Category Archives: Front Page

Restore and Protect Asylum - -watch the NETWORK Lobby Webinar, Sign-on the the Letter to Congress, and more

Take Action to Restore and Protect Asylum

10,000 Signatures Needed from Catholic Advocates!

We are no longer accepting signatures for the letter.

Leave Behind Immigration Immigration Webinar July 2023

Click here to download a PDF of this document

Watch: Restoring Asylum & Dignity for Immigrants

View the webinar slides.

The Restoring Asylum and Dignity for Immigrants webinar makes it clear — our country needs a well-funded, law-abiding asylum process that respects people seeking a new life in the U.S. All immigrants deserve dignity — no exceptions! Catholic justice-seekers*, we are collecting 10,000 signatures to let Congress know that NOW is time to invest in better, equitable immigration policy.

*NETWORK is offering another immigration justice action — in addition to the sign-on letter — for all justice-seekers. With one click, you will be taken to a letter that you can personalize, or just send, immediately. Click here to send an email to your Member of Congress. 

Help friends, family, & parishioners sign-on, too.

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Download the Sign-on letter for Catholic advocates who support funding immigration

Action Everyone Can Take for Immigration Justice

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Resources to support you when you take action to restore and protect asylum

Blogs
With the Trump administration’s rescission of protection for “sensitive locations,” in immigration enforcement in January 2025, many people feel they cannot safely go to work, school, the doctor, or even church. They remain huddled in their homes, like the fearful Apostles in the upper room, waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
March 18, 2026
Lent’s ‘Crosses of Resistance’ — Sensitive Locations
March Monthly Newsletter
March 16, 2026
March Monthly Newsletter
The economic oppression accompanies the corruption and intentional inequity of an authoritarian regime. Whether it’s the shutdown of USAID, trillions in tax cuts for the ultra–wealthy while gutting food and healthcare programs from the federal budget, or the invasion of a sovereign country while openly planning to harvest its oil reserves, the consolidation of absolute power is both a cause and effect of the stratospheric divide between the ultra-rich and everyone else.
March 10, 2026
Feast or Fascism
We are rising to the moment
November 13, 2025
Not on Our Watch, Not in Our Name
group photo taken at a Hispanic-owned and operated ice cream shop on the 2024 Nuns on the Bus & Friends tour
October 15, 2025
Hispanic Heritage Month is About Pride and Justice
Images from the Catholic Immigration Letter press conference in September 2023

Keep Up with NETWORK

Just Politics Catholic Podcast Season One

Youngstown, OH Justice-Seekers Supported Safety Net Programs at the Care Not Cuts Rally

Sister Eilis McCulloh, HM
Grassroots Outreach and Organizing Specialist
June 27, 2023

NETWORK organizer Sr. Eilis McColluh, HM, speaks to the media about the Youngstown, OH Care Not Cuts RallyAs Congress was in the final days of negotiations around the debt ceiling and trying to avoid a default, more than 40 faith-filled justice seekers gathered in Youngstown, Ohio at St. Patrick’s Church on the city’s southside.

Because I grew up in Youngstown, I have a soft spot for the city that is still trying to claw its way out of the devastating effects of the steel mill closures in the 1970s. I often talk about the grit and determination the city and its people have to build itself anew.  Folks have come together – in  faith-based and secular organizations, local government, and churches–to make sure everyone has access to human needs resources.  Fresh food is provided through a mobile pantry and housing resources, food assistance, medical assistance, and so much more are being delivered, too. But, from the rally’s speakers, we learned that they cannot do that alone.

Tom Hetrick, President of City Council, told us that more than one-third of all residents rely on SNAP to feed their families. However, the city is considered to be a food desert, so most people do not have access to fresh food within their neighborhoods. What good is SNAP when locations to access the benefit are lacking? Additionally, many residents rely on Medicaid and housing subsidies. Youngstown would be decimated if these vital social safety net programs were cut. Local non-profits are stepping up to fill the gaps, but they cannot do this forever.

“No matter how many organizations will come to the rescue, we need our federal government and Congress to stand up, as we strive to give you the benefit of the doubt…Because each and every one of us needs food, clothing, and shelter. And we ask that you would consider and not make these severe cuts to humanity, to our communities. As we gather together as organizations, we are striving to do our part, but we cannot do it without our Congress and federal government stepping up and doing the right thing by the people. “   ~ Rev. Carla Robinson

Watch Video from the Youngstow, OH Care Not Cuts Rally

NETWORK thanks the community advocates who spoke out to protect the social safety net at the Youngstown, OH Care Not Cuts Rally.

