In March 2022, NETWORK Lobby and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) launched Catholics Against Racism in Immigration (CARI), a new initiative and task force to build Catholic voices to oppose systemic racism in the U.S. immigration system.

Together, CARI member organizations will create a pro-active agenda, uplifting the work of Black, Asian, Indigenous, and other immigrant-led organizations. CARI membership is open to Catholic-affiliated organizations committed to and active in anti-racist work in immigration.

In July 2022, Catholics Against Racism in Immigration (CARI), hosted their first online webinar: Confronting Racism: What People of Faith Can Learn from the Experience of Haitian Asylum-Seekers at the US/Mexico Border. The event featured stories at the border told by Haitian immigrants. Watch the webinar below.

About

CARI is a Task Force founded by NETWORK Lobby and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) in 2022 to build  Catholic voices against racism in immigration. Ronnate Asirwatham, NETWORK Government Relations Advocate, manages CARI.  

Activities

Each member organization, through their own missions and scopes of work, will incorporate an active agenda aimed at lifting up the work of Black, Asian, Indigenous, and other immigrant-led organizations. Activities will include but not be limited to:

• Attending coalition meetings and engaging directly with impacted community-led organizations to be up-to-date on priorities and how CARI can be a resource and provide support;
• Amplifying and participating in grassroots and grasstops actions;
• Strategic communications (such as press releases and social media); and
• Organizing individual Catholics and Catholic organizations to participate in actions against racism in immigration.