Faith in action: Protect Haitians in the U.S.
The following action alert was published in the May-June 2017 issue of NewsNotes.
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
Global migration crisis: Border walls destroy life
On April 28, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 38 national faith-based organizations and 41 state & local faith-based organizations and congregations in a letter to all members of Congress urging them to oppose funding for a border wall and further militarized infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, we ask Congress to appropriate funding that supports our shared faith principles and reorients the Department of Homeland Security’s strategies toward more sensible and humane solutions that are informed by and to the benefit of border communities.
Urgent! Protect Haitians in the U.S.
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…
U.S. border wall proposal inconsistent with interfaith values
80 faith-based organizations tell Congress: Border walls are immoral use of public funds.
Second Sunday of Lent
Alfonso Buzzo, former Peace Fellow, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, writes about seeing Jesus in the suffering migrants and refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Love and welcome for migrants and refugees of all faith traditions
We cannot let fear blind us to the despair of migrants and refugees.
U.S. immigration enforcement: Shocking changes
Things are changing fast for vulnerable communities with which Maryknoll missioners have worked for decades.
Loving Our Neighbor, Embodying Sanctuary
Isaac S. Villegas, pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship and board member of the North Carolina Council of Churches, shared this reflection at the “Loving Our Neighbor: Embodying Sanctuary” conference at Duke Divinity School on January 28, 2017.
Take action for refugees and immigrants
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….
Religious leaders’ letter supporting refugee resettlement
More than 2,000 faith leaders tell President Trump they stand in solidarity with refugees and migrants.
U.S.-Mexico border: Radical hospitality
When Maryknoll Sister Lil Mattingly in El Paso, Texas, shared the urgent need for volunteers to help the growing numbers of refugees and migrants there, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns sent Alfonso Buzzo, our peace fellow, to live and work at Annunciation House, a home of hospitality in El Paso. The following article is Alfonso’s reflection on his month-long experience there.
World Day of the Migrant and Refugee
From the Vatican: “Minor migrants, vulnerable and voiceless” will be the theme of the 103rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be held on 15 January 2017, according to a communiqué issued today by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, which emphasises that migration is a worldwide phenomenon,…
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Day of Prayer and Solidarity with Families of Immigrants
The USCCB announced that in conjunction with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe — Monday, December 12th — will also be a national day of prayer for immigrants and their families. The 2016 feast celebration will be a Day of Prayer and Solidarity With Families of Immigrants, with a focus on the gifts of…
National Migration Week
From the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Creating a Culture of Encounter For nearly a half century, the Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Migration Week, which is an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking. The…
Taiwan: Justice for migrant workers
In October Taiwan’s legislature passed an amendment to the Employment Service Act, which eases a significant burden on the country’s migrant workers.
Global migration crisis: U.S. detention rates soar
The U.S. immigration detention rates are spiraling out of control, reinforcing what advocates have been saying for years: Immigration detention is unfair, unnecessary, and too costly. The following article was written by Alfonso Buzzo, Peace Fellow with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
Global migration crisis: New York Declaration
On September 19 the United Nations held its first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants. The purpose of this gathering was for heads of state to adopt the New York Declaration, a lengthy political declaration that “expresses the political will of world leaders to save lives, protect rights and share responsibility on a global scale.” The…
Take action: Stop skyrocketing immigration detention rates
The Obama administration is finishing its final months with record-level immigration detention rates. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), estimates that they will have…