Tom Hetrick
Youngstown City Council

Michael F. Stepp
St. Vincent de Paul

Fred Berry
Humility of Mary Housing, Inc

Elder Rose Carter
ACTION

Minister Joseph Boyd
UU of Youngstown

Rev. Carla Robinson

Dr. Alexis Smith

Allen v. Milligan is a Surprise Win for Voting Rights

Allen v. Milligan is a Surprise Win for Voting Rights

A Surprise Win for Voting Rights

JoAnn Goedert, Ignatian Volunteer Corp Member
Government Relations Special Contributor
June 16, 2023

Since the 2013 Supreme Court decision, Shelby v. Holder, voting rights have eroded steadily in the U.S., especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities — often in southern or red states — where suppression efforts by state legislators have created obstacles to the fundamental right to vote. Making matters worse, neither Congress nor the courts have put a stop to these dangerous threats to our democracy. That is, until a recent Supreme Court decision. Allen v. Milligan is a surprise win for voting rights and our democracy.

Allen v. Milligan is a surprise win for voting rights

The Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Milligan stunned legal experts and voting rights advocates. In a 5-4 decision, the Court affirmed lower court rulings that the Alabama state legislature violated the Voting Rights Act (VRA) when it brazenly redistricted the state’s congressional districts in 2021. Section 2 of the VRA bars measures that result in racial minorities having “less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.” The Alabama legislature violated Section 2 with a redistricting scheme that ensured that only one Black representative would be elected in the state’s seven Congressional districts—despite the fact that Alabama’s electorate is approximately 27% Black.

Why were observers surprised? In the narrow Court finding, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh (conservatives) joined more Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson (liberal). It was unexpected because Supreme Court decisions on the Voting Rights Act in the last decade have cut back harshly on the VRA’s effectiveness, and recent statements by various Justices suggested willingness to further, if not decisively, diminish its protections for voters of color.

The Erosion of the Voting Rights Act

In 2013, the Court dealt a severe blow to the VRA. In Shelby v. Holder, the Court struck down the preclearance requirement in Section 4 the VRA that required states with a history of voter discrimination to get the approval of the Justice Department or the federal court before making any election law changes. By ending this scrutiny, the Court eliminated that the VRA’s most effective tool for protecting voting rights in states with a history of voter suppression and intimidation. Later Supreme Court decisions in 2018 and 2021 allowed further state incursions into voting rights.

With the completion of the 2020 census seven years after the Shelby decision, redistricting efforts began in states across the nation. Some southern states–now freed from Justice Department scrutiny—reverted to Congressional district line drawing (gerrymandering) that dramatically diluted the influence of Black voters. Alabama was a prime example, where the legislature redistricted the State to reduce the number of districts with Black majorities from two to just one. In Louisiana, the legislature’s redistricting plan all but guarantees that the State will only have on Black member of Congress from its six districts—despite that fact that over a third of its electorate is Black.

Future Impact of Allen v. Milligan

Last week’s decision means that Alabama must now redraw its congressional map consistent with the Supreme Court’s reasoning and in a manner that almost surely establishes two majority-Black congressional districts. But the decision’s impact will not stop there. At a minimum, it will reverberate to other states with a history of voter discrimination where post-2020 census redistricting schemes have diluted Black representation. Litigation alleging violations of Section 2 of the VRA is already ongoing in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Georgia, challenging the recent redistricting of those states’ Congressional maps, and the outcomes of these cases will now be subject to the Supreme Court’s new ruling.

As a result, political forecasters predict that Black and Brown voters will now play a substantial role in electing the next Congress member in a minimum or two, and possibly four or five, districts where their votes were marginalized by Republican-controlled redistricting schemes. With control over the House of Representatives decided by narrow margins in the last two elections, the impact of even a few seats changing hands may be decisive.

The Allen v. Milligan decision will extend beyond Congressional races to state elections as well. The VRA applies to the election of state legislatures, elected judges, and even some local races. For example, there is already active litigation challenging state legislature maps under Section 2 in Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Alabama. Similar cases have been filed challenging:

  • A redistricting plan for the Galveston County, Texas Commissioners Court
  • The Georgia Public Service Commission, and
  • The Mississippi and Louisiana State Supreme Courts.

While Allen v. Miller  signals renewed respect for minority voting rights, it may take time for its impact to be felt widely. It depends on the length of time it takes for cases to wind through federal courts (this can take months) and the time in which new cases are filed. Nonetheless, in a time when the erosion of voting rights has been a striking and tragic trend, the court’s decision in Allen v. Milligan is a rare but crucial victory for democracy.

