Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Two CIS students gain their U.S. citizenship

February 21, 2018

Cheers and congratulations filled the air at Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, NY in celebration of two of our students becoming United States citizens!

Sabrina Grant, came to the office with a big smile on her face and announced, “I am an American citizen!” Sabrina has worked very hard with her tutor, Sr. Damien Ciminera, MSC, for about 3 years. She not only worked on preparing for her citizenship exam, she also worked on her reading, writing and even improved her skills working with money.

Sabrina is a native of Jamaica and could not wait until the day that she could call America home. Of course, Jamaica is and always will be close to her heart but now when she visits Jamaica, she will be coming home to the USA.

Sabrina’s smiling face and infectious laugh brings so much joy to CIS. Congratulations Sabrina!

Our other student, Alina Gajewska, was born in Poland. She, too, was so excited to pass her citizenship exam after a lot of hard work and study.

Alina has worked with her tutor, Mary Gallagher, for several years. She worked to improve her conversations in English, her reading and her writingskills, all the skills needed to pass the naturalization exam. It also took a lot of dedication and effort to learn the 100 questions about US Civics. Alina’s determination certainly helped her achieve her goal of becoming a US Citizen.

Congratulations Alina! We are so proud of all that you have accomplished.

Deporting DACA Students Not in Public Interest

February 8, 2018

In a recent edition of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), the newspaper noted that it had received the following statement for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Conference of Education Deans which was signed by 19 members of that conference which is comprised of deans and professors for schools of education at Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States:

“As the education deans of the nation’s Jesuit colleges and universities, we are compelled to join our university presidents and others who have raised their collective voices to support our DACA students. Through our work, we prepare the teachers, principals, and other education support providers for the youth of our nation. The Jesuit education tradition values the right of all peoples to a meaningful and quality education, which is transformative for both the learner and the teacher. Our DACA students are no exception. Through no fault of their own, they came to the United States in search of opportunities. They have been documented and thoroughly vetted, are among our most successful students, and are preparing for positions of leadership and service in various industries in the United States. Deporting these young people just as they are poised to make strong contributions to this country – after investing so many resources to educate them in our public schools – is poor public policy and not in the public interest.

“As education leaders, we are aware of the unintended consequences that deportation, or even the threat of deportation, has on an entire school community. For example, in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) – the second largest in the country – roughly one in four students is undocumented or has a parent who is undocumented. This reality forces the question – what are the unintended consequences for our school communities under a constant threat of deportation?

“DACA students contribute greatly to the common good of American society. The United States of America is their home. They participated in the DACA program in good faith and have much to offer this country through their hard work and talent. We cannot betray them by ending the DACA program and sending them to countries they do not even know. As a society, we cannot afford the unintended educational consequences such policy actions would have. We urge our leaders to find a permanent solution for the DACA program for the benefit of our youth and our country.“

DACA Youth Worry a Deal for Them Will Unleash Fear for Others

February 1, 2018

Young adults waiting to hear whether lawmakers will grant them the opportunity to stay in the U.S. legally said they don’t want Congress to offer an immigration deal that will help them but in turn produce fear and mass deportations among their parents and neighbors who are in the country illegally.

“What good is it for me to have a pathway to citizenship if I can’t have my parents, my friends, my loved ones…not with me? For us, family is the core of everything. I can’t imagine being in the U.S. without them,” said Laura Peniche, of Colorado, who benefitted from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DACA, which in 2012 began offering temporary reprieve from deportation and some legal documentation to youth brought to the country illegally as children, as long as they met certain criteria.

Some 800,000 benefitted from the program created by executive order by then – U.S. President Barack Obama, a policy rescinded in September by President Donald Trump, who then asked lawmakers to find a permanent solution before the program ends on March 5.

Peniche and other DACA recipients spoke of their fears, of frustration with lawmakers, of their peers’ trauma and depression, and the uncertainty of what they’ll do if Congress fails to pass any legislation to offer them relief when the program expires. But their biggest worry is over what lawmakers will come up with, who will be sacrificed, they say, as Republicans and Democrats bargain.

Some DACA recipients expressed concerns that they were being used as pawns and, in effect, are being asked to choose between citizenship and being responsible for heavy militarization of the border, as well as the safety of their parents, extended family and neighbors who will be at greater risk of being removed from the country if more immigration agents are deployed.

