Who We Are

The Sisters and brothers of immigrants was founded in January 2007 in the greater metropolitan Chicago area by Catholic Sisters. The original collaboration centered on the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform initiatives coupled with volunteer members of congregations of women religious. The group chose to expand membership in ever widening circles, to associate members of religious congregations, to religious brothers, and to all those committed to justice for immigrants.

As sisters and brothers of immigrants, we reverence the dignity of each person, and each person’s fundamental right to life – food, shelter and clothing, employment, health care, and education.  Therefore, we recognize an urgent duty and challenge to stand in solidarity with immigrants.

We commit ourselves to unite with the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform to become a powerful collective voice seeking justice for immigrants.  We commit ourselves to call forth government’s responsibility to promote human dignity, to protect human rights, and to build the common good.

We do this in response to the Gospel call and in our belief in the shared strength of all people of good will.

What We Do

Below is a sample of what we, the Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, do:

Pastoral Care

• Provide pastoral care at McHenry Detention Center supporting detainees.
• Pray on buses with deportees as they leave the Broadview Detention Center for O'Hare Airport.
• Provide support of Ministry Centers operated by women and men religious in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
• Click here for more information.

Ministry of Advocacy

• Meet with Senators and Representatives at a local, state and national level to discuss various immigration issues. 
• Click here for more information.

Ministry of Action

• Since March of 2012, the Sisters and Brothers hold a monthly public witness at various locations throughout Chicago to call attention to immigration issues and reform.
• Click here for more information.

More Information

The Archdiocese of Chicago's Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education serves in the leadership role of evangelization, accompaniment and welcoming of immigrants. As disciples of Christ, we are called to build community, to accompany and to empower the marginalized, and to work towards the transformation of society seeking justice for all.

An Immigration Parish Coordinator (IPC) will coordinate efforts in his or her non-immigrant parish to help parishioners get closer to the realities immigrants experience in our society through advocacy, education and accompaniment. An IPC encounters Christ in this experience, and responds with actions of solidarity by advocating for immigration reform. The IPC also coordinates opportunities to engage in the empowerment and accompaniment of immigrants, often by connecting parishes with an Immigrant to Immigrant Ministry like Pastoral Migratoria/Polish Immigrant to Immigrant Ministry.

Advocacy

Accompaniment

Education

Photos

This program is designed for high school and college age students, Youth and Young Adults. This is an important age for youth and young adults as they recognize the systems of injustice, especially for the immigrants in the U.S. They want to challenge this system and work to change it. This program is designed to be a resource for you as a teacher, a youth or campus minister, or an administrator that works with youth and young adults.

Below are opportunities we offer to educate your youth and young adult on the issues of immigration, undocumented immigrants, and the unaccompanied minors. There are resources for education and action, guest speakers on a variety of topics, and immersion trips/retreats that build community and solidarity.

Learning and Living in Solidarity with the Immigrant

Relationships grow when we put a human face to the issue. Solidarity becomes a reality. This is the goal of our immersion experiences. The following are some of the activities you can choose from to design your immersion experience to best fit the needs of your youth and young adults:

• Broadview Detention Center Rosary
  Join others as we pray the Rosary on Friday mornings before detainees are deported and transported out to their destination. Provide support for their families. Pray for an end to deportations. Learn more here.
• Immigration Court Watch
  Stand in solidarity and serve as a presence in the Detained Immigrant Court. Be a public witness to bring transparency to this broken system. Report back to the coordinator who records weekly.
• Migrant Day Laborers 
  Meet the laborers who live in the shadows, waiting for work, searching for hope. Share food with them, listen to their stories. Learn firsthand what accompaniment means.
• DREAMers
  Talk with a youth or young adult who was brought to this country as an infant or child. They remain undocumented, but continue their search for dignity. Listen to their story, struggles and dreams.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine
  Learn the story of Juan Diego and the spiritual significance of this story of accompaniment. Visit the shrine and experience this cultural event.
• Pastoral Migratoria
  Meet Polish and Hispanic Immigrants who empower each other as they work for dignity and justice.
• Immigration Lawyers 
  Talk to and ask questions of the ones at the front line of serving the undocumented. Why does coming to the U.S. without documentation become a necessity? What laws need to change so this will end?

Any of these opportunities can be combined to create your immersion trip or retreat experience. Contact us to set one up, or click here for additional Y & YA education resources. 

Contact the OIA Education Project Coordinator, Kathy McGourty, at [email protected].