At the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA, Justice-Seekers Called for a Moral Budget

At the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA, Justice-Seekers Called for a Moral Budget

Mary Nelson,
Guest Contributor from the Erie NETWORK Advocates Team
June 8, 2023
NETWORK organizer Sr. Eilis McColluh, HM, and Mary Nelson, justice-seekers in Erie PA speak to the media about the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA

May 23, 2023: NETWORK organizer, Sr. Eilis McCulloh, HM, left, and Mary Nelson, in the blue sweater, speak to the media about the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA

On May 23, 2023, I gathered with a group of community and religious leaders in Erie, Pennsylvania for a “Care Not Cuts” rally. Speakers and attendees were advocating for a moral federal budget as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden negotiated a bill that would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for significant cuts to critical human needs programs in our community. Over 60 people from the Erie community joined together to protect Medicaid, housing, and food assistance in our community.

 

Erie, PA NETWORK Advocates Team members Cynthia Legin-Bucell (far left), Mary Nelson (fourth from right), and Michael Bucell (second from right)

Erie, PA NETWORK Advocates Team members Cynthia Legin-Bucell (far left), Sister Eilis McCulloh, HM (second from left), Mary Nelson (fourth from right), and Michael Bucell (second from right)

Our Erie Advocates Team of NETWORK supporters had been following the federal budget negotiations with concern, hearing proposals of drastic cuts to the social safety net that aids Erie’s vulnerable populations. Attempts by the House of Representatives to balance the budget on the backs of people living in poverty, while not raising taxes for the ultra wealthy and corporations, seemed a painful and immoral way to address the country’s debt.

Erie is fortunate to have three orders of religious women (Sisters) who have served the community and northwest PA for decades: the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, the Sisters of St. Joseph (SSJ), and the Sisters of Mercy. They serve the people of God in Erie and the surrounding counties in a myriad of ministries and remind us of what it means to be in relationship with God and with each other. They lead by example to inspire and educate. They show up in all kinds of weather to protest, protect and advocate, and to call out the best in us. The Sisters demonstrate what a thriving community can become, if only we can be brave enough to work together and to care.

Sisters of St. Joseph and friends, pose with Erie, PA Mayor Joe Schember at the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA

May 23, 2023: Women Religious from the SSJ community and friends pose with Erie, PA Mayor Joe Schember at the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA

And so, on that sunny, warm spring day, most of the people who responded to NETWORK’s call to attend the “Care Not Cuts” rally in Erie were Sisters and allies from the Erie area. One of the speakers was Sr. Dorothy Stoner, OSB, who works with refugees and people seeking job training at the St. Benedict Education Center. Sr. Dorothy shared about the extensive services the Benedictines offer, from food pantries and soup kitchens to environmental education and safe-space programs for children. She called out the irony of certain members of Congress seeking to cut funding for the very support of food, housing, and Medicaid, while insisting people work in such low-wage jobs that they are unable to afford food, housing, and healthcare!

Another speaker, Susannah Faulkner, who works for the SSJ Neighborhood Network and serves on the Erie City Council, noted that “The city of Erie’s child poverty rate is three times higher

Susannah Faulkner of the SSJ Neighborhood Network & Erie City Council speaks at the Erie, PA Care Not Cuts Rally

Susannah Faulkner of the SSJ Neighborhood Network and Erie City Council speaks about poverty and policy choices at the Care Not Cuts rally in Erie, PA

than the state and national average…[they are] trapped in this situation depriving them of opportunity, good health, and stability.” If we believe that poverty is a policy choice, we should be able to mold a federal budget that is also a moral budget.

Betsy Wiest described how St Patrick’s Haven, another ministry of Sisters of St Joseph that provides temporary overnight shelter and a ministry of friendship for unhoused men, was supported by the community after a fire last year. The proposed 2023 budget would strip a significant portion of their federal HUD funding, which provides emergency shelter for men with nowhere else to go, critical during Erie’s frigid winters. She asked, “How is this practicing love of neighbor without distinction?”

Jennie Haggerty spoke to how the Mercy Anchor Center for Women was recently expanded at a repurposed Catholic elementary school. This transitional home for women and children also includes extensive support services for the community. Since 2017, none of their clients have become homeless again, which should be an indicator of its success in reducing homelessness and improving the dignity and employability of its clients.