Carlos Corral, a DACA recipient from New Mexico, said that abundant immigration checkpoints in his region make him worry that the most average of errands could separate him from his mother who is not in the country legally.

“I’m in constant fear that Mom will one day decide to go shopping to the grocery store and run into one of those checkpoints and that’ll be it. I’ll lose her, just like that,” Corral said, “It does happen and its’s our reality…that’s not a way of life. I feel like we’re in a cage.”

The building of a bigger wall along the border with Mexico and the further militarization of the border will affect the way family, friends and communities live, he said. For the young adults to be used as bargaining chips in a deal that would make the lives of others even more difficult is abhorrent, he said.

“We shouldn’t be pushed to choose freedom over family because it’s immoral. Nothing is more valuable than our family,” Corral said. ~ Catholic News Service

Advocating for DREAMERs – CIS-NYC Staff and Volunteers hit the pavement and the phone

January 31, 2018

Over the past couple of months Dreamers, community leaders, and staff at Cabrini Immigrant Services, NYC,

have been putting all of their time and effort into the fight for a clean DREAM Act.

On January 11th, we held a phone bank where Dreamers and community leaders called community members, encouraging them to call theirelected officials to demand a DREAM Act. While some of the calls were frustrating and discouraging, we also encountered many people who were eager to help – we were even able to change a few peoples’ minds by educating them about Dreamers!

On January 18th – right before the government shutdown – Cabrini Dreamers and staff went to Washington, DC to encourage elected officials to stand up for Dreamers. Cabrini Dreamers shared their stories, participated in sit-ins in various legislators’ offices, and attended a vigil in front of the Capitol Building. The struggle to protect Dreamers continues; we hope that you will support us in these efforts by calling your elected officials! You can call them at: 478-488-8059.

Last week, staff and community members also visited the state capitol, in Albany, for a day of legislative visits with the New York Immigration Coalition. We participated in trainings and visited state legislators to discuss the needs of immigrants in New York. We encouraged legislators to support increased funding for areas such as legal services for immigrants and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), both of which are very important to clients at CIS-NYC. While our focus in recent months has been on federal issues, this was a great reminder of how
important local policies are for the well-being of our community!

Do Not Let Fear Lead to a Refusal to Help Those in Need says Pope Francis

January 17, 2018

by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Family members bring up the offertory gifts as Pope Francis celebrates Mass marking the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 14. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) See POPE-MIGRANTS-MASS Jan. 14, 2018.

Being afraid and concerned about the impact of migration is not a sin, Pope Francis said, but it is a sin to let those fears lead to a refusal to help people in need.

“The sin is to allow these fears to determine our responses, to limit our choices, to compromise respect and generosity, to feed hostility and rejection,” the Pope said on January 14^th, celebrating Mass for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

While fear is a natural human reaction, he said, “the sin is to refuse to encounter the other, the different, the neighbor, when this is in fact a privileged opportunity to encounter the Lord.”

According to the United Nations, an estimated 258 million people are living outside the country of their birth. The number includes 26 million refugees and asylum seekers, who were forced to flee their homelands because of war or persecution.

“His invitation ‘Come and see!’ is addressed today to all of us, to local communities and to new arrivals,” the Pope said. “It is an invitation to overcome our fears so as to encounter the other, to welcome, to know and to acknowledge him or her.”

For the migrants and refugees, he said, that includes learning about and respecting the laws and customs of their host countries. “It even includes understanding their fears and apprehensions for the future,” he added.

For people in the host countries, he said, it means welcoming newcomers, opening oneself “without prejudices to their rich diversity,” understanding their hopes, fears and vulnerabilities and recognizing their potential.

‘In the true encounter with the neighbor, are we capable of recognizing Jesus Christ who is asking to be welcomed, protected, promoted and integrated?” Pope Francis asked.

“It is not easy to enter into another culture, to put oneself in the shoes of people so different from us, to understand their thoughts and their experiences,” the pope said. That is one reason why “we often refuse to encounter the other and raise barriers to defend ourselves.”

People in host countries may be afraid that newcomers “will disturb the established order (or) will ‘steal’ something they have long labored to build up,” he said. And the newcomers have their own fears “of confrontation, judgment, discrimination, failure.”

Both set of fears, the pope said, “are legitimate, based on doubts that are fully comprehensible from a human point of view.”

