, the core committee gathered for a leadership retreat in September. Equally important as practical planning, the leaders got to know one another and their respective experiences, which is an integral dimension of the Undocu Network. Leaders also got to know ISN on a deeper level, which allowed them to better understand their roles and how they are representing Ignatian values in their advocacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Undocu Network hosted an IFTJ breakout session, titled \u201cBuilding Connections Across Difference,\u201d which reflected both the Undocu Network and ISN\u2019s value of community building with an eye for social justice. Panelists spoke about their respective experiences and the breakout session raised awareness about the existence of the community of undocumented students and their allies for other IFTJ delegates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn addition to the breakout session, the Undocu Network delegation also hosted a luncheon for IFTJ delegates, which provided a more informal space for attendees to ask questions, share their experiences, and move toward the explicit objective connoted in the breakout session\u2019s title. Jorge Palacios Jr.\u2014whose role on ISN staff is as the migration coordinator for youth engagement\u2014commented that the luncheon\u2019s more informal setting allowed \u201chigh school students to bring up their anxieties about going to college, and allowed college students to respond to some of those concerns. The faculty and staff in attendance were chiming in as well.\u201d Importantly, the students who were there as allies asked for talking points to take to their congressional leaders on Advocacy Day, which is held annually on Capitol Hill at the culmination of IFTJ.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJonathan Mora speaks at the 2024 IFTJ Advocacy Day Public Witness outside of the U.S. Capitol.<\/p><\/div>\n
Jonathan Mora, a core committee member and Boston College senior, chose to attend IFTJ as a delegate of the Undocu Network rather than as a delegate of Boston College because of his desire to prioritize his participation as an advocate for undocumented students. A transformative education studies student and the son of Mexican parents, Jonathan grew up in a mixed-status community in Worcester, MA. \u201cAttending IFTJ felt amazing. I never would have thought I had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C., in college,\u201d reflected Mora. \u201cIt was really empowering to walk into [a] Senator’s office, and it humanized politics in a way that made me feel like I could become a politician someday.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe core committee leaders were joined by two Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and their lay colleagues from Lacrosse, WI in advocacy meetings with Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin\u2019s office. When staffers asked the respective group leaders\u2014Palacios and the two religious sisters\u2014if they had anything to add to what the student delegations were sharing, their response was: \u201cwe\u2019re here to lift up the voices of these students.\u201d Palacios expressed how moved he was to witness the students\u2019 advocacy meetings after months of strategizing and is further encouraged by the responsibility the students have taken to follow up with their respective representatives\u2019 offices.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In October of 2023, ISN\u2019s Undocu Network sent an official delegation to the annual Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice. Delegates hosted a breakout session and facilitated an advocacy visit to Capitol Hill, speaking to Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin\u2019s office about humane migration reform and the lived realities of migration policy in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":742,"featured_media":100409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1023,14],"tags":[33433,1359,33579],"yoast_head":"\n
Empowering and Humanizing: Undocu Network Delegation at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice - Ignatian Solidarity Network<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n