Mayor Joseph Schember demonstrated his Catholic heart by sharing what the city is doing to address economic and racial inequities. He noted that evidence has shown that by providing housing and support services to people with addiction first — instead of requiring them to meet certain requirements before receiving assistance — gives people a better opportunity to turn their lives around and reduce chronic homelessness. New initiatives seek to revitalize long-neglected areas that will require federal investment but will recoup significant financial payback. There are local, state, and federal investment programs, neighborhood coalitions, and downtown partnerships which are primed to move us forward to prosperity and equality, if they are funded.

Gary Horton, of the Minority Community Investment Coalition, exhorted everyone to get involved politically, and like Congressman John Lewis said, to make good trouble. He said, “Democracy is on the line, and we must vote like our lives depend on it.”  We must speak up for people who have been disproportionately impacted by bad policies that have created generational poverty, which is so evident in the divided and high poverty areas in Erie and the surrounding counties.

Their passionate pleas to protect federal funding for these programs that help vulnerable people in our communities  is a call to the rest of us to contact our legislators, to advocate for those whom some policy makers in Washington have ignored for far too long.

People gathered in Erie, PA to listen to local leaders talk about love and care for all in the community at the Care Not Cuts Rally.

Together, by speaking out in support of federal safety net programs, and the local organizations that tend to our struggling neighbors, we can build thriving communities. “Care, not cuts,” indeed.

Watch Video from the Care Not Cuts Rally in Erie, PA
Free, Voluntary, IRS-run Electronic Filing System May Be on the Way

Free, Voluntary IRS Electronic Filing System is Essential for Low-income Taxpayers

A Free, Voluntary, IRS Electronic Filing System is Essential for Low-income Taxpayers

JoAnn Goedert, Ignatian Volunteer Corp Member
Government Relations Special Contributor
May 24, 2023

Paying income taxes to the federal government has been obligatory since 1914. Even though we are all subject to federal tax laws for nearly 100 years, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has still not found a way to make it easy. The tax code is complex, and the process for calculating and filing pay payments each year can be daunting. Individuals with the means to afford the services of a tax professional, or electronic tax program, can minimize filing obstacles and maximize advantages in the tax code. But what about people of limited means? A free, voluntary, IRS electronic filing system would help all of us, but it is essential for low-income taxpayers.

The need for such a system has been recognized for decades, and its feasibility has been demonstrated by other countries, such as Australia, which have already implemented free direct e-filing for their taxpayers. In the U.S., as the gap between the wealthy and the middle-class grows, and working- and lower- class wages fail to keep up with the cost of living, the need for tax equity is more pressing. Lower wage workers, individuals with disabilities, and others living in the economic margins, deserve help navigating federal tax code and the IRS’s complicated tax forms and documentation policies.

But for many low wage workers and individuals with disabilities, limited help is available. Their options are to struggle with antiquated, handwritten tax forms that must be filled out and mailed to the IRS with paper documentation and any tax payment due; to contend with confusing and complicated requirements for limited, free IRS online filing; or to file no return because their income is so low that they owe no taxes. As a result, many individuals who can least afford to, miss out on tax benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and child tax credits, and they fail to document their eligibility for key federal supports like SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance – simply because of the intimidating tax filing maze.

What Does the Inflation Reduction Act Have to Do with Tax Fairness?

A new report gives us hope that a measure of tax fairness is coming soon, thanks in large part to a policy supported by NETWORK advocates, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). The IRA set a requirement that the IRS issue a report on the feasibility of a free, direct e-file tax return system with a focus on multi-lingual, mobile-friendly features, and safeguards for taxpayer data to Congress before May 16, 2023.

Supporters of free, voluntary, IRS electronic filing emphasize that paying taxes is an obligation, not a privilege. As Nina Olsen, head of the Center for Taxpayer Rights and a former IRS official explained, “Let’s not forget that taxes are a public good. . . not a commercial product like potato chips or an airline ticket.” Accordingly, the government should provide a reasonable filing system for all taxpayers.

Opposition to free, voluntary IRS electronic filing

There is vigorous opposition to free, voluntary IRS electronic filing from big business. Commercial tax service providers and electronic tax preparation companies fear that making the process easier for some will diminish their profits. And some conspiracy theorists have conjured up “big brother” arguments against the program, casting it as an attempt by the government to collect and misuse financial information. Others with adequate means simply prefer the status quo.

NETWORK has supported free, voluntary, IRS electronic filing initiatives for years, and we are heartened by the Biden Administration plans, at last, to propose such a system later this month.  We look forward to reviewing the Administration’s plan and working with NETWORK supporters and our partners to ensure that it provides the tax filing relief that our low-income earners need and deserve.

