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
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined members of the Justice for Immigrants (JFI) Campaign from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter to President Biden calling for protections for longtime undocumented residents in the United States. Read the letter as a PDF.
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, UN agencies and NGOs note a rise in the number of refugees around the globe are on the rise and further forces of destabilization that put people more at risk.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined Haitian Bridge Alliance and 480+ Immigration, Human Rights, Faith-Based, and Civil Rights Organizations in Sending a Letter to President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Mayorkas Urging the Extension and Redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and a Moratorium on Deportations.
Rule changes initiated by the US Department of State have resulted in backlogs for noncitizen religious workers seeking visas, resulting in onerous consequences for religious workers and their communities.
Annunciation House, a Catholic-affiliated non-profit organization in El Paso, Texas, that operates a group of houses of hospitality for migrants, is facing attempts by the Texas attorney general to shut it down on baseless accusations.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined over 150 faith-based organizations in a letter to President Biden asking him to reconsider some of the reported changes in policy his administration is weighing that would negatively impact asylum seekers.
Annunciation house, which serves migrants in El Paso, Texas, has come under attack by the Texas Attorney General’s Office with baseless accusations.
The leadership of the four branches of the Maryknoll family issued the following statement on February 23, 2024.
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined fifteen other humanitarian groups that work for the rights of migrants who reach the U.S.-Mexico border in a statement of solidarity with Annunciation House, an organization that offers hospitality to migrants in El Paso, Texas.
Sign the letter to State Department Assistant Secretary Bitter and USCIS Director Jaddo requesting solutions to the delays and difficulties of requesting a religious worker visa.
A long-anticipated bill includes some of the most egregious immigration and asylum policy proposals seen in recent years.
Expanding detention further criminalizes people who are seeking protection for themselves and their children.
Amid rising deaths at the US/Mexico Border, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Director Susan Gunn offered a comment on the dangerous anti-immigration policies.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Debbie Northern sees the readings as a call to action for us to change our ways as a society
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 50 other Catholic organizations in a letter to Senators and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to express opposition to several extreme immigration proposals reportedly considered as part of the Biden administration’s budget requests. The letter names, in particular, opposition to proposals to change the “credible fear” test for asylum, mandate detention for asylum seekers, expand expedited removals, and codify the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
The U.S. Department of State resettled over 14 thousand refugees from October 1 to December 1, its strongest two-month showing in seven years.
As part of negotiations over Pres. Biden’s supplemental funding request, the Senate is considering proposals that would permanently gut asylum and compromise legal immigration pathways.
Our nation’s diverse faith traditions call us to love our neighbor, accompany the vulnerable, and welcome the sojourner. The asylum provisions under consideration are not in line with our country and our communities’ long legacy of welcome. We urge your administration and members of Congress to reject the permanent asylum restrictions under discussion and support solutions that would live up to our values and welcome the most vulnerable
