Over 10 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States without a pathway to citizenship, along wiht more than 2.5 million temporary residents—including DACA and TPS recipients, and those with pending asylum cases. Many of these temporary residents are in danger of losing their status and becoming undocumented. Our immigration court system and the implementation of immigration policies are all facilitated by the U.S. executive branch. Only Congress has the authority to change our current immigration system and provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented and temporary resident immigrants. 

The Ignatian Solidarity Network believes that our current immigration system is broken. We believe undocumented and temporary resident immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship. We believe our immigration laws should treat all migrants with dignity and respect, uphold the values of keeping families unified, and be a beacon of hope and safety. Through our formation of allies and the empowerment of impacted immigrants, we are working toward this immigration system. 

Thousands of Central Americans are fleeing their homes, leaving behind poverty stemming from failed economic models, armed conflict and other forms of violence, corrupt governments, and the effects of climate change. Rates of poverty and violence remain high in the region, and violence at the home, community, and state levels is now listed as one of the primary driving factors for migration. Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has cited that there will be an estimate of 200 million climate migrants by 2050.

We believe that people have the right to live, work, and reach their full potential in their country of origin, and that when that is not possible, that they also have the right to migrate. Catholic Social Teaching calls us to examine the systemic injustices that drive people to leave their home communities and countries.

As asylum seekers flee  to the U.S. with the hope of finding safety and a better life, many are being denied asylum and criminally prosecuted. Asylum seekers are being treated with extreme cruelty as a deterrent from seeking protection through lengthy delays in having asylum cases decided, punitive enforcement measures, and the separation of families. The U.S. has spent over $100 billion on border and interior enforcement since 2004, increasingly militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border. As people of faith, we believe we must treat all people with dignity and respect, including, and especially, those seeking asylum.

With over 10 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows, undocumented communities are constantly attacked by unjust policies, political disputes, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) practices. For sixteen years, Congress has spent billions of dollars to fund ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and private detention centers. Our current detention system incentivizes the unjust detention of many immigrants. These detention centers are run by ICE. Migrants are warehoused in jail-like facilities with inhumane living conditions and no access to free court-appointed attorneys. As a result, many immigrants have died while in these facilities.

There are over 1.5 million people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protection Status (TPS) who are in limbo, at risk of deportation, and becoming undocumented. In the last few years, they have been used as bargaining chips in Congress  Around 16.6 million people are in “mixed-status” families, with at least one member who is undocumented and/or one with DACA or TPS. These families are in constant fear of being separated. 

All human beings should be treated with dignity and respect. Families should be kept together and protected. We must ensure our policies do not criminalize immigrants nor put them in danger any more than they are fleeing.