The bridge across all of our programs is the desire to change United States policies that impact the people we work with. We work to influence US policies that exacerbate extreme poverty and vulnerability in Haiti and Nicaragua. We also know that extreme poverty and vulnerability lead families to make the heartbreaking decision to migrate, to the United States or elsewhere. Our priority is addressing the root causes of migration in Haiti and Nicaragua. At the same time, we advocate for fair policies in the United States that promote the dignity of migrants. Current priorities:
The violence in Haiti is untenable. Gang violence in Haiti has killed over 1,230 people between July and September of this year alone. In response, the United Nations, with U.S. leadership, has authorized Kenya to deploy troops on the ground. This U.S.-backed police intervention will only escalate the violence, and more violence is never the solution. Click HERE to tell your members of Congress to take these five, concrete steps for peace.
Three weeks ago Dawn Wooten, formerly a nurse at Irwin County Detention Center, came forward with accusations that a doctor had performed medically unnecessary hysterectomies on many women who were at the Irwin Center under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Irwin is run by a private, for-profit company, LaSalle Corrections.
[This post was updated on October 5 2020 ]
The comment period to protest the proposed changes to the US Asylum laws closes Wednesday July 15, 2020.
Speak out now!
To learn more about the proposed changes and what you can do to speak up against them please visit the Bay Area Border Relief page.
The Franciscan Network on Migration provides support to migrants traveling through Central America and Mexico. The network includes dozens of shelters and soup kitchens in the region. The shelters that we are working with most directly are the Frontera Digna in Piedras Negras, La 72 in Tenosique, and the Casa y Comedor San Francisco de Asís in Mazatlán, pictured below.
Since early March we, and many others, have been calling for the release of people from prisons, jails and immigrant detention centers as a necessary step to stop the spread of COVID-19, and protect the lives of those incarcerated. During late March and April there were releases, largely of people in pre-trial detention in county jails and/ people at the end of their sentences, if they had been incarcerated for a non-violent offense. At the same time very few state prisons joined in releases, and the Federal system also largely failed to release people.
