Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Maryknoll missioners have worked with migrants and people on the move for decades. They have served Burmese refugees in Thailand, 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.

According to a UNESCO glossary, “Migrants are people who make choices about when to leave and where to go, even though these choices are sometimes extremely constrained. Indeed, some scholars make a distinction between voluntary and involuntary migration.”

In particular, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns follows issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border. Maryknoll’s long-standing presence along the border is key to our engagement, but additionally, here 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.

Our office works primarily through the Border Working Group (BWG), a coalition of faith-centered and human rights groups based in Washington, D.C. Through advocacy and education, the BWG works to see that the policies of the U.S. government toward all migrants are created out of a sense of compassion, respect for human rights, and an acknowledgement of the vital role migrants play in the U.S.’s economy and society.

Since its founding in early 2001, the BWG has brought experts from the border to D.C. to share their perspectives with policymakers directly through briefings in the halls of Congress in 2001 and in 2004. For the past two summers, the BWG has written a series of brief articles for Congressional staff that draw attention to the deaths at the border and the policies that contribute to them. The BWG has also created a resource packet for those interested in border issues; met with key policy-makers in order to impact migration agreements; and planned and participated in a delegation to the U.S./Mexico Border.

See also:

• Thailand:
  Stop the forced repatriation of Hmong asylum seekers to Laos

• Justice for Immigrants update February 2008

• Update on migration legislation, February 2008

• Migration: Oppose the SAVE Act of 2007

• Welcoming the strangers –Refugees, migrants and asylum seekers (Program for small groups, PDF)

• Biblical roots for involvement in refugee and immigration ministries (PDF document)

• Vatican: Defend the rights of migrants, refugees and their families

• Catholics in Alliance/Pax Christi USA bulletin insert on immigration

• "Toward Global Solidarity," Maryknoll Leadership statement on
  migration (Sept 2006)

• Migration and Catholic Social Teaching

• MOGC Update on migration, May 2006 (PDF File)

• Reframing the Immigration Debate: The Actors and the Issues (from the International Relations Center)

• Immigrations basics, provided by the Education for Justice project of the Center of Concern (April 10, 2006)

• Maryknoll leadership statement on U.S. immigration (March 30, 2006)

• Declaración del liderazgo de Maryknoll sobre immigración a Estados Unidos (March 30, 2006)

• Border Working Group 2006 packet: Stop Border Deaths Now!
  (March 30, 2006)

• Border Women, an interfaith social justice group, release public
  statement in solidarity with migrants (March 27, 2006)

• No More Deaths action packet -- support humanitarian aid in the U.S. southwestern desert (PDF file, 22 pages)

• Border Working Group Update # 6 (PDF file, September 8, 2005)

• Border Working Group Update # 5 (PDF file, August 16, 2005)

• Border Working Group Update # 4 (PDF file, July 19, 2005)

• Border Working Group Update # 3 (PDF file, July 5, 2005)

• Border Working Group Update #2 (PDF File, June 21, 2005)

• Border Working Group Update #1 (PDF File, June 6, 2005)

Links

• Church Without Borders, a Maryknoll lay mission project
• Maryknoll Border Team, El Paso
• U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
• International Organization for Migration
• Migration Information Source
• Migration Policy Institute
• Forced Migration Online
• Refugees International
• Border Action Network
• Humane Borders
• No More Deaths campaign
• Franciscans International's Handbook on Human Trafficking
• Franciscans International's Handbook on Migrant Workers