CCHD Approves Nearly $1 Million to Make Comprehensive Immigration Reform a Reality
The Catholic Campaign for HumanDevelopment (CCHD), the official domestic anti-poverty agency of the U.S. bishops, has approved special grants totaling nearly $1 million to mobilize Catholics on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform and to prepare Catholic institutions for the prospects of reform legislation.
Bishop Jaime Soto, chairman of CCHD's subcommittee, announced the grants on March 05, 2012, after the bishops of the subcommittee determined that swift action by the Catholic community was essential in advancing the recently emerging prospects for immigration reform. CCHD has taken significant steps to contribute in a swift and meaningful way to this most important national conversation.
As Bishop Soto noted, "There is an urgent need to mobilize resources efficiently in order to meet the challenge when the possibility for real immigration reform has never been closer. "With these grants, CCHD is poised to make a significant difference in a way consistent with our mission and identity. The efforts supported are rooted in Catholic social teaching and reflect our deep ties to generations of immigrants." Bishop Jaime Soto With these grants, CCHD is poised to make a significant difference in a way consistent with our mission and identity. The efforts supported are rooted in Catholic social teaching about the dignity of the human person and reflect our deep ties to generations of immigrants who have come to America. These grants represent a distinctively Catholic contribution in promoting comprehensive immigration reform. They will strengthen the capacity of our institutions to help immigrant families come out from the shadows and participate more actively in American society."
These special grants represent
CCHD's history of support for immigrants and immigration reform, as well as CCHD's mission to foster Catholic participation in
the work of justice and anti-poverty efforts. They are uniquely reflective of
CCHD's Catholic identity, strengthen our relationship with other agencies of
the USCCB and Catholic community, and strengthen our bonds with those pursuing
justice, peace and progress. With these recently announced grants, CCHD will
have committed more than $3,500,000 in the past year to support to grassroots
organizations promoting comprehensive immigration reform.
Summary of Grants
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) $375,000
Catholics United for Immigration Reform
CCHD has a history of
collaboration with CLINIC in promoting immigration reform. The joint National
Immigrant Empowerment Project in the early part of the last decade helped
catalyze and strengthen some of the nation's most effective immigrant-led
grassroots organizing agencies, many of which still receive CCHD support. This grant
supports a similar project, Catholics
United for Immigration Reform. Consistent with CCHD grassroots funding,
CLINIC will take the lead in a strategic RFP process that will support the best
grassroots organizing agencies in the country in order to catalyze political
support for meaningful reform. CLINIC will also take the lead on convening the
Catholic community across the United States in strengthening our Catholic
agencies to promote reform and prepare to assist those who will benefit from reform legislation.
www.cliniclegal.org
PICO National Network $150,000
Campaign for Citizenship
CCHD support has long been essential to the many PICO-affiliated institutions working in Catholic parishes across
the United States. PICO National Network has collaborated with USCCB Migration and Refugee Services in developing
grassroots strategies for the promotion of the USCCB's Justice for Immigrants
Campaign and has worked over the past several years to advance the reform
principles of the bishops of the United States among the Catholic community.
PICO has an established track record of grassroots organizing and collaboration
with our Catholic institutions. The prospects of reform in 2013 led PICO
National Network to launch its Campaign for Citizenship. Funds will
support this national campaign and strengthen the capacity of local PICO
affiliates in their collaboration with Catholic dioceses, parishes and the USCCB.www.piconetwork.org/immigration
USCCB Migration and Refugee Services $275,000
Justice for Immigrants Campaign
The United States bishops'
Justice for Immigrants Campaign (JFI) works to educate Catholics about the facts of
immigration, to build support and work for the passage of comprehensive
immigration reform, and to help strengthen relationships between immigrant communities
and Catholic dioceses. CCHD' support for the grassroots
organizing efforts of JFI in the past has been instrumental in maintaining the vitality of this campaign. This grant will be utilized to intensify the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 by strategically
promoting education in parishes and mobilizing the political support of
Catholics across the country.www.justiceforimmigrants.org