This episode of CMSOnAir is a conversation on the ways in which Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego (CCDSD) is assisting migrants through vital welfare and legal services, recent threats and allegations against CCDSD staff for assisting migrants, and US border policies. Mario Russell, Executive Director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), and Vino Pajanor, Chief Executive Officer of CCDSD, sit down to address these topics. Born and raised in India, Vino grew up in a Catholic family and followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by becoming a lawyer. A graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law, he began his career in a law firm, where he worked for 6 years. In 2006, he discovered his passion for nonprofit work and went on to co-found the Housing Opportunities Collaborative in San Diego to address the growing predatory lending practices and evolving housing crisis. Vino joined CCDSD in 2018, and has since run the agency "with a non-profit heart and a for-profit mind," ensuring that the agency lives out its calling through triple bottom line framework, SMAART goals, and organizational means. Learn more about Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego: https://ccdsd.org/ Learn more about the Center for Migration Studies of New York: www.cmsny.org/

This episode of CMSOnAir is a conversation on the role of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) in responding to the needs of and developing opportunities for migrants in New York City. Mario Russell, Executive Director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), and Commissioner Manuel Castro, MOIA, sit down to address this topic. MOIA's work recognizes that immigrant New Yorkers and their children make up a significant proportion of the City's population. Their charter-mandated responsibilities include advising and assisting the mayor, council, and other agencies on programs and policies related to and designed for immigrant New Yorkers; tracking state and federal policy and law that will impact immigrant New Yorkers; increasing access to city programs, benefits, and services by conducting outreach; and helping advise on the legal service needs of immigrants. Throughout his career, Commissioner Castro has strongly advocated for immigrant New Yorkers. Prior to joining MOIA, he served as the Executive Director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), a Queens-based organization working to create a world where immigrants can live and work with justice, dignity, and respect. As Commissioner for MOIA, he is responsible for running a City agency dedicated to supporting over 3.2 million immigrant New Yorkers. Learn more about the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs here: https://www.nyc.gov/site/immigrants/index.page Learn more about the Center for Migration Studies of New York: www.cmsny.org/

This episode of CMSOnAir is a conversation on immigration detention in the United States: should it be used? And if so, how, when, and why? Mario Russell, Executive Director for the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), and Dr. Dora Schriro - a career public servant who has served as an executive level administrator, policymaker, and Homeland Security advisor - sat down to discuss insights into these issues. Dr. Schriro is a Principal at Dora B. Schriro Consulting Services LLC. She has led three state and two city criminal justice agencies and a federal office in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. She has earned a reputation for innovation, advocacy, and economy. Learn more about the Center for Migration Studies of New York: www.cmsny.org/

This episode of CMSOnAir is a conversation on current migration policy issues in the United States. Kevin Appleby, Interim Executive Director for the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), and Víctor Genina, Director of Development and Policy for the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), sit down to discuss insights into these issues. SIMN is an umbrella organization established in 2007, and inspired by Saint John Baptist Scalabrini. SIMN encompasses more than 250 grassroots Scalabrini entities that serve and advocate for the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees, internally displaced people, and seafarers around the world. Prior to joining SIMN in July 2021, Víctor served as an advisor on international migration and human rights issues to the Permanent Missions of Mexico to the United Nations, both in New York and Geneva, and as an advisor to the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico for Latin American Affairs. A specialist in international migration, Víctor holds degrees from El Colegio de México (COLMEX), The New School of Social Research, and the National University of Mexico (UNAM). Learn more about the Scalabrini International Migration Network: www.simn-global.org/ Learn more about the Center for Migration Studies of New York: www.cmsny.org/

In the United States, 9.6 million children are living in poverty. Federal and state tax credits are among the most effective policy tools for fighting child poverty. However, nearly 2 million children – 1.6 million US citizens and 270,000 non-citizens – are living in poverty and are ineligible for these poverty-fighting tax credits because they have at least one undocumented parent. In this episode of CMSOnAir, Roberto Suro explores this inequality and other findings from the paper, “Tax Equality for Immigrants: The Indispensable Ingredient for Remedying Child Poverty in the United States,” which he co-authored with Hannah Findling. At a moment when the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats are pursuing substantial expansions of tax credits for working-poor families, an important question remains: Who will be eligible? This episode of CMSOnAir is part of a series featuring academics, policymakers, and advocates who have written for CMS’s Journal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS). READ AND DOWNLOAD THE JMHS REPORT: https://cmsny.org/publications/jmhs-suro-findling-090221/