Justice-seekers defend vital human needs programs from federal budget cuts at NETWORK's Care Not Cuts rally in Brentwood, N.Y., on May 22.

Justice-Seekers Call for ‘Care Not Cuts’ in Long Island

Wisdom from Long Island Justice-Seekers at the Care Not Cuts Rally for the Safety Net

Colin Martinez Longmore
May 24, 2023
Social Justice seekers advocate for thriving communities at the Long Island, NY Care Not Cuts Rally

From left to right: Fr Frank Pizzarelli, Sr. Tesa Fitzgerald, Angel Reyes, Serena Martin-Liguori, Monique Fitzgerald

In the face of the unjust healthcare, housing, and food program cuts proposed by House Republicans, justice-seekers came together in New York on May 22 to continue NETWORK’s Thriving Communities Campaign and demand a moral budget that protects all our neighbors! Almost 100 Sisters, clergy, partners, and advocates turned out to oppose these cuts and defend food, housing, and healthcare programs.

In order to highlight the devastating harm their proposed social program cuts would bring to the local community, NETWORK invited organizations who provide vital services to impacted families and individuals of all backgrounds. The result of that work culminated in the first of our Care Not Cuts rallies on Long Island, New York, which drew over 85 attendees and 12 community organizations that are on the frontlines of care in Long Island.

 

Justice-seekers gather at the Care Not Cuts rally in Long Island on May 22.

Almost 100 Sisters, clergy, community leaders and other justice-seekers gathered at Thera Farms in Brentwood, N.Y. to oppose cuts to food, housing, and healthcare programs in the federal budget.

Thera Farms, located on the beautiful, sprawling campus of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Brentwood, served as the backdrop for the rally. Thera Farms is a local community farm that offers fresh produce to women, children, families and seniors by accepting SNAP, WIC and other nutritional benefits at their farm stand.

We heard from powerful advocates like the Sisters of Saint Joseph Brentwood, New Hour for Women and Children, Mercy Haven, and Make the Road New York. Together we spoke about what is at stake from the immoral social program cuts, and called on the community to contact their members and demand a moral budget.

Wisdom from Long Island Justice-Seekers at the Care Not Cuts Rally for the Safety Net

Selected statements from justice-seekers at the Care Not Cuts Rally for the safety net

“We need to stop putting the poorest of us on the line when Washington wants to balance the Federal Budget,” said Skyler Johnson of New Hour.

“It’s tax cuts for the wealthy that have blown up the debt in our country. It is not the social programs for those in need,” said Mark Hannay of Metro New York Healthcare for All.

“This isn’t just about the government and people being held hostage. This is a blatant attack on working people, on the hungry, on the homeless and work insecure, on children, on veterans, on the disabled, on women, on LGBTQI people, on Black and Brown communities, on our Indigenous neighbors. This is an attack on all of us,” said Ani Halasz of Long Island Jobs with Justice.

Justice-seekers defend vital human needs programs from federal budget cuts at NETWORK's Care Not Cuts rally in Brentwood, N.Y., on May 22.

Justice-seekers defend vital human needs programs from federal budget cuts at NETWORK’s Care Not Cuts rally in Brentwood, N.Y., on May 22. Melanie D’Arrigo, Campaign for New York Health (in red), Rev. Peter Cook and Rashida Tyler, New York State Council of Churches.

The consequences of an immoral budget are dire, but the efforts and resilience of our advocates and justice-seekers are strong enough to make a change. Throughout our rally, we could see a clear, hopeful vision: when we come together, we can create a community where everyone can thrive.

 

 

 

 

 

Colin Martinez Longmore is NETWORK’s Grassroots Outreach and Education Coordinator.

Letters to the Editor support the Thriving Communities Campaign

Thriving Communities Letters to the Editor

Learn how to write an LTE

Sister Eilis McCulloh, HM, of the Grassroots Mobilization Team, gives a short lesson on how to write an impactful letter to the editor. You can use this LTE training for any letter your write to publications in your community.

Below you will see a selection of LTE’s from NETWORK justice-seekers around the country who’ve reached out to publications in their area to advocate for our Build Anew policy agenda and issue areas. We’d love to hear from you after your LTE is published. Please email it to [email protected].

Other LTE Trainings

The May 2, 2023 LTE training below focuses on the debt ceiling. The slide presentation is linked below the training video.

Debt ceiling LTE training slides.

