IMMIGRATION STATEMENT

We School Sisters of St. Francis in the United States recognize the contributions of immigrants to our society and declare our support for comprehensive immigration reform so that immigrants will have a path to legal, permanent residence and citizenship, and as a way to keep families together.

We support the U.S. and Mexican Catholic Bishops in their pastoral letter on migration, "Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope," as they call for comprehensive reform of the current immigration system. (www. justiceforimmigrants.org)

We support immigrants by:

• opposing human trafficking of immigrants
• becoming aware of the employment issues raised by U.S. immigration policies
• challenging the racism imbedded in U.S. border policies focused only on our southest border
• advocting on behalf of immigrant rights

We commit ourselves to education and action, grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, so that our efforts contribute to a welcoming society and full integration of immigrants to our country.

The School Sisters of St. Francis are an international congregation founded by immigrant women. School Sisters serving in the United States reach out to immigrants and others in health care, education, the arts, parish life and pastoral- social services. For more information visit: usp.sssf.org or e-mail us at: info@sssf.org.