This episode of CMSOnAir is the third in a series featuring academics, policymakers, and advocates who have written for the Center for Migration Studies’ (CMS) Journal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS). In this interview, Dora Schriro speaks with Michele Pistone and Jack Hoeffner about family residential facilities and her 2017 paper, “Weeping in the Playtime of Others: The Obama Administration's Failed Reform of ICE Family Detention Practices.” During the Obama administration, Schriro served as senior advisor to US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and then as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) first director of the Office of Detention Policy and Planning. She later served as a subject matter expert on the DHS Advisory Committee on Family Residential Facility formed by Secretary Jeh Johnson. Schriro shares her insights on working to reform immigrant detention practices, the difference between criminal and civil detention, and the impact of family detention on parents. Schriro recommends a case management approach to the reception of families and suggests US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as the first point of contact. “Weeping in the Playtime of Others: The Obama Administration's Failed Reform of ICE Family Detention Practices.” https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/233150241700500212 Learn more about the Center for Migration Studies: https://cmsny.org/

This episode of CMSOnAir is the second in a series featuring academics, policymakers, and advocates who have written for the Center for Migration Studies’ (CMS) Journal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS). In this interview, Jennifer Podkul, the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), describes the United States’ recent history with respect to the humanitarian protection of children and offers an overview of the current situation at the US-Mexico border for child migrants. An international human rights lawyer and expert on child migration to the United States, Podkul recently testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security on the best practices for the care and protection of child migrants. Podkul’s 2016 JMHS paper, “The Impact of Externalization of the Migration Controls on the Rights of Asylum Seekers and Other Migrants,” examined how the United States, Australia, and the European Union sought to prevent migrants and refugees from arriving at their borders to seek protection. One example presented in the paper is the Obama administration’s response to the increase in unaccompanied children in 2014. Podkul describes what has changed since the Obama administration with respect to the deterrence of child migrants and offers policy recommendations for the care and reception of child migrants. Read the JMHS paper: https://cmsny.org/publications/jmhs-impact-of-externalization/

This episode of CMSOnAir is the first in a series featuring academics, policymakers, and advocates who have written for the Journal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS). Created by the Obama administration in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program offers certain young immigrants who came to the United States as children work authorization and a temporary reprieve from deportation. As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate the DACA program, CMS released a paper offering detailed estimates about DACA recipients, their economic contributions, and their deep ties to US communities. The paper found that: *83 percent of DACA recipients is in the labor force. From this pool, 95 percent is employed; *346,455 US-born children under the age of 18 have at least one DACA parent; and, *81 percent of DACA recipients has lived in the United States for more than 15 years. The paper, which also features testimonies of several DACA recipients, was subsequently published in the Journal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS), CMS’s peer-reviewed, public policy journal. In this episode, Daniela Alulema — author of the JMHS paper and herself a DACA recipient — describes the paper’s findings and shares the stories of the DACA recipients. She also outlines potential policy directions for the DACA program, given the Supreme Court’s decision that the way the Trump administration ended the program was unlawful and the Biden administration’s support for the program. Read the JMHS paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2331502419893674

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future. In this episode of CMSOnAir, Joan Rosenhauer, the Executive Director of JRS-USA, shares how JRS is adapting its advocacy for a new administration and transforming its programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also shares stories about the “proactive, resilient, hopeful” refugees she has met through her work with JRS. If you want to learn more about the Jesuit Refugee Service, please visit: jrsusa.org RELATED WORK FROM THE CENTER FOR MIGRATION STUDIES https://cmsny.org/publications/rebuilding-usrap/ https://cmsny.org/publications/biden-refugees-martin-021921/ https://cmsny.org/publications/biden-refugees-martin-021921/ https://cmsny.org/publications/us-refugee-resettlement-program/

This episode of CMSOnAir features four students at the University of Notre Dame who are doing research about international migration. Syeda (Fiana) Arbab, Sofia Piecuch, and Kara Venzian are graduate students pursuing their Masters in Global Affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough School. They partnered with Catholic Relief Services on a research project about how internally displaced persons and refugees describe and create home. Elsa Barron examined migrant integration, dialogue, and religious acceptance using the first mosque in Athens, Greece as a case study. An undergraduate student, Elsa conducted her research with support from the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Here’s Elsa, Fiana, Sofia, and Kara describing the findings of their research at the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference.