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
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
2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference
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.
2017 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference
2016 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference
2015 Catholic Institutions & Immigrant Integration Conference
At Home Together: The Church and the Immigrant Family
Immigrant Integration: Assessing and Improving the Collective Response of the Catholic Church in the United States
Parish-Based Organizing for Leadership, Service, and Justice
The Shared Parish: Latinos, Anglos, and the Future of US Catholicism
2014 Catholic Institutions & Immigrant Integration Conference
References and Resources
Facts on Catholic Social Institutions
References and Resources
Publications
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.
...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......
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......
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.
...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.
...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.
...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.
...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......
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. ...
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....
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....
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.”...
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....
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....
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......
Model Programs and Ministries
#BEGOLDEN Campaign
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
Catholic Institutions Integrate Services in Large-Scale Response to the Needs of Immigrant Children
Interfaith Welcome Coalition
Terra Firma
Catholic Charities of Atlanta
Faith in Indiana
Frankfort Immigration Assistance Network
Pastoral Migratoria
Multimedia
CMSOnAir | Joanna Williams on the Kino Border Initiative
Apr, 03 2019 Posted in CMSOnAir2019 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration | Border Spirituality: ‘Tu eres mi otro yo’
Mar, 25 2019 Posted in Event VideoEstablished in 2014, the Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration addresses a migration-related topic of pressing concern to faith communities. Co-sponsored with the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, the 2019 Tomasi Lecture was delivered by Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas, S.T.D., Pastor of St. Mark’s Parish in El Paso, Texas at the fifth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in Santa Clara, California.
2017 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration
Mar, 12 2019 Posted in Event VideoFor 2017, the Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, CS Annual Lecture on International Migration and the Loyola Marymount University Hispanic Ministry and Theology Lecture jointly presented Dr. Maria Clara Bingemer, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC) and Brazilian Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Democracy and Human Development in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.