Catholic Charities, City and State Officials Speak Of Collaboration on Immigration, Border Issues

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Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of archdiocesan Catholic Charities, will embark on a mission of solidarity and learning to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador from Monday to Friday, April 22 to 26, to assess the status of immigration issues there.

Msgr. Sullivan will be part of a delegation that includes New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, union president Stuart Appelbaum, and other representatives from Catholic Charities and officials from Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas humanitarian agency.

Cardinal Dolan joined Msgr. Sullivan, DiNapoli, Appelbaum, New York City Commissioner of the Administration for Children Services David Hansell and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and other legal and social service providers at a press conference April 11 at Catholic Charities Community Services, Immigration Legal Center in lower Manhattan.

The media briefing included immigration and border issues, with focus on unaccompanied minors and the impact of U.S. policies on families at the border and in New York.

“We are very, very pleased that so many of our Catholic Charities partners are here today,” Msgr. Sullivan said, “because when we are at our best as a country, and as a city and as a state, we don’t do things alone. We do them in partnership with those of good will who want to make our city, our state, our nation, a more compassionate, a more fair place.”

Msgr. Sullivan acknowledged Cardinal Dolan’s concern and care “for immigrants, particularly unaccompanied minors,” throughout the years, “but especially last summer when we had the crisis of separated children.”

The number of those who continue to come to the United States is increasing, Msgr. Sullivan said. “The partners that we have in New York City and New York State, although stretched, continue to provide compassionate, high quality care,” through housing, social and legal services, and counseling.

“Today,” Msgr. Sullivan said, “we want to say that as New Yorkers, that we continue to be the city that welcomes and…encourages newcomers because we’re stronger when we welcome and we open our doors to them.”

Msgr. Sullivan, in response to a reporter’s question about whether there is a limit to how many people can come into the country, cited some compelling statistics. “We believe in secure borders, we believe in a generous, legal, immigration policy. We also believe that there is a need for people to earn a way to remedy a situation that they may have gotten themselves into.”

Msgr. Sullivan said in traveling clinics they conduct throughout the New York metropolitan area they see about 100 immigrants on a given day “who don’t have the right documents. At the end of the day, 25 of those 100 really just were unaware that they could have the right documents.”

A listing of the population density of 225 countries in the world was another statistic Msgr. Sullivan shared. “The United States, on that list, is 175th from the top of dense countries.”

State Comptroller DiNapoli said a highlight of the visit to the Charities center was witnessing the New York State New Americans hotline, a collaborative effort between Catholic Charities and the state Office for New Americans. Operators can answer calls in 200 languages. “It’s very heartening to spend time here,” he said.

DiNapoli anticipated the trip to the Northern Triangle countries would yield information “from the ground” to share with policy-makers in New York state as well as some national leaders.

Cardinal Dolan said that for more than a century Catholic Charities has been welcoming, helping and encouraging immigrants and refugees. “We’re going to keep doing it, but we can’t do it by ourselves,” the cardinal said. “And that’s why the wisdom of a morning like this shows me the magnificent choreography of all the different partnerships that we have. So I thank our partners. Do we ever need you and do we ever appreciate you. Happy Easter and Happy Passover.”

City Council Speaker Johnson cited some statistics about immigrants in New York. He said almost 38 percent of New York City residents, nearly 4 million people, were not born in the United States. “They came to this city with dreams and aspirations, for themselves and for their families. Some of them were seeking just a better life and others were fleeing violence and seeking asylum as refugees, and trying to ensure that they or their children could remain safe.”

Johnson expressed his gratitude to Catholic Charities for doing “an incredible job” and for “helping immigrants in our city,” in addition to other social service agencies and providers, for their collaborative work. “This is a team effort, and New York City hopefully can be an example to other municipalities and states on how to do this right,” he said.

Bitta Mostofi, commissioner of the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said the “false narrative of people just coming here for no reason, or that they’re not children, or that they’re not fleeing extreme violence, is just that—it’s false.”

“And it’s each and every one of our jobs,” she said, “to ensure that we’re telling the truth about why people are coming, that we’re telling the truth about what it means if we leave people behind…”

Appelbaum, of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said the trip to the Central American nations could not come at a more appropriate time. “We are leaving the day after Easter, which is also the middle of Passover.

“Passover was the story of a migration of people from their homes leaving in desperation. And what happened so long ago should resonate with all of us in terms of what is happening today.”

To be true “to our faiths” and “to our city,” Appelbaum said, “we have to be speaking out at this time.”