US Catholic Institutions and Immigrant Integration

The Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative examines whether Catholic institutions have maintained their special connection to immigrant communities in the United States and how they can increase and improve their work on immigrant integration, well-being and empowerment. The initiative studies the work of Catholic and other faith-based institutions with immigrants. It also documents and disseminates promising integration programs and practices in parishes, elementary schools, universities, the workplace, immigrant service networks, charities, hospitals, and other institutions and sectors. Its overall goal is to support and expand a growing network of Catholic institutions that are implementing successful integration models within and across sectors.

Virtually all of the Catholic Church’s signature institutions—its parishes, schools, universities, hospitals, charities, fraternal and sororal groups, labor centers and others—arose in response to the needs of past waves of immigrants and their progeny. While the Catholic Church’s work with immigrants remains robust, its US institutions have not fully pivoted to meet the needs and incorporate the gifts of the nation’s record number of immigrants and their children. Put differently, immigrant integration in the Catholic sense—of promoting communion between natives and newcomers, development of “each” person and the “whole” person, and building a better society through the evangelization of culture—has not yet become a unifying institutional priority.

Catholic agencies can play a vital role in fostering civic participation, improving educational outcomes and promoting the socio-economic attainment of immigrants and their families. On the other hand, Catholic institutions can be and, in fact, are being renewed and revitalized by the gifts, contributions and leadership of immigrants, particularly youth. This process should expand and accelerate.

The Catholic Immigrant Integration Project is guided by a national advisory council comprised of more than 30 representatives from national and local service-delivery networks; universities and school systems; pastoral, parish-based and ethnic ministries; and immigrant community groups. This work has received a substantial boost from Pope Francis’ vision, teaching and frequent statements on immigrants and integration at https://cmsny.org/wp-content/uploads/JFI-Kerwin-11.17.15.pdf.

Advisory Council

Jeanne M. Atkinson
Former Executive Director
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

Msgr. Arturo Bañuelas
Pastor
St. Mark Catholic Church in El Paso, TX

William Canny
Executive Director, Migration and Refugee Services
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

Rev. Sean Carroll, S.J.
Executive Director
Kino Border Initiative

Dr. Arturo Chavez
President and CEO
Mexican American Catholic College

Dylan Corbett
Executive Director
Hope Border Institute

Kathleen A. Curran
Senior Director of Public Policy
Catholic Health Association of the United States

Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio
Bishop of Brooklyn, NY

Sr. Sally Duffy
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati

Anna Gallagher
Executive Director
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

Dr. Mary Gautier
Senior Research Associate
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA)

Dr. Brett Hoover
Assistant Professor of Theology
Loyola Marymount University

Kiku Huckle
Associate Professor and Graduate Director of Theological Studies
Pace University

Donald Kerwin
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies

Fr. J. Cletus Kiley
Archdiocese of Chicago, IL

Sharon Granados Mahato
Development Associate
Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN)

Estela Villagrán Manancero
Director of Latino Ministry
Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis

María del Mar Muñoz-Visoso
Executive Director, Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

Fr. Patrick Murphy
Director
Centro Scalabrini – Casa del Migrante Tijuana

Dr. Hosffman Ospino
Assistant Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education
Boston College

Marjean A. Perhot
Director, Refugee and Immigration Services
Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Boston, MA

Elena Segura
Director, Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education
Archdiocese of Chicago, IL

Vanna Slaughter
Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs
City of Dallas

Leya Speasmaker
Integration Program Manager, Center for Citizenship and Immigrant Communities
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

Prof. Roberto Suro
Professor of Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the School of Policy, Planning and Development and Director of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute
University of Southern California

Carmen Vázquez
Vice President for Student Affairs
University of San Diego

Patricia Zapor
Director of Communications
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

Events

Venue: Virtual

2020 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative

The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) and the University of Notre Dame hosted the 2020 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference on Thursday, October 1 and Friday, October 2, 2020. This annual event is part of CMS’s Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative (CIII) which seeks to understand, expand and strengthen the work of Catholic institutions with immigrant communities.

Venue: Santa Clara University School of Law

2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference

Learn more about the 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference held from March 11-13, 2019 in Santa Clara, California.

Venue:

A Catholic Response to Exclusionary Nationalism, the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection, and Recent Developments in US Immigration Policy

This webinar by Donald Kerwin, Executive Director for the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), will be devoted to a discussion of Catholic teaching on migrants, refugees, and newcomers. Mr. Kerwin will discuss the Biblical touchstones of Catholic teaching on migrant and refugees, key principals that guide the Church’s analysis of this timeless issue, recent developments in US immigration policy and refugee protection, and how the Catholic community views and can respond to them. The presentation will draw on CMS’s scholarship and research.

