MEET THE MEMBERS

Meet the founding member organizations of Justice for Immigrants. The following organizations, while varying in their focus, agree that the time for Comprehensive Immigration Reform is now.

Migration and Refugee Services- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Migration and Refugee Services carries out the commitment of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States to serve and advocate for immigrants, refugees, migrants, and people on the move. This commitment is rooted in the Gospel mandate that every person is to be welcomed by the disciple as if he or she were Christ himself and in the right of every human being to pursue, without restraint, the call of holiness. Migration and Refugee Services contributes to this commitment in an integrated fashion by:

• Assisting the bishops in the development and advocacy of policy positions at the national and international levels that address the needs and conditions of immigrants, refugees, migrants, and people on the move.
• Working with the federal government and local churches in resettling refugees admitted to the United States into caring and supportive communities.
• Assisting local churches and specialized apostolates in responding to the pastoral needs of Catholics among these populations, including the facilitation of pastoral accompaniment of migrants as necessary and possible, thereby aiding in the development and nurturing of a welcoming and supportive Church in the United States.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)

CLINIC is an immigrant legal service organization that is a subsidiary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).  Founded in 1988, its mission is “to enhance and expand the delivery of legal services to indigent and low-income immigrants principally through diocesan immigration programs and to meet the immigration needs identified by the Catholic Church in the United States.” 

More than 155 Catholic Charities and diocesan immigration legal programs receive a full range of legal and non-legal training and technical support services from CLINIC.  These programs provide legal services out of 247 offices and employ more than 1,200 legal practitioners who rely on CLINIC for training and case support. 

CLINIC attorneys work out of 13 offices nationwide.  CLINIC’s Board of Directors consists of elected and appointed bishops, as well as laypersons.   Everyday, CLINIC and its member agencies experience the great need for comprehensive immigration reform, the need for public education in immigrant communities, and the need for charitable agencies to build legal capacity so that they might better serve these communities.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is the domestic anti-poverty, social justice program of the U.S. Catholic bishops.

Its mission is to address the root causes of poverty in America through promotion and support of community-controlled, self-help organizations and through transformative education.

Founded in 1969, CCHD's pastoral strategy is empowerment of the poor through a methodology of participation and education for justice, leading toward solidarity between poor and non-poor as impelled by the Church's biblical tradition, modern Catholic social teaching, and the pervasive presence of poverty in the United States. This ministry for justice is rooted in our baptism and faith commitment.

The grants, economic development, and education for justice programs of the Campaign, implemented in collaboration with local dioceses, are supported from an annual collection in U.S. Catholic parishes.

Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services unite in a Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty to advocate for U.S. policies that foster economic and social developments for people living in poverty throughout the world.  The campaign focuses on three areas of U.S. economic policy:

• Trade: Shaping U.S. trade policies so that overcoming poverty and promoting human development are central priorities;
• Aid:  Supporting effective programs that foster long-term development and empowerment of the poor;
• Debt: Eliminating the debt of the poorest countries in ways that reduce poverty and promote human dignity.

The Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty recognizes that the shortcomings of U.S. economic policies relating to trade, aid, and debt serve as “push factors,” directly impacting migration pressures in the U.S.  The need to address the forces that drive migration creates a natural working relationship between a Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty and Justice for Immigrants: The Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform.

Catholic Charities USA

Catholic Charities USA is the membership association of one of the nation's largest social service networks. Our members‑more than 1,300 local agencies and institutions nationwide‑provide help and create hope for nearly seven million people a year regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds. For more than 275 years, local Catholic Charities agencies have been providing a myriad of vital services in their communities, ranging from day care and counseling to food and housing.  In 2003, local Catholic Charities agencies served more than 377,000 immigrants and refugees, offering such services as legal aid, citizenship classes, counseling, case management, legalization assistance, English classes, job placement and training, and much more.

Catholic Health Association 

The St. Louis-based Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) is the national leadership organization of the Catholic health ministry. By pursuing the strategic directions of mission, ethics, and advocacy, CHA is engaged in strengthening the health ministry for the future and creating health care that works for all. CHA represents more than 2,000 sponsors, systems, facilities, and related organizations that form the nation's largest group of not-for-profit health care. Founded in 1915, CHA unites the ministry engaged to advance selected strategic issues that are best addressed together rather than as individual organizations. 

Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network

The Catholic Migant Farmworker Network (CMFN) is a national organization dedicated to pastoral ministry with migrant and seasonal farm workers. Founded in 1986, the Network operates with the support and collaboration of the Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees of the U.S. Catholic Conference.

The CMFN works to bring the pastoral presence of the Church to thousands of migrant farm workers throughout our country. Though most farm workers continue to adhere to their traditional faith, they often lack the pastoral presence and support of the local church community.

Catholic Relief Services

Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. Our mission is to assist the poor and disadvantaged, leveraging the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to alleviate human suffering, promote development of all people and to foster charity and justice throughout the world.

Working through local offices and an extensive network of partners, CRS operates on 5 continents and in over 90 countries. We aid the poor by first providing direct assistance where needed, then encouraging these people to help with their own development. Together, this fosters secure, productive, just communities that enable people to realize their potential.

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

The Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) is an association of the leadership of men in religious and apostolic institutes in the United States. The Conference has formal ties with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the National Assembly of Religious Brothers and other national agencies. CMSM represents U.S. male religious and apostolic communities before a number of national and international bodies, including the Congregation of Religious and Secular Institutes of the Holy See, which officially recognizes CMSM as the national representative body for men in religious and apostolic communities in the United States.

The Department of Social Development and World Peace/ United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Department of Social Development and World Peace is the national public policy agency of the U.S. Catholic Bishops. The Department has three permanent offices: Domestic Social Development and International Justice and Peace, and Diocesan Relations. All three offices work together to ensure that the mission of the department is accomplished both in Washington, D.C. and in every diocese in the United States. The Department's goals are to help the U. S. bishops:

• Share the social teaching of the Church
• Apply Catholic social teaching to major contemporary domestic and international issues which have significant moral and human dimensions.
• Advocate effectively for the poor and vulnerable and for genuine justice and peace in the public policy arena.
• Build the capacity of the Church (national and diocesan) to act effectively in defense of human life, human dignity, human rights and the pursuit of justice and peace.

The Irish Apostolate USA

The Irish Apostolate USA is the response of the Irish and American Catholic Bishops to the needs of Irish immigrants in the United States – the needs of the whole human person.  It is the Christian imperative of caring for those who move far from the ancestral home, and welcoming the stranger as one would welcome Christ, once an exile himself.  We were founded in the late 1980s as a response to the appointment of Chaplains in the United States. Today the range of services is all-embracing: immigration matters, employment, accommodation, legal advice, accidents or unexpected illness, sudden death, depression, counseling, relationship problems, hospitalization, imprisonment, loneliness, educational needs, mother and toddler needs, sacramental (especially Baptism and Marriage) preparation, computer skills, job training, etc.   We celebrate with them at Marriages, Baptisms, House blessings and Masses, and special feasts.

The Jesuit Conference

 The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) has chosen migration as one of its priority concerns. The worldwide presence of Jesuits and colleagues allows coordinated pastoral work, academic research and advocacy. In the U.S., the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C. coordinates our work with parishes and community organizations, with universities and social centers, and with local, national and international advocacy groups. We also coordinate internationally, for example with the Jesusit Migration Service of Mexico and Central America as well as with the Jesuit Refugee Service.

Jesuit Refugee Services

As an international Catholic organization and a work of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is present in nearly 50 countries throughout the world.  Its mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced persons.  JRS provides assistance to refugees in refugee camps, to people displaced within their own country, to asylum seekers in cities and those held in detention centers. Like each of the ten geographic regions of JRS, the mission of the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS/USA) is to care for the most vulnerable of refugees, in particular those whose plight has been forgotten by the rest of the world.  Following Catholic social teaching, the mission of JRS applies the term de facto refugee to all persons persecuted because of race, religion, membership in social or political groups; to the victims of armed conflicts, erroneous economic policy or natural disasters; and to internally displaced persons, that is, civilians who are forcibly uprooted from their homes by the same type of violence as refugees but who do not cross national frontiers. Established in response to the human needs of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people worldwide, the structure of JRS/USA is such that it allows the implementation of its mission both within and outside the U.S.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious ( LCWR ) is the association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States . The conference has approximately 1000 members, who represent about 95 percent of the 75,000 women religious in the United States. Founded in 1956, the conference assists its members to collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today's world.