Selected LTE's

Kentucky LTE's

Mary Danhauer, Owensboro Kentucky NETWORK supporter, has a message for people in her western Kentucky community: “It’s time for Rep. Brett Guthrie to listen to the voices of his constituents who are threatened with starvation, malnutrition and death if these cuts to our safety-net programs are allowed to become policy. This form of policy death would be a public health threat to all Kentuckians.” Read Mary’s letter to the editor of the Messenger-Inquirer below.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR -- Owensboro KY

New York LTE's

New York NETWORK supporter, John L. Ghertner, MD, shared how proposed Congressional cuts to social safety net programs are harmful to our neighbors and loved ones, especially children, and won’t decrease our federal debt. Click the link to read the LTE.

Making it harder on children is not the answer

Ohio LTE's

Parma, OH NETWORK supporter, Judy Opalach, challenged U.S. Rep. Max Miller, OH-07, to live the reality of the constituents he placed in jeopardy when he voted to slash funding for Housing Choice Vouchers, and other safety net programs he chose to harm.

Read more from Judy in her letter to the editor of The Plain Dealer.

Pennsylvania LTE's

Erie, PA NETWORK supporter, Mary Nelson, wrote about the reality of the hunger in her northwest Pennsylvania community, how changes to the tax code (where the wealthy pay their fair share of what they truly owe in taxes) could help solve the problem, and the work requirements already in place on people who struggle.

Catholic Organizations Urge Safety and Rights of Asylum Seekers as Title 42 Ends

Catholic Organizations Urge the U.S. Government to Promote the Safety and Rights of Asylum Seekers as Title 42 Ends

May 11, 2023

As Catholic organizations serving asylum seekers and people seeking safety, we urge the U.S. to promote the safety and rights of asylum seekers as Title 42 ends.

Today, we mark the termination of Title 42, a policy that critically limited or denied access to asylum for thousands of individuals and families seeking refuge and protection. But with the end of Title 42, we are appalled by the continuation of asylum restrictions through different measures enacted and proposed both by the Biden administration and Congress. With the new rules and proposed Congressional policies, the U.S. government is changing the asylum system as we have known it since 1980 and is failing to improve and provide protection to people seeking safety in a just and humane manner. Despite the government’s previous promises to protect the right to seek asylum, the new measures make asylum seekers pay the ultimate price.

We are deeply concerned by the Administration’s announcement yesterday that the Title 42 expulsion policy will be replaced by the final asylum ban rule. This rule will further restrict access to asylum by requiring individuals to first seek asylum in another country before coming to the U.S. It also includes extremely limited exceptions that will place many individuals and families in dangerous and life-threatening situations.

The Administration will continue to require that asylum seekers apply through CBP One application, a process that limits access to asylum due to its language, technical glitches, and requirement that individuals have a smartphone in order to seek protection. We also fear the use of Title 8, paired together with the new policy on credible fear interviews in CBP custody and other rushed processes of adjudication, will gut due process for immigrants all together.

The Administration’s announcement that 1,500 additional troops will be sent to the border raises additional concerns. We fear that further militarization of the border may compromise the safety and rights of those seeking safety and traumatize communities who live at the border.

In late April, the Biden Administration announced a new proposal to manage regional migration. We recognize that the Administration is taking steps to expand refugee resettlement and family reunification parole, measures that will provide a life-saving pathway for individuals and families in need of protection. Yet these expansions are part of a proposal that further restricts access to asylum for those arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meanwhile, in Congress, we oppose bills in both the House and Senate that would severely cut access to asylum and limit the rights of asylum seekers. We call upon Congress to find long-term solutions to ensure that the U.S. has the processes in place to welcome and provide refuge for asylum seekers.

As organizations guided by Catholic values, we see it as our duty to welcome those in need of refuge. As recently stated by Pope Francis, “How sad and painful it is to see closed doors. The closed doors of our selfishness with regard to others; the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation; the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor.”

We urge the U.S. government to promote the safety of asylum seekers and protect their rights. Through continued restrictions on asylum and the militarization of the border, the U.S. government has shut the door to many of our siblings who are calling out for help. This failure to provide welcome sends a clear message to the rest of the world that the U.S. will not keep its previous asylum promises and instead continues to turn away from those most in need.

Signed,

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Jesuit Refugee Service – USA
Hope Border Institute
Kino Border Initiative
Franciscan Action Network
Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico
Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker – Washington DC
St. Columban Mission for Justice, Peace and Ecology
Pax Christi – USA
Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology
Franciscan Network for Migrants – USA
Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services Inc
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
Catholics Against Racism in Immigration (CARI)
Quixote Center

Photo of produce on grocery store shelves.

