Jesuit Father Jboy Gonzales (right) passes a plate at KBI's Aid Center for Deported Migrants.

The Kino Border Initiative (KBI), a Jesuit, binational ministry in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, was recently honored for its work with migrants. “There’s a lot of negative press about the U.S.-Mexico border, and I think these awards draw attention to positive programs and efforts that are happening on the border and to the people who live and work there,” says Jesuit Father Sean Carroll, executive director of KBI. “It’s a real affirmation of our staff and the work we’re doing.”

The KBI was one of four organizations to receive an award for binational cooperation and innovation along the U.S.-Mexico border from the Border Research Partnership, comprised of Arizona State University’s North American Center for Transborder Studies, the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center and Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana.

At the awards ceremony: from left to right are Jesuit Father Sean Carroll, Alma Delia Isais, M.E., Rosalba Avalos, M.E., Marla Conrad, Luis Parra and Jesuit Father Pete Neeley. All are KBI staff members, except for Parra, who is chair of the KBI Board of Directors.

The awards program honors “success stories” in local and state collaboration between the United States and Mexico. KBI, the only religious work among those honored, was founded in 2009 by six organizations: the California Province of the Society of Jesus, the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, the Diocese of Tucson and the Archdiocese of Hermosillo.

Currently, there are four Jesuits working at KBI — two from the California Province and two from the Mexican Province. Jesuits are involved in other ways as well. For instance, this summer, a group of seven Jesuits spent five weeks traveling along the Migration Corridor in Central America to experience the route typically traveled by migrants seeking a better life in the United States. KBI was the last stop on their journey. Fr. Carroll says visiting KBI and meeting the migrants can be the most effective type of education.

“We can show photos, we can talk about it, we engage people on the issues — all that’s very helpful. At the same time, when a person or a group is able to dialogue with a group of migrants, that has the biggest impact,” says Fr. Carroll. “The group no longer has just a theoretical idea of the issue, but they think about it in terms of this person or this group of people that has been so affected by the current immigration policy, and I think it has a very significant impact.”

A meal at KBI's Aid Center for Deported Migrants.

In addition to education and advocacy, KBI also focuses on humanitarian assistance. Since its founding the group has provided thousands of migrants food, shelter, first aid and pastoral support. From the beginning of the year to the end of July, KBI served nearly 36,000 meals to migrants. Last year KBI provided over 450 women and children temporary shelter, and KBI’s clinic treats about 12 to 15 people a day.

“It’s a great blessing for us to offer those services,” Fr. Carroll says. “Our work is very transformative for us individually and as an organization because we serve them and we hear their stories and accompany them at a very difficult time.”

Visit the Kino Border Initiative website, where you can learn more about volunteer and educational opportunities. For more from Fr. Carroll, watch this Ignatian News Network video.

“This is a very obvious frontier because we’re on a border. We’re in a place where there is great suffering and great need, so it makes total sense that the Society of Jesus is here,” said Fr. Carroll.

The work of the Kino Border Initiative is unlike any other; it is an innovative and cooperative effort between six major religious organizations that strives to serve migrants and communities affected by the consequences of deportation.

Check out the video below to learn more about the man behind the collar. You can find out more about Kino’s innovative program assisting migrants and displaced peoples by visiting their website.

The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) was founded in January 2009 as a binational effort to help support and provide assistance to deported migrants. Since its founding, KBI has served thousands of migrants by providing food, shelter, first aid and pastoral support.

Fr. Carroll recently spoke with National Jesuit News by phone from Nogales to discuss the work of KBI and about his own background as a Jesuit. You can listen to our podcast with Carroll via the player below.

“Tijuana, Mexicali, Juarez all have these kinds of services, but Nogales, when they started diverting more people through the desert, that’s when we saw the big need here. They need a really organized way to distribute the food and get more people fed and clothed,” Neeley said.

Neeley runs the cafeteria where KBI volunteers typically prepare three meals a day under a tent large enough to feed 200 people.

Crossing into the U.S. illegally is not a sin, said Neeley, it’s a misdemeanor.

Read or listen to the story on NPR.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, the Jesuit Conference of the United States, Georgetown University’s Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service, the Institute for the Study of International Migration, and the Woodstock Theological Center hosted the conference in October, 2009 on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C.

A series of panel discussions at the conference aimed to put a human face on the migrant experience by sharing personal narratives of individuals crossing the border; explored political/legal, economic, ethical and law enforcement perspectives on the current immigration system; made the case for policy changes, discussed ways in which the current system is failing immigrants and our communities. It also explored the prospects for immigration reform, discussed the key players in the process and talked about what such reform may look like.

A series of panel discussions will put a human face on the migrant experience by: sharing personal narratives of individuals crossing the border; exploring political/legal, economic, ethical and law enforcement perspectives on the current immigration system; making the case for policy changes, discussing ways in which the current system is failing immigrants and our communities. It also will explore the prospects for immigration reform, discuss the key players in the process and talk about what such reform may look like.

Scheduled speakers include: Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Diocese of Tucson, Vice President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Fr. Sean Carroll, S.J., Executive Director of the Kino Border Initiative; Chris West, CRS organizer with the Justice for Immigrants campaign; Don Kerwin, Vice President for Programs at the Migration Policy Institute; Jessica Owens, Counsel to Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D.–N.Y.); Prof. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean, Georgetown University Law Center; Rev. Delle McCormick, Executive Director of BorderLinks; and Adrian Gonzalez of Frontera de Cristo; Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice; and Chief Tom Manger of the Montgomery County, Md., Police Department.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, the Jesuit Conference of the United States, Georgetown University’s Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service, the Institute for the Study of International Migration, and the Woodstock Theological Center will host the conference in the Intercultural Center Auditorium on the campus of Georgetown University Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Schedule:
8:30 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. Registration

9:00 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. Human Rights/Human Dignity – Understanding the Need for Immigration Reform from a Border Perspective
Dan Porterfield, Sr. VP for Strategic Programming for GU; Most Rev. Bishop Gerald Kicanas, Vice President of USCCB and Bishop of Tucson; Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice

10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. And You Welcomed Me – Humanitarian Responses to the Border
Fr. Sean Carroll, S.J., Executive Director of Kino Border Initiative; Adrian Gonzalez, Board Member of Frontera de Cristo; Rev. Delle McCormick, Executive Director of BorderLinks

11:40 a.m. – 12:55 p.m. “A Problem Begging to be Fixed,” – The Costs and Consequences of our “Broken” Immigration System
T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean of GU Law Center; Ana Avendaño, Associate General Counsel for AFL-CIO; Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, Montgomery County, Maryland.

1:15p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Strangers No Longer – Comprehensive Immigration Reform and You
Don Kerwin, VP for Programs for Migration Policy Institute; Jessica Owens, Immigration Counsel to Senator Schumer; Chris West, CRS Representative to Justice for Immigrants Campaign

2:30 p.m. – 3:55 p.m. Open Forum: Responding to the Crisis on our Borders: Ways that you can get involved
Justice for Immigrants Campaign; Border Awareness Experience; DC Schools Project; Interfaith Immigration Coalition; Jesuit Refugee Service and Kino Border Initiative; Center for Social Justice; Woodstock Theological Center.

This event is free and open to the public.