Quixote Center recognizes migration as a fundamental human right under international law. In the United States, migrants strengthen our economy, enrich our culture, and strengthen our social fabric.
Quixote Center’s principal international partnership is with the Red Franciscana para Migrantes (RFM - Franciscan Network for Migrants). RFM connects Franciscan-run shelters and other humanitarian assistance programs for migrants who are making the dangerous trek through Mexico, Central America, and South America. We support RFM by
Quixote Center and RFM organize Solidarity Trips since 2022 as part of our advocacy and education mission, bringing U.S. based migrant justice activists and other professionals to Southern Mexico and Panama to see firsthand how the U.S. immigration impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homelands to seek a new life, in the United States or elsewhere.
View our Between Borders video series HERE.
Find out more about our Solidarity Travel Program HERE.
Amidst the chaos of an election year, ICE agents in masks are still hunting immigrants in our streets. Some are ripped away from their families, leaving children without parents and parents without spouses. We have also seen cases of children removed from family, disappearing into the ICE detention system.
Victor* is migrating due to political and cartel threats and lack of viable options in his home country of Venezuela. As a nutritionist and public speaker, he dreams of finding a place to live where he can help others... and be safe.
Last week, the government of El Salvador sent 2,000 troops to Haiti following the disappearance of four Salvadoran military technicians during an ambush by armed gangs. The mission and scope of engagement of the Salvadoran troops is unclear. The Salvadoran technicians remain missing and are likely to have been killed.
Following the revocation of TPS and the commencement of mass deportations to Haiti, many Haitians have been forced to seek refuge in Mexico.
Some migrants flee violence. Some seek economic opportunity. And for some, the United States is their home, but our government has rescinded their legal right to be here.
Quixote Center has been partnering with the Franciscan Network for Migration (RFM) for more than 5 years to welcome migrants transiting Central America and Mexico with dignity, hospitality, and humanitarian assistance.
On our last trip to Panama, we met *Mateo's father, who tearfully told us about his separation from his teenage son, and eventual deportation. They had deportation orders to Venezuela, their home country, but neither had lived there in many years.
The two were detained separately for months, and deported, separately, to different countries. As Mateo made the dangerous journey from Mexico to Panama, his father anxiously waited and hoped for their reunion.
This week Quixote Center learned that the town of Gros Morne, Haiti, the location of our long-term partnerships, was the victim of a horrific gang massacre. Haiti’s criminal gangs utilize weapons they obtain illegally from the United States.
The US administration has unleashed ICE into the streets of Springfield to target Haitians who had their legal status stripped away. Many leave immigration check-ins with ankle monitors. Haitians are so far the only group to be humiliated that way, and it is also the first time these devices are deployed on non-criminals.
ICE also detained pastors Adrien and Dumano, two Haitian leaders who have lived in the US for over a decade and who provided essential spiritual and mental health support to the community.
As violence, displacement, and political instability continue to reshape the Americas, people across the region remain determined to find safety for themselves and their families. No immigration crackdown can erase that reality.
Javi* stopped by the Paso Canoas meal program on his way back to Venezuela after being deported by the United States. He made the difficult journey through the Darien Gap, and now must do so again to return home. Our partners at RFM Panama spent a few minutes with Javi* to find out more about his journey, his experience in the United States, and his hopes for the future.
Take a couple of minutes to learn what Javi's life has been like, between borders.
There is nothing wrong with wanting a secure border. It is an essential function of a country to be able to choose who may enter and remain within its confines, but that is only the first of many layers that make this issue so complex. As the previous blogs explained, the issue also includes who is being allowed into the country, the prioritization of white South African Afrikaners over all other refugee groups, and the revocation of legal protections for people who entered through established humanitarian pathways, forcing many to return to countries that remain unsafe.
