts and policy changes that would take away nutrition assistance and healthcare from millions of Americans, roll back investments in clean energy, devastate refugee assistance…
Maryknoll OGC Joins Letter to Senate in Opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 45 other faith-based organizations in the Washington, DC, Interfaith Staff Community writing to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate, and the rest of the Senate, in expressing their opposition to the new version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Advocate for Refugees with Refugee Council USA
From June 2 to 4, hundreds of refugees and advocates will descend on Capitol Hill for the Refugee Advocacy Days, an event organized by the Refugee Council USA. The advocates…
Protect Immigrant Families: Stop Mass Deportation
The mass deportation plans in the United States will separate families – the Center for Migration Studies estimated on May 1 that 3.8 percent of all U.S. citizen children (2.7…
Maryknoll OGC Joins Statement in Support of the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 800 other institutions in endorsing the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would protect schools and houses of worship from deportation raids.
Ask Senate for Accountability on Migrants Sent to El Salvador
Ask your senators to support accountability for the treatment of migrants and inmates imprisoned in El Salvador, using the form below. Since March 15, when the Trump Administration sent 238…
Write to Congress for Religious Worker Visa Reform
We ask for your help in urging Congress to fix the broken Religious Worker Visa Program. An increasing number of foreign-born priests, brothers, and sisters in the United States—including Maryknoll…
Honor Pope Francis for Earth Day
Earth Day takes on special meaning this year, arriving as it does at the beginning of the Easter Season, and amid global mourning for Pope Francis. Choosing the name of…
Take Action for Haiti and Haitian Immigrants
Write to your members of Congress on behalf of Haitian immigrants. Nine months into the U.S.-backed, Kenyan-staffed police mission to restore peace and order to Haiti, the mission is floundering….
Tell Congress: Hold the Administration Accountable on Immigration
March 17 marked the 45th anniversary of the Refugee Act, the law which established the right of migrants to seek asylum in the United States. It was a somber milestone…
Maryknoll OGC Speaks Out Against Invocation of Alien Enemies Act of 1798
President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 the weekend of March 15 and sent over 200 Venezuelan migrants to prison in El Salvador, despite a court order against it. The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns response to the concerning series of events is below.