The Faith4Asylum campaign was launched January 29, 2020 by MOGC and its partners in the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. The following is a statement released to mark the launch of the campaign and the first anniversary of the "Remain in Mexico" policy.
WASHINGTON, DC – The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joins its partners in the Interfaith Immigration Coalition in launching Faith4Asylum, a national campaign by faith-based organizations to end the disastrous Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy, otherwise known as “Remain in Mexico,” and to restore the United States system for processing the cases of those seeking political asylum.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is launching the Faith4Asylum campaign on the first anniversary of the implementation of MPP. For one year, this policy has forced asylum seekers who present political asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border to remain in Mexico while their cases are being processed, which can take several months. Many asylum seekers sleep in tent camps in Mexican border towns while they wait, without access to legal aid, social services, or protection from gangs and traffickers.
“This policy has had disastrous humanitarian consequences,” said Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. “Maryknoll missioners working at the U.S.-Mexico border have witnessed how this policy puts vulnerable people – including children – in grave danger. It has also contributed to the dismantling of the U.S. asylum system, which was created to guarantee the right of people fleeing violence and persecution to receive fair assessments of their political asylum claims. The MPP policy must end.”
The campaign will continue over the coming months and will engage faith communities around the nation in prayer and action to end the MPP policy and restore the U.S. asylum system.
