By Mario Russell, Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY - "This weekend, the Catholic Church celebrates the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, an annual celebration which uplifts the human dignity of migrants and highlights their great contributions to the universal common good.
"In his World Day of Migrants and Refugees statement, Pope Leo XIV calls migrants “missionaries of hope” and a “divine blessing” to those who receive them. He uplifts their unique contributions and human dignity. This is in contrast to how some of our elected officials refer to them, using words such as “illegals” and “criminals.” We must be mindful that all human beings possess God-given dignity and rights and should be treated with respect, and that newcomers offer special gifts that should be valued.
"Today in our nation we are seeing a mass deportation campaign which does not discriminate between those who are a threat to our communities and those who contribute to them. Immigrants who are long-term residents of our nation are being deported, despite their economic and cultural contributions and their having built equities in our country. Tragically, families are being separated, with parents having to make the cruel choice of taking their US-citizen children with them to a country they do not know or leaving them behind, with little hope for reunification.
"A recent report released by CMS demonstrates the contributions of undocumented immigrant workers, finding that immigrants fill jobs in several important industries in our economy, including high-tech, medical, and scientific occupations. CMS has also found that even if only 10 percent of US-citizen children with parents at risk of being deported are left behind, about 66,000 children would enter the foster care system, at an annual cost to taxpayers exceeding 400 million dollars.
"CMS will continue to produce evidence-based research to highlight the economic and human costs of mass deportations, which will only divide communities and destroy lives. As an alternative, Congress should do its job and reform our broken immigration system, including providing legal status and a path to citizenship for immigrants who have built their lives in our communities."
https://cmsny.org/about/team/
For more information, contact Rosalie Wells at rwells@cmsny.org or 347-407-5137.
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.
307 East 60th Street, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10022 • P: 212.337.3080 • cms@cmsny.org • www.cmsny.org
