A new binational organization will provide services to migrants while educating, researching and advocating on critical border and immigration issues.
Launched in January, the Kino Border Initiative is a collaborative effort by various Catholic groups in Arizona, California and Mexico and will serve as an umbrella organization for a variety of activities revolving around border concerns.
Through existing and new programs, KBI will assist Mexican migrants deported from the United States, host educational efforts on the reality of migration, and create opportunities for research and advocacy.
"One of the components of the Kino Border Initiative,” said the Rev. Sean Carroll, executive director of KBI, “is direct service to deportees by providing food, clothing and pastoral support."
The ministry assists people deported from the United States through the Aid Center for Deported Migrants or Centro de Atencion para los Migrantes Deportados (CAMDEP) in Nogales, Sonora.
Across the street from CAMDEP, the eight-bed Casa Nazareth Women's Shelter serves unaccompanied women and children.
Another mission of the cross-border initiative is to educate residents in the border area on the realities of migration through community and parish workshops and other educational events.
In addition, based on the needs of deportees, KBI will fund research on migration and the US-Mexico border. The project will provide space for visiting scholars to conduct research along the border and to engage in advocacy efforts as appropriate, he said.
Six Catholic groups came together to form the project: the Diocese of Tucson, the Archdiocese of Hermosillo in Sonora, the Jesuit Refugee Service U.S.A., the California Providence of the Society of Jesus, the Mexican Providence of the Society of Jesus, and the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, a congregation in Colima, Mexico.
Jesuits from the United States originally presented this idea to the church as a
binational service to provide education about migration and Catholic social teaching, Carroll said.
The KBI programs are designed to help people understand the consequences border policies and to promote solidarity among people affected by border policies.
The project is named after Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit priest who founded many missions in southwestern North America, in what is now northern Sonora,
southern California, and southern Arizona.
“We took his name because he is one of the most recognized of the European missionaries," said the Rev. Peter Neeley, director of the KBI education project, and “was the first Jesuit to explore this area.”
While KBI is Jesuit-led, it is not a religious organization, Neeley said, but rather, a non-profit social service and they welcome - and need - volunteers from all paths.
In all respects, KBI “is something beyond the borders,” he said.