Venue: Loyola Marymount University

2017 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference

CMS, Loyola Marymount University, and Mount Saint Mary’s University hosted the 2017 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.

Venue: Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at The University of San Diego

2016 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference

CMS, the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of San Diego and the University of San Diego hosted the 2016 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.

Venue: Cathedral High School

2015 Catholic Institutions & Immigrant Integration Conference

CMS, Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), Hope Border Institute, and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) hosted a one-day conference in El Paso, Texas about the US-Mexico border with leaders of diverse Catholic institutions, scholars, service providers and immigrant communities.

Venue: Archdiocesan Pastoral Center

At Home Together: The Church and the Immigrant Family

CMS, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the World Meeting of Families, Villanova University, Migration and Refugee Services/US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious hosted an evening event on the challenges facing immigrant families in the United States and the Catholic Church’s response.

Venue: Online

Immigrant Integration: Assessing and Improving the Collective Response of the Catholic Church in the United States

In this webinar, on ‘Immigrant Integration: Assessing and Improving the Collective Response of the Catholic Church in the United States’ Donald Kerwin, CMS’s Executive Director, introduced the Catholic Immigrant Integration Project, and discussed the role Catholic institutions play in fostering civic participation, improving educational outcomes and promoting the socio-economic attainment of immigrants, their children, and their grandchildren. He also outlined a Catholic vision of integration, and discussed the importance of immigrant leadership and participation in Catholic institutions. Mary L. Gautier, Senior Research Associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) and a member of the Advisory Group to the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative, spoke on the growing importance of immigrant and minority communities for the US Catholic Church and the misalignment between the Catholic Church’s institutional infrastructure and new immigrant communities.

Venue: Center for Migration Studies

Parish-Based Organizing for Leadership, Service, and Justice

CMS hosted a gathering on organizing parish communities with large immigrant populations for leadership, service and justice. The event featured Elena Segura, who directs the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education, and runs an innovative program called Pastoral Migratoria (PM), an “immigrant-to-immigrant ministry...born from the desire of immigrants to assist one another in their plight, to live their baptismal call and be agents of a broader evangelization to newcomers and natives.” .

Venue: Center for Migration Studies

The Shared Parish: Latinos, Anglos, and the Future of US Catholicism

As faith communities in the United States grow more diverse due, in large part, to immigration, increasing numbers of Catholic parishes are being “shared” by distinct cultural groups who retain their own ministries and styles of worship. Today, it is...

Venue: Casa Italiana

2014 Catholic Institutions & Immigrant Integration Conference

The Catholic Church’s institutions and ministries – education, health, charities, labor, legal services, refugee resettlement, community-organizing, pastoral, and others – face critical opportunities and challenges in meeting the needs of today’s immigrants. In 2013 to 2014, a number of leaders from...

Mobility and Lockdown: Challenges to the Human

Date of Publication: October 2, 2020 Authors:

His Eminence Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, SJ

Mobility and Lockdown: Challenges to the Human

The 2020 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by His Eminence Cardinal Michael F. Czerny, SJ, Under-Secretary for the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Human Development.

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Immigrant Integration and Disintegration in an Era of Exclusionary Nationalism

Date of Publication: July 29, 2020 Authors:

Donald Kerwin

Immigrant Integration and Disintegration in an Era of Exclusionary Nationalism

This is a working paper and draft chapter for the forthcoming book, Christianity and the Law of Migration, eds. Silas W. Allard, Kristin E. Heyer, and Raj Nadella (London: Routledge, 2021).

Will the nation’s historic genius at integrating immigrants persist? With a record 44 million foreign-born U.S. residents and nearly double that number counting their US-born children, the stakes could not be higher. This chapter will explore the integration successes and challenges of U.S. immigrants and their progeny. It examines the conditions in receiving societies that improve and diminish the integration prospects of immigrants. These include, on the one hand, rising nationalism, nativism, and a rapidly changing labor market due to automation, robotization, and artificial intelligence, and, on the other hand, integration initiatives and strong mediating institutions. The chapter will begin by exploring different conceptions of integration, and conclude by reflecting on how Christianity might inform national and local integration policies. While this chapter focuses on the U.S. context, the issues discussed are pertinent in a wide variety of countries experiencing significant immigration.

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CMS Estimates on DACA Recipients by Catholic Archdiocese and Diocese

This paper provides estimates on beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) by Roman Catholic archdiocese and diocese (“arch/diocese”) in order to assist Catholic institutions, legal service providers, pastoral workers and others in their work with DACA recipients. In addition, the paper summarizes past estimates by the Center for Migration Studies about DACA recipients, which highlight their ties and contributions to the United States. It also offers resources for Catholic institutions, educators, and professionals that serve this group.

The Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Faith-Based Organizations: An Analysis of the FEER Survey

Date of Publication: June 12, 2019 Authors:

Donald Kerwin and Mike Nicholson

The Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Faith-Based Organizations: An Analysis of the FEER Survey

This paper analyzes the impact of the Trump administration immigration policies on Catholic organizations, presenting the results of CMS’s Federal Enforcement Effect Research (FEER) Survey. It finds that US policies in the Trump era have significantly increased immigrant demand for the services provided by Catholic institutions and, in general, that these institutions have expanded their services in response. However, 59 percent of respondents – the highest total for this question – identified “fear of apprehension or deportation” as “negatively” impacting immigrants’ access to their services. In addition, 57 percent reported that immigration enforcement has “very negatively” or “somewhat negatively” affected the participation of immigrants in their programs or ministries. The FEER Survey illustrates the need for broad immigration reform. It shows that the status quo prevents immigrants from accessing the services they need and it impedes people of faith from effectively exercising their religious convictions on human dignity, protection, and service to the poor and vulnerable.

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A Catholic Reflection on Host Communities

Date of Publication: April 17, 2019 Authors:

Fr. Eduardo C. Fernandez, SJ

A Catholic Reflection on Host Communities

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2, NRSV). As these words from Sacred Scripture indicate, the Judeo-Christian tradition commands the believer to provide a sympathetic welcome to foreigners. Yet, the passage reveals that the giver of......

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Breaking Down Barriers and Welcoming the Stranger: 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference

Date of Publication: April 17, 2019 Authors:

Mike Nicholson

Breaking Down Barriers and Welcoming the Stranger: 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference

On March 12 and 13, 2019, 181 representatives of Catholic immigrant-serving organizations from around the country convened at Santa Clara University School of Law to take part in the Center for Migration Studies’s (CMS’s) annual Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference. The conference highlighted the tireless and groundbreaking work that Catholic......

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Address by Most Reverend Oscar Cantú, Bishop of San Jose

Date of Publication: March 12, 2019 Authors:

Most Rev. Oscar Cantú

Address by Most Reverend Oscar Cantú, Bishop of San Jose

On March 12, 2019, Most Reverend Oscar Cantú, Bishop of San Jose, delivered the welcoming keynote at the 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference at Santa Clara Law School in Santa Clara, California. In his remarks, Bishop Cantú considers how the Church has and can deploy its limited resources and implement successful models of integration to better address immigration and better welcome immigrants.

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Border Spirituality: ‘Tu eres mi otro yo’

Date of Publication: March 12, 2019 Authors:

Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas

Border Spirituality: ‘Tu eres mi otro yo’

The 2019 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas, Pastor of St. Mark’s Parish in El Paso, TX on March 12, 2019 at the sixth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in Santa Clara, California.

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Address by Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco

Date of Publication: March 13, 2019 Authors:

Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone

Address by Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco

On March 13, 2019, Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, delivered a keynote address at the 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference at Santa Clara Law School in Santa Clara, California. In his remarks, Archbishop Cordileone discusses: the Catholic Church’s concern for men, women, and children “on the move”; common themes found throughout the Church’s pastoral vision and the conference goals; immigrant contributions; how changing US immigration and refugee polices are affecting Catholic institutions and integration efforts; and promising and successful programs and ministries with immigrants.

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The Worker/Immigrant Link: America’s Driving Force

Date of Publication: November 29, 2017 Authors:

Kimball Baker

The Worker/Immigrant Link: America’s Driving Force

Kimball Baker (author of “Go to the Worker”: America’s Labor Apostles) examines the role of immigrants in America’s labor unions and worker centers.

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Justice Junction in the Heartland: A Labor Day Reflection on the Catholic Church’s Commitment to Immigrant Justice, Then and Now

Date of Publication: September 2, 2017 Authors:

Kimball Baker

Justice Junction in the Heartland: A Labor Day Reflection on the Catholic Church’s Commitment to Immigrant Justice, Then and Now

In 1828, an immigrant to America, young Italian Samuel Mazzuchelli, braved the challenges of the US frontier. He became a Dominican priest and traveled widely throughout the Midwest, ministering first to Native Americans and fur trappers, then to the Irish lead miners of the Upper Mississippi Valley. In 1847, he......

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Building Structures of Solidarity and Instruments of Justice: The Catholic Immigrant Integration Surveys

Date of Publication: March 2017 Authors:

Donald Kerwin and Kyle Barron

Building Structures of Solidarity and Instruments of Justice: The Catholic Immigrant Integration Surveys

In this report, CMS details findings from two surveys distributed to two broad sets of US Catholic institutions – (1) Catholic social and charitable agencies and (2) parishes and schools – to capture their work in helping integrate immigrants in the United States. ...

