Category Archives: Social Justice

January 30, 2014 · 9:45 am

Human Trafficking and the Super Bowl

Human trafficking involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through use of force, fraud, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. People may be considered trafficking victims regardless of whether they were born into a state of servitude, were transported to the exploitative situation, previously consented to work for a trafficker, or participated in a crime as a direct result of being trafficked. Trafficking in persons affects virtually every country of the world today, including the United States. The majority of victims are women and children who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. It is one of the fastest growing criminal activities after drugs and arms. It is estimated that between 700,000 to two million persons are trafficked each year worldwide. Trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar industry, the second largest crime in terms of dollars exchanged.

The United States is one of the countries of destination of women and children trafficked for sexual purposes from all over the world. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates that 50,000 to 100,000 women are trafficked to the United States each year. In the past decade as many as 750,000 women have been trafficked into the United States. According to UNICEF estimates, there are between 90,000 and 300,000 prostituted minors in the country.

Major sporting events, such as this weekend’s Super Bowl, are magnets for activities connected with human trafficking. These events draw large crowds, are primarily male-attended, and have a partying atmosphere connected with them. The party atmosphere surrounding the game may be an enticement for some to break the law, and that attitude is what traffickers hope to capitalize on.

The Daughters of Charity are collaborating with other groups of Catholic religious women and with other sectors of society to stop what Pope Francis has called “the most extensive form of slavery of the 21st century.” Learn more about trafficking and efforts to combat it with the resources below. They were used in the writing of this post.

Nuns, Trafficking, and the Super Bowl (about the 2012 Super Bowl)

20 Ways You Can Fight Trafficking

Sisters Around the World Fight Trafficking
http://famvin.org/en/2014/01/03/sisters-around-world-fight-trafficking/

Stop Enslavement Newsletter

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January 7, 2014 · 6:00 am

National Migration Week, DCs work with immigrants in El Paso

Las Americas Immigrant and Family Center

National Migration Week will be observed in dioceses around the country January 5-11. The theme is “Out of the Darkness,” and echoes the figurative darkness undocumented immigrants, children, refugees and victims of human trafficking must face when their ability to live out their lives is severely restricted, often due to violence and exploitation.

During the week, Catholics are called to participate through prayer and action to try and ease the struggles of immigrants, migrants and vulnerable populations and to reflect on the Church’s obligation to welcome the stranger.

Daughters of Charity are actively involved in service to, and advocacy for, immigrant populations. One such example, is the work of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso, Texas. Two Daughters of Charity from the Province of St. Louise, Sisters Phyllis Nolan and Nancy Sullivan, currently serve there.

Las Americas was born on May 1, 1987 to answer the needs of a large influx of Central Americans who sought refuge in El Paso. By the mid-1990’s, Las Americas began to assist children and women detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service through its Justice for Women and Children Project. Las Americas also started representing battered immigrant women under the Battered Immigrant Women Project. Today, Las Americas continues to be one of the only non-profit legal service providers to assist low-income immigrants in the El Paso region.

Las Americas’ vision is that of a country where all immigrants have access to high quality legal representation based on the principle of justice and human rights. Las Americas’ mission is to see this vision realized by providing high quality legal representation to immigrants and by advocating for human rights.Las Americas’ mission includes not only direct service to the most vulnerable of immigrants but also advocacy for the rights of immigrants and education on immigration issues.

Since 2000, Las Americas has assisted asylum seekers from over 25 countries, including Algeria, Dominican Republic, Bosnia, El Salvador, India, Burundi, Georgia, Mexico, and Colombia. Wars and repressive governments continue to create a flood of refugees to our shores. Las Americas continues to provide legal services for these refugees, works to prevent unjust deportations, and challenges Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies regarding the treatment of refugees and other detained persons in the area.

In 2008, drug-related violence began to tear apart Ciudad Juárez, El Paso’s sister city south of the border and Las Americas staff started to see an influx in Mexican asylum seekers who sought relief in the United States. Many Mexican refugees have received threats from cartels or criminal organizations with ties to corrupt Mexican government officials. Las Americas completes an average of 15 intakes a week of people fleeing the violence in Mexico.

Learn more about Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center at its website: http://www.las-americas.org

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Filed under Immigration, Ministries, Social Justice, Social Work