Quixote Center recognizes migration as a fundamental human right that also benefits the communities that receive them. Beyond their economic contribution, the integration of people from all over the world enriches the cultural diversity and strengthens the social fabric of the United States, a nation built by migrants for migrants.
The Quixote Center’s principal international partnership is with the Franciscan Network for Migrants (FNM). The Franciscan Network for Migrants is an effort to connect shelters run by Franciscan orders which provide humanitarian assistance to migrants who are traveling through Mexico, Central and South America. We serve as the fiscal sponsor for the Franciscan Network for Migrants within the United States, and coordinate advocacy efforts with their staff.
Quixote Center and FNM organize Solidarity Trips every six months since 2022 as part of our advocacy, bringing U.S. based migrant justice professionals to Southern Mexico and Panama to see firsthand how the U.S. border externalization policies impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people trying to seek refuge in the United States.
Find out more about our Solidarity Travel Program HERE.
As a result of our 2024 Solidarity Trip to Panama, we are currently working with the FNM Panama team on a Training of Trainers program to equip volunteers to provide spiritual accompaniment and observe that the human rights of migrants are respected in the Darien where FNM has established a permanent presence in the community of Bajo Chiquito.
Read March 11, 2025's Executive Decree from Panamanian President Jose Mulino en Español AQUI
Read the Red Clamor statement February 2025 in English HERE y en Español AQUI.
Read the Red Clamor Panama statement February 2025 HERE.
Read the Red Clamor Panama statement February 2025 in Spanish HERE.
Read January 21st, 2025 Joint Statement with our partners at the Franciscan Network on Migration here
Read November 22nd, 2024 statement from the Franciscan Network on Migration's National Assembly in Mexico here.
Participants from the March 2024 trip wrote the report: Danger in the Darién Gap: Human RIghts Abuses and the Need for Human Pathways to Safety to denounce US efforts to further externalize US border to Panama.
The Quixote Center launched the Migrant Justice program in 2018 to demand justice for migrants at the US border, within the United States and throughout their journey. We worked to end immigrant detention, and defended the right to asylum, which has been eroded over the last several years. We also partnered with organizations who work with migrants in the United States and in Latin America, organizing webinars and publishing reports.
The immigration system in the US is dysfunctional, with decades of failed attempts at comprehensive immigration reform. The reason: powerful interest groups are profiting from it. Although immigrants founded the United States, and our nation is supposed to be a land of opportunity for those seeking the “American Dream”, the US has a complex history of anti-immigrant sentiment with cycles that have pushed and pulled people from all parts of the world.
The news cycle has been spinning out of control since January 20. The shock and awe tactic intends to destabilize and demoralize the opposition. Here we focus on the barrage of Executive Orders (EO) signed by our new President that affect migrants in the United States and abroad. We assess the impact they are having and what we can do to better protect our friends and neighbors who fear being deported.
Stay strong. It will be a tough few years.
We reaffirm our commitment to support and promote the rights and dignity of people on the move, as well as migrants already seeking a new life in our country. We reaffirm the humanity and dignity of LGBTQ persons and offer our love. We stand behind Bishop Budde’s plea for compassion and mercy toward the most vulnerable.
There is so much fear mongering and scapegoating during this election year. Recently Quixote Center had to remove a social media post on migration because there was too much hate and anger toward migrants expressed in the comments. It is worthwhile to take a step back and reflect on where each of us stand on immigration. No matter what our background or personal connection to this sensitive issue is, we all have an opinion. But where does our knowledge come from? That is, how do you know what you know?
There is a lot of noise about migration coming from political campaigns, and from all sides. Most recently the U.S. government has limited asylum applications at the border in order to stem an ever-growing flow. Congress couldn’t pass bipartisan legislation to do essentially the same thing, because on the political right, politicians want to use the issue to rally their base.
During the week of March 11, Quixote Center, together with our partners with the Franciscan Network on Migration, organized and led a group of U.S.-based immigration advocates and policy experts to visit the migrant path in Panama, starting with the treacherous Darien Gap. Our Panama colleagues released a report in response to what we witnessed at the Darien.
Our colleagues note the following concerns:
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
-Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Article 13/14
We are getting closer to unpacking the complicated web of laws and agencies responsible for preventing U.S.- made weapons from getting into the hands of criminal elements in Haiti.
On Wednesday Quixote Center convened partner organizations together with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staff director in charge of global trade violations and export enforcement coordination.
In 2023, migrant crossings through Panama reached a historic high, as half a million people traversed the deadly Darién gap, and one
