Human Dignity and Solidarity

Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform

Since 2005 the Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education has been implementing the goals of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform Justice for Immigrants program, which include:

1) Educate the public, especially the Catholic community, including Catholic public officials, about Church teaching on migration and immigrants.

For information on our education response, as well as the education response through various networks, see related pages:

  • Education (Link)
  • Education Resources (Link)
  • Immigration Parish Coordinators (in non-immigrant parish communities) (Link)
  • Priests for Justice for Immigrants (Link)
  • Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants (Link)

2) Enact legislative and administrative reforms based on the principles articulated by the bishops.

For information on our advocacy response, as well as the advocacy response through various networks, see related pages:

  • Advocacy (Link)
  • Advocacy Resources (Link)
  • Immigration Parish Coordinators (Link)
  • Priests for Justice for Immigrants (Link)
  • Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants (Link)

3) To organize Catholic networks to assist qualified immigrants obtain the benefits of the reforms.

When comprehensive immigration reform failed to pass the Senate in 2007, Chicago’s immigrant community needed to know what they could do to help one another through increasing, urgent, basic human and pastoral needs in the absence of immigration policy restructure.

In support, we developed our immigrant leadership ministries, called the Immigrant Social Ministry – e.g. Pastoral Migratoria and Polish Immigrant-to-Immigrant Ministry – to empower Hispanic and Polish immigrant lay leaders through service and justice actions in parishes. See related pages below.

  • Pastoral Migratoria (Hispanic Immigrant-to-Immigrant Ministry) (Link)
  • Polish Immigrant-to-Immigrant Ministry (Link)