The CRISIS Survey: The Catholic Church’s Work with Immigrants in the United States in a Period of Crisis

The CRISIS Survey: The Catholic Church’s Work with Immigrants in the United States in a Period of Crisis

Event Date and Time July 14, 2021 2:00 pm

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Event Types:
Release Events Webinars

On July 14, 2021, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) hosted a webinar and discussion on its report, The CRISIS Survey: The Catholic Church’s Work with Immigrants in the United States in a Period of Crisis.

CMS administered the Catholic Refugee and Immigrant Service Integration Survey (the “CRISIS Survey”) from December 14, 2020 through February 5, 2021. This survey explored the work of Catholic institutions during the Trump administration and the COVID-19 pandemic. The CRISIS Survey documents the reach, diversity, and productivity of Catholic institutions that worked with immigrants and refugees during a pandemic which particularly devastated their communities and an administration whose policies and rhetoric made their work far more difficult.

The report’s authors – Donald Kerwin, Executive Director of CMS, and Daniela Alulema, Director of Programs of CMS – shared key findings and recommendations. The webinar also included guest remarks and reflections on the survey and its findings from Monica Ruiz-Caraballo, Executive Director of Casa San Jose, and Alfonso Lara, Director of Centro San Juan Diego Archdiocese of Denver.

Report
The CRISIS Survey: The Catholic Church’s Work with Immigrants in the United States in a Period of Crisis
Date of Publication: July 8, 2021 Authors:

Donald Kerwin and Daniela Alulema

The CRISIS Survey: The Catholic Church’s Work with Immigrants in the United States in a Period of Crisis

The CRISIS Survey documents the reach, diversity, and productivity of Catholic institutions that work with immigrants and refugees during a pandemic that has particularly devastated their communities and an administration whose policies and rhetoric made their work far more difficult. At a time of rampant “Catholic decline” narratives, the survey also documents the reach, vitality, and relevance of Catholic immigrant-serving institutions. It identifies the obstacles encountered by immigrants in accessing Catholic programs and ministries – both organizational (funding, staffing, and siting) and exogenous (federal policies, the pandemic, and community opposition). It underscores the threat posed by US immigration policies to immigrants and to the work of Catholic institutions.

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Speaker Profiles

Daniela Alulema
Director of Programs
Center for Migration Studies

Daniela Alulema is the director of programs for the Center for Migration Studies (CMS). In 2015, Ms. Alulema received her Master of Arts in the Urban Policy Analysis and Management Program at The New School. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Baruch College, CUNY in 2007. Ms. Alulema currently serves as a board member in the New York State Youth Leadership Council, where she also served as media and budgeting coordinator from 2009 to 2011. Originally from Quito, Ecuador, Ms. Alulema is fluent in Spanish and enjoys to travel.

Donald M. Kerwin Jr.
Executive Director
Center for Migration Studies

Donald M. Kerwin, Jr. has directed the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) since September 2011. He previously worked for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) between 1992 and 2008, serving as its Executive Director (ED) for 15 years and its interim ED for six months in late 2012 and early 2013. Upon his arrival at CLINIC in 1992, Mr. Kerwin coordinated CLINIC’s political asylum project for Haitians. CLINIC, a subsidiary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is a public interest legal corporation that supports a national network of several hundred charitable legal programs for immigrants. Between 2008 and 2011, Mr. Kerwin served as Vice-President for Programs at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), where he wrote on immigration, labor standards, and refugee policy issues. He has also served as an associate fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center where he co-directed Woodstock’s Theology of Migration Project; a non-resident senior fellow at MPI; a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Immigration Task Force; a board member for Jesuit Refugee Services-USA, the Capital Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, and the Border Network for Human Rights; an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration; and a member of numerous advisory groups. Mr. Kerwin writes and speaks extensively on immigration policy, refugee protection, access to justice, national security, and other issues.

Alfonso Lara
Director
Centro San Juan Diego
Archdiocese of Denver

Alfonso Lara is the current Director of Centro San Juan Diego, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Denver. Prior to becoming Director, he served as the Director of Hispanic Evangelization. Alfonso has worked for the Archdiocese of Denver for the past 15 years in a variety of roles that have all been in the service of the Hispanic immigrant community. He is passionate about evangelizing efforts and further capacitating and educating this community to thrive in their spiritual, personal, and professional lives. 

Alfonso was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, where he acquired studies on Philosophy and Theology in the local Diocesan Seminary pursuing priestly formation.

Monica Ruiz-Caballo
Executive Director
Casa San José

Monica Ruiz-Caballo is the Executive Director at Casa San José. Monica has been working with Casa since 2014 when she started as an intern, then moved to service coordinator and then community organizer. Prior to that, she worked for Catholic Charities as a case manager. Monica holds a master’s degree in Social Work with a focus on Community Organizing and Social Action. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in Psychology.

Monica is a powerful advocate for Latinos on legal, housing, development, and educational issues. She fights for those facing deportation proceedings and launches projects to assist women, children and youth. In addition, she partners with political, labor, religious, and law enforcement leadership to make Pittsburgh stronger and more welcoming to all.

Monica recently received the 2021 Women and Business Award from Pittsburgh Magazine as well as the 2021 Dr. Cyril Wecht Western PA Humanitarian Award. She also received the 2019 Women of Influence Award, Pittsburgh Business Times and the 2019 César Chávez Community Heroes Award. She was awarded with the 2018 New Person of the Year, from Thomas Merton Center and the 2018 Rising Star, from the University of Pittsburgh by the School of Social Work. She is currently a fellow of Lead Now Pittsburgh, a transformational leadership program for the civic sector. She also serves as Commissioner for the City of Pittsburgh on the Equal Opportunity Review Commission (EORC) and as a Commissioner for Governor Wolf, on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs (GACLA).