New York, NY, Nov. 13, 2018 – The Kino Border Initiative (KBI), the
Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), and the Office of
Justice and Ecology (OJE) of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the
United States today released, “Communities
in Crisis: Interior Removals and Their Human Consequences,” a
new report examining the characteristics of deportees and the
effects of deportation.
This report details findings from the CRISIS Study (Catholic Removal
Impact Survey in Society), which interviewed deportees at KBI’s
migrant shelter in Nogales, Sonora, and those affected by
deportation in Catholic parishes in Florida, Michigan, and
Minnesota. The interviews explored: (1) the impact of removals on
deportees, their families, and other community members; (2) the
deportation process; and (3) the relationship between deportees and
their families. The report also includes policy recommendations to
mitigate the ill effects of the administration’s policies and
promote the integrity of families and communities, including: using
detention as a “last resort;” reducing funding to Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE); and limiting collaboration between police
and ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Researchers found that deportees had built their lives, made their
homes, and established long and deep ties in the United States. On
average, survey respondents had lived in the country for 19.9 years,
with more than half having first entered as minors. Ninety-six
percent had been employed in the United States, and, on average, had
worked nearly 10 years in the same job. In addition, 42 percent of
survey respondents had US citizen spouses or partners, and 78
percent had US citizen children. Given these circumstances, it comes
as little surprise that 73.5 percent of deportees said they planned
to return to the United States.
“The report offers an intimate, often raw look at the human
consequences of indiscriminate enforcement and the administration’s
deportation policies,” said Donald Kerwin, CMS’s executive director.
“And it offers recommendations on how to protect the integrity of
immigrants, US families, and communities.”
To download the report, visit http://cmsny.org/publications/communities-in-crisis.
The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) is a New York-based educational institute devoted to the study of international migration, to the promotion of understanding between immigrants and receiving communities, and to public policies that safeguard the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees and newcomers. For more information, please visit www.cmsny.org.
The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) is a binational organization located in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. KBI promotes US/Mexico border and immigration policies that affirm the dignity of the human person and helps make humane, just, workable migration between the United States and Mexico a reality. For more information, visit www.kinoborderinitiative.org.
The Office of Justice and Ecology (OJE) helps the president and provincials of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States reflect the Jesuits’ work for reconciliation on issues such as immigration and economic, criminal, juvenile and environmental justice. For more information, visit www.jesuits.org.