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
Now is the moment to hold CBP and other law enforcement in the United States accountable, and point to the reforms that will open a new chapter, one where human rights and life are paramount and protected at all times for all people.
Time is running out for Congress to take action for Dreamers.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and missioners working on the southern border call for this shameful practice [of sending migrants to northern cities without a plan] to end and for leaders at all levels of government to work together for an ethical approach to the management of migration that centers the dignity of the person, in this case, the vulnerable migrant.
The faith community has repeatedly urged Congress to provide lasting protection for our new Afghan neighbors. The only viable solution is through the passage of an Afghan Adjustment Act, as the U.S. has done for other vulnerable people such as Cubans following the rise of Fidel Castro, Southeast Asians following the fall of Saigon, and Iraqis following multiple U.S. military engagements.
We call on President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to halt all removals to Haiti immediately. The humanitarian crisis in Haiti continues to worsen. The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights stated in May that, “Armed violence has reached unimaginable and intolerable levels in Haiti.”
In light of the extraordinary global need, and the United States’ demonstrated capacity to expand welcome, it is imperative that your administration set a robust refugee admissions goal of 200,000 refugees for FY23.
More than 75,000 Afghans in the United States risk becoming undocumented if Congress does not take action.
Maryknoll Sisters issue urgent call for short-term volunteers to care for migrants in the juggle of Panama.
Civil society groups outlined migration policy priorities in a letter to Pres. Biden before the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June 2022.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined a coalition of over 100 other civil society organizations in sending the following letter to the Biden administration in advance of the Summit of the Americas meeting in Los Angeles in June 2022, explaining the coalition’s priorities for advancing just and humane migration policy.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns laments the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Robert Summerhays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana that will temporarily halt the Biden administration’s effort to end Title 42 expulsions at the border.
Kathleen Kollman Birch, communications manager at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, recalls the experience of Mass at a shelter for migrants in representing the unifying power of the Body and Blood of Christ.
Join a webinar on Thursday, May 19, at 4pm ET, that will examine Filipino history and culture to help address violence against Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
Tell Congress: Restore asylum now Last month, the CDC and the Biden administration announced that they would end rapid expulsions of asylum seekers under the Title 42 health policy on…
On May 4, over 1200 Catholic sisters sent a letter to President Biden urging him to follow through on his commitment to end Title 42 on May 23. Maryknoll sisters were among the signatories.
Immigrant and faith-based advocates continue to call for the end of Title 42 rapid expulsions of migrants at the border despite pushback from some members of Congress.
“We are relieved to hear that the Biden administration finally plans to end Title 42 expulsions,” said Susan Gunn, Director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. “We pray this decision is part of a larger effort to restore the asylum system to allow fair processing of migrants and asylum seekers.”
Join us on Good Friday, April 15, at 12 p.m. Eastern Time, for the 2022 Virtual Economic and Ecological Way of the Cross.