End of Health Emergency Will Impact Immigration, Other Human Needs

End of Public Health Emergency Will Impact Immigration, Other Human Needs

JoAnn Goedert, Ignatian Volunteer Corp Member
Government Relations Special Contributor
May 8, 2023

President Biden has announced that the federal government’s COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) will end on May 11. The Emergency has been in effect since early 2020, and its termination signals a welcome easing of the tragic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But for millions of our neighbors who struggle at or near the poverty in the U.S., and for those hoping to enter the country at our borders, the implications of the PHE’s end will be significant.

Impacts on Domestic Human Needs

In recognition of the economic devastation of the pandemic, benefits were added and eligibility and reporting requirements were suspended for many federal programs, but only until the end of the PHE. For individuals and families living at or near the poverty level, the consequences of terminating these protections will be serious, especially in the areas of health care and food assistance.

“Unwinding” of Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Protections: Pandemic legislation provided enhanced Medicaid funding and authorized Medicaid recipients to keep their coverage until the end of the PHE without having to re-certify their eligibility on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, enrollment in Medicaid grew by over 23 million during the pandemic. However, in December Congress prematurely ended this enrollment protection and instead allowed states to begin “unwinding” the continuous enrollment in April.

Some states already have aggressively begun disenrolling Medicaid recipients, many of whom may be unaware that their enrollment is in jeopardy and even more who will struggle to rapidly document their current eligibility. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that up to 15 million individuals will be disenrolled in the coming months, and that nearly half of those who lose coverage are in fact eligible but unable to surmount the bureaucratic challenges of proving it. As a result of the unwinding of Medicaid continuous enrollment, the number of uninsured adults and children in the U.S. is predicted to soar, with tragic consequences for families and massive new burdens on health care system.

Restoration of SNAP Benefit Limits for Individuals Without Jobs: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has strict and complex work requirements for “able bodied adults without dependents” under age 50 that terminate their benefits after three months unless they can prove that they are employed or in a job training program. In response to widespread unemployment during the pandemic, the government suspended that three-month limit. With the end of the PHE, however, this suspension will cease for most SNAP participants on June 30, and these individuals will once again be limited to only three months of SNAP eligibility while unable to meet the work requirements in any three-year period.

March 1 Termination of SNAP Emergency Benefit Allotments: It is important also to note that increases in SNAP benefits provided as pandemic relief were ended nationwide by March 1. This substantial reduction in benefits amounted to an average of approximately $90 per month per individual and over $200 per month for most struggling families. Soup kitchens and food banks nationwide already have reported an overwhelming increase in need since the cut.

Phase-out of SNAP Benefit Expansion for Students: In addition, pandemic legislation extended SNAP eligibility to many more higher education students. With the end of the PHE, their eligibility will be phased out over the next year. Here is an explanation of this change in student SNAP eligibility.

Impact on Immigration

Termination of Title 42: Title 42 expulsion policy is a Trump administration order issued in 2020, purportedly as a public health measure, that allowed border authorities to expel migrants without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum. Public health experts have long declared that Title 42 is not related to any health measure. Reports are that the rule has been used more than two million times to abruptly turn back immigrants since 2020.

Title 42 will expire with termination of the PHE, and the expulsions are set to end on May 11. However, NETWORK is deeply alarmed that, the new measures announced by the Biden administration to purportedly ease pressures at the border, comes at the expense of the right to seek asylum at our southern border and does not support a just and humanitarian immigration policy.

NETWORK is monitoring the critical impacts of these policies and protections that end with the termination of the PHE. We will share this information with you, along with any calls for action that they may require to safeguard the welfare of our neighbors in the U.S. and at the southern border.

The GOP’s Devastating Debt Ceiling Bill

The GOP's Devastating Debt Ceiling Bill

JoAnn Goedert, Ignatian Volunteer Corp Member
Government Relations Special Contributor
May 4, 2023

Last week, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives passed a bill to hold the current debt ceiling crisis hostage unless the White House and Senate agree to 10 years of devastating budget reductions and major structural changes to SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid. The bill, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 (H.R. 2811), would cut deeply into the most basic supports for our most vulnerable individuals and families and undermine many other programs that protect their health, safety and security now and in the future.

Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) has already declared the bill dead on arrival. However, we must redouble our efforts to push back. It cannot become the basis for negotiations. The five-vote majority the House Republican Conference has does not give them the mandate from the voters to destroy President Biden’s policy agenda.