LCWR has a long history of commitment to social justice, and since 1986 has approved and acted upon seven Assembly Resolutions supporting human rights for people who are refugees and immigrants. 

National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors of Hispanic Ministries

The Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry, recognizing the commitment of Hispanic Catholics to the mission of Jesus Christ, unite in His liberating spirit to promote the full participation of Hispanics in church and society in communion with the Catholic bishops of the United States. In the spirit of a pastoral de conjunto, we commit ourselves to leadership development, mutual support, critical analysis and prayerful reflection.

• Create an association on the vision of a collaborative ministry;
• Engage diocesan reflection and planning of Hispanic Ministry;
• Provide continuing formation for diocesan directors;
• Assist members in finding mutual support, recognition and acceptance;
• Develop a common ministerial vision in the light of the Encuentros;
• Affirm the reality of the church in the United States in its rich cultural diversity, and continue to promote unity in pluralism as an expression of our catholicity;
• Assist Hispanics in the process of integration into the total life of the Church and society.

National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA)

NCEA is the largest private professional education organization in the world, representing 200,000 Catholic educators serving 7.6 million students in Catholic elementary and secondary schools, in religious education programs, in seminaries and in colleges and universities 

National Catholic Rural Life Conference

Founded in 1923, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference has been a witness for
hope in rural America for more than 80 years. Throughout these eight decades, the Rural Life Conference has lifted up and affirmed the rural way of life. Over the years, the Catholic Rural Life Conference has clearly stood in favor and support of rural people, family farms and local businesses that promote sustainable community development.

Its mission to support and empower rural people is made more necessary by globalization and world environmental issues. We join our members and supporters in witnessing for hope in rural America.

NETWORK

A Catholic Social Justice Lobby educates, organizes and lobbies for economic and social transformation. Founded in 1971 by 47 Catholic sisters, NETWORK is supported by thousands of groups and individuals committed to working for social and economic justice.

NETWORK is committed to working for comprehensive immigration reform that meets the needs of immigrants and our nation as a whole. We know that the current system is broken and that, as a result, immigrant families find themselves separated from loved ones and living in the shadows – this despite the fact that they are working hard and making vital contributions to the U.S. economy.

The Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The office of Hispanic Affairs operates with these objectives:

• To ASSIST the Catholic Church in its efforts to serve the large Catholic     Hispanic/Latino population in the United States and in the New Evangelization.
• To COORDINATE Hispanic ministry efforts in the Catholic Church through regional and diocesan offices, pastoral institutes, secular and ecclesial organizations, and apostolic movements.
• To PROMOTE the implementation of the National Pastoral Plan for  Hispanic Ministry, Ecclesia in America, Many Faces in God's House: A Catholic Vision for the Third Millennium, and other church documents, as well as the development of small ecclesial communities.
• To INTEGRATE the Hispanic presence into the life of the Catholic Church and society.

The National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW)

The National Council of Catholic Women is an organization established in 1920 that "acts through its membership to support, empower, and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership, and service.  NCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world."

NCCW is active in over 4500 parishes in 115 dioceses.  In 1964 NCCW recognized in an approved resolution, the great gifts which had been brought to our land by the immigrants of the past and affirmed the need for reform of our national immigration policy recognizing discriminatory national quotas, separation of families, and the inadequate provisions for refugees who had been accepted.  Again in 1995 NCCW recognized proposed and current laws that endangered the rights of immigrants, and children born in this country of immigrant parents.

The Roundtable

The Roundtable is the national association of Catholic diocesan social action directors and their staffs, providing professional support to members through education, formation, professional relationships, and management development. The association is committed to deepening the capacity of social action directors to engage in the social mission of the church. 

June 09, 2005