Sin, he said, enters the equation only when people refuse to try to understand, to welcome, to see Jesus present in the other, especially “the poor, the rejected, the refugee, the asylum seeker.”

~ Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

January 14th is World Day of Migrants and Refugees

January 10, 2018

Dear brothers and sisters!

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers inthe land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

Throughout the first years of my pontificate, I have repeatedly expressed my particular concern for the lamentable

situation of many migrants and refugees fleeing from war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty. This situation is undoubtedly a “sign of the times” which I have tried to interpret, with the help of the Holy Spirit

Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (Matthew 25:35-43). The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of

a better future. This solidarity must be concretely expressed at every stage of the migratory experience – from departure through journey to arrival and return. This is a great responsibility, which the Church intends to share with all believers and men and women of good will, who are called to respond to the many challenges of contemporary migration with generosity, promptness, wisdom and foresight, each according to their own abilities.

In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that “our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate”.

To read the entire message of Pope Francis please visit: https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/migration/documents/papa-francesco_20170815_world-migrants-day-2018.html

National Migration Week in Chicago and at the Border

January 10, 2018

Observance of National Migration Week in Chicago began with Mass at Holy Name Cathedral celebrated by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich.

The liturgy’s theme, “Many Journeys, One Family,” responds to Pope Francis’ call for Catholics to be involved in the welcome, protection and integration of migrants and refugees worldwide and to stand in solidarity with them in departure, transit, arrival or return.

A number of Cabrini Retreat Center Kairos alumni spent the past week in pilgrimage doing just that at the US/ Mexico border. These college students traveled with the Viatorian Community, along with Fr. Cory Brost, who is the Co-Director of the Viator House of Hospitality, a safe home for young immigrant men seeking asylum in the United States.

Jason Wilhite, a Cabrini Kairos alum participated and reflected on four key themes: Humanize, Accompany, Complicate and Christianize. “The four themes were the lenses through which we were asked to view every experience. We need to understand migration is a complex issue and hearing every voice is the only way to come to common understanding and real change.”

Listening and accompanying those at the border was a rich experience and included conversations with migrants, those ministering at the border as well as border guards. They reflected on the call of Pope Francis as well as many of the issues that impact migration including human trafficking and drug cartels. Jason expressed his gratitude that the Cabrini Retreat Center continues to stay connected and supports the migrant journey.

World Day of Peace is January 1, 2018

December 19, 2017

Migrants and refugees: men and women in search of peace

Pope Francis’ message for the celebration of the 2018 World Day of Peace was released during a press conference at the Holy See Press Office.

The message entitled Migrants and Refugees: Men and Women in search of Peace is divided into six sections with the first offering heartfelt good wishes for peace and inviting people of good will to embrace those fleeing war, hunger and persecution.

The message also poses the question, why so many migrants and refugees? Pope Francis answers this by considering the many conflicts forcing people to leave their homelands, but he notes also the desire for a better life.

The Holy Father notes that some people consider the growth in migration as a threat. But, “for my part, he says, I ask you to view it with confidence, as an opportunity to build peace.”

From the Holy Father’s 2018 message:

Heartfelt good wishes for peace:

Peace to all people and to all nations on earth! Peace, which the angels proclaimed to the shepherds on Christmas night, is a profound aspiration for everyone, for each individual and all peoples, and especially for those who most keenly suffer its absence. Among these whom I constantly keep in my thoughts and prayers, I would once again mention the over 250 million migrants worldwide, of whom 22.5 million are refugees.

In a spirit of compassion, let us embrace all those fleeing from war and hunger, or forced by discrimination, persecution, poverty and environmental degradation to leave their homelands.

We know that it is not enough to open our hearts to the suffering of others. Much more remains to be done before our brothers and sisters can once again live peacefully in a safe home. Welcoming others requires concrete commitment, a network of assistance and goodwill, vigilant and sympathetic attention, the responsible management of new and complex situations that at times compound numerous existing problems, to say nothing of resources, which are always limited. By practicing the virtue of prudence, government leaders should take practical measures to welcome, promote, protect, integrate and, “within the limits allowed by a correct understanding of the common good, to permit [them] to become part of a new society.”

To read the full text of Pope Francis’ message: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20171113_messaggio-51giornatamondiale-pace2018.html