While increasing the debt ceiling for just one year, the bill demands 10 years of severe funding caps that deepen over time on non-mandatory, or discretionary, federal funding. Those caps are based on a deceptive formula that would hold total discretionary funding for the FY 2024 to FY 2022 levels — but it exempts defense spending. The GOP budget calls for $1.47 trillion in total discretionary spending in FY 2024, while insulating more than half of that amount — $885 billion in defense appropriations from any cuts, according to the Office of Management and Budget. That means that only $586 billion would be left for all other spending for health, education, housing, hunger prevention, the protection of environmental, nuclear, food and drug safety, and other key programs — a full 22% cut from current levels of $756 billion.

Overwhelmingly, the burdens of these cuts would be borne by individuals, families, and children living at or near poverty. Here are the facts of the impact of 22% reductions in some of the critical programs targeted for cuts: 

  • 1.7 million women, infants and children who would lose needed nutrition support under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
  • More than a million elderly individuals now served by Senior Healthy Meals programs like Meals on Wheels
  • Over 630,000 household who could face eviction and homelessness, including nearly 250,000 households headed by seniors or veterans, with slashed funding to Housing Choice Vouchers
  • Veterans who will face deep cuts in Veterans Health Administration outpatient care, and mental health and substance abuse treatment, resulting in 30 million fewer outpatient services.
  • Nearly 400,000 preschool children who will lose Head Start and early childcare services
  • 25 million children in schools that serve low-income students and 7.5 million students with disabilities who will suffer the effects of reduced services and staff
  • Approximately 1,150,000 households in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to who will struggle to keep their homes heated.

The GOP bill also doubles down on strict work requirements already in place for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and imposes new, onerous work requirements for Medicaid. Congress has tried this bureaucratic proposal to reduce the number of eligible Medicaid recipients. Evidence has shown that such unreasonable work requirements do not improve employment stability or living wages, and instead would hit hardest against older workers, veterans, and others with serious health conditions, caregivers for young children and the elderly, and millions of workers in the gig economy.

Under the McCarthy bill, more than 10 million people in Medicaid expansion states would be at significant risk of having their health coverage taken away because they would be subject to the new requirements and could not be excluded automatically based on existing data readily available to states.

Extending this failed policy to older adults will result in more people losing basic food assistance. About a million such individuals participated in SNAP and met the criteria in the McCarthy proposal in a typical month of 2019, which is the most recent year for which a full year of data are available.

For all of us, especially those living in already vulnerable, underserved communities, the GOP bill would eviscerate crucial health, safety, and security safeguards, both immediately and for generations to come. Just some of the protections that would be threatened by a 22% funding reduction are:

  • Rail safety inspections that could prevent further hazardous waste derailments would be cut by 30,000 fewer miles of inspected track annually
  • Suicide Lifeline service reductions that would eliminate 900,000 potentially lifesaving contacts a year.
  • Food and drug safety inspections that would lose more than $500 million and jeopardize the safety of the nation’s food and medication supplies
  • FEMA’s ability to respond to natural disasters with a decrease of $2.5 billion at the same time that climate-change related floods, tornadoes, and fires are on the increase.
  • Clean energy tax and other incentives already passed by Congress that would be repealed, only to plunge the nation into a deeper environmental crisis whose harms are already disproportionately borne by black and brown communities.

At the same time that GOP House bill demands massive cuts targeting the most vulnerable in our society, it would erode the Biden Administration’s FY 2024 deficit reductions by substantially decreasing IRS funding intended to root out tax fraud by the wealthy. McCarthy’s bill would rescind nearly all of the $80 billion in IRS funding that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act to bolster IRS enforcement capacity, rebuild the agency’s aging technology, and improve customer service. CBO has estimated that this would add $114 billion to the deficit over the next decade because the reduced funding would mean the IRS could do less to enforce our tax laws and ensure that wealthy households pay the taxes they owe.

GOP leaders further threaten the U.S. economy with proposals to continue the Trump tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations and even further reward large corporations with more and more tax windfalls. Under new House rules, tax cuts are not scored towards the deficit. Making the expiring tax cuts permanent would give a roughly $49,000 annual tax cut to the top 1 percent, while new or expanded work-reporting requirements target people with incomes below the poverty line, or about $15,000 for a single individual.

In the end, when the GOP debt ceiling bill is scrutinized carefully, what is left is nothing more than a reckless and immoral scheme that risks the nation’s economic security and the social safety net by putting impossible burdens on the backs of the individuals and families in or near poverty due to low wages, disability, and poor health, and unmet child care needs—solely to benefit the rich. The House Republican Conference’s Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 eliminated years of improvements to America’s social contract.