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Pope Francis, Migration, and the Journey to Human Development and Peace

Date of Publication: March 7, 2017 Authors:

Donald Kerwin

Pope Francis, Migration, and the Journey to Human Development and Peace

Donald Kerwin, CMS’s Executive Director, provides an overview of the VI International Forum on Migration and Peace, organized by the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) in late February 2017 in Rome, Italy....

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Our Religious Obligations to Refugees and Migrants

Date of Publication: February 10, 2017 Authors:

Donald Kerwin

Our Religious Obligations to Refugees and Migrants

Donald Kerwin, CMS's Executive Director, presented this address at the Seminar on Migration and Religion at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands held on February 9 and 10, 2017....

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Address by Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn

Date of Publication: February 10, 2017 Authors:

Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.

Address by Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn

The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, addressed the SIMN VI International Forum on Migration and Peace in Rome, Italy from February 20-22, 2017. Bishop DiMarzio spoke national engagement on the panel, “Mapping the Migration Activities of Catholic Organizations.”...

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The Catholic Church’s Commitment to Immigrants and Refugees at the Dawn of the Trump Era

Date of Publication: January 17, 2017 Authors:

Donald Kerwin

The Catholic Church’s Commitment to Immigrants and Refugees at the Dawn of the Trump Era

Donald Kerwin, CMS' Executive Director, reflects on the 2016 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference and the Catholic Church's commitment to migrants and refugees as President Trump takes offices....

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Support and Setback: Catholic Churches and the Adaptation of Unaccompanied Guatemalan Maya Youth in Los Angeles

Date of Publication: November 3, 2016 Authors:

Stephanie L. Canizales

Support and Setback: Catholic Churches and the Adaptation of Unaccompanied Guatemalan Maya Youth in Los Angeles

Stephanie L. Canizales, a PhD Candidate at the University of Southern California, examines the role of religion and religious institutions in the adaptation of unaccompanied Central American youth in Los Angeles....

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US Catholic Institutions and Immigrant Integration: Will The Church Rise To The Challenge?

Date of Publication: 2014 Authors:

Donald Kerwin, with Breana George

US Catholic Institutions and Immigrant Integration: Will The Church Rise To The Challenge?

US Catholic Institutions and Immigrant Integration: Will The Church Rise To The Challenge? arises from a multi-year process led by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), to engage the leaders of diverse US Catholic agencies, academics and others on immigrant integration as......

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Model Programs and Ministries

Network of Catholic Schools Give Marginalized Youth a Chance to Succeed

Partnership Schools, a network of nine Catholic elementary schools in New York, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio, is giving immigrant youth from the inner city a chance to learn and thrive in a faith-based and safe environment.

In Northern Alabama, Catholic Program Provides Support to Immigrants

Guadalupan Multicultural Services of the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama, otherwise known as “La Casita,” has provided a range of services to immigrants in northern Alabama for years.

Two Scalabrini Priests Assist Vulnerable Groups during COVID-19 Pandemic

Two Scalabrini priests located at opposite ends of North America have worked to support vulnerable groups during the COVID pandemic.

#BEGOLDEN Campaign

#BEGOLDEN is a powerful initiative that reminds people of the Golden Rule – to treat others as we want to be treated.

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley

Parish hall in McAllen, TX transforms into a respite center for migrants

Catholic Institutions Integrate Services in Large-Scale Response to the Needs of Immigrant Children

Catholic institutions and initiatives mobilize to address the needs of unaccompanied children

Interfaith Welcome Coalition

Interfaith community in Texas comes together against family detention

Terra Firma

Innovative medical-legal partnership supporting unaccompanied minors in Bronx, NY

Catholic Charities of Atlanta

Catholic Charities of Atlanta’s “Refugee Camp Immersion Experience” fosters awareness and inspires service to refugees in Greater Atlanta

Faith in Indiana

Faith in Indiana protects and empowers immigrants in the Hoosier State

Frankfort Immigration Assistance Network

The Frankfort Immigration Assistance Network: a community coming together

Pastoral Migratoria

Pastoral Migratoria – Developing and Strengthening Immigrant Leadership One Parish At the Time

CMSONAIR | Staying Connected to Urban Students and Their Parents

Nov, 30 2020 Posted in CMSOnAir

Partnership Schools, a network of nine elementary and middle schools in urban areas of New York and Cleveland, is trying to stem the tide of Catholic school closings. Their network is taking a unique approach to funding, relying heavily on philanthropic support and keeping costs down, while maintaining high-quality education.