Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Eileen McKenzie recently found herself sharing a story with an audience of influence: members of the United States Congress.
The account is true for uncounted people in migration who seek asylum in the United States. Many, instead of entering into safety and opportunity, find themselves at the intersection of migration and human trafficking.
Sister Eileen has encountered families and individuals, and sometimes adolescents, traveling alone — fleeing flooding, famine, war, violence, endemic poverty, organized crime, political corruption and the effects of climate change with Kino Border Initiative, an organization missioned to “work with one foot on each side of the Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico,” striving to “respond to the most critical needs by respecting the God-given dignity of the human person and by fostering bi-national solidarity through humanitarian assistance, education and research/advocacy.”
With one foot in the U.S. and the other in Mexico, Sister Eileen has listened closely and compassionately to their stories. Often seeking asylum, these men, women and children are “safety seekers,” forced to leave their homes, families and friends; their language and culture; their professions, schools, gatherings and activities. Their lives. They arrive at the U.S. border in perilous social and economic circumstances, oftentimes finding themselves waiting painfully for asylum paperwork processing. “At Kino Border Initiative,” says KBI Associate Director of Education and Advocacy Sister Tracy Horan, SP, “we regularly hear stories of families for whom waiting weeks or months in Mexico border towns has meant being kidnapped, extorted or abused by organized crime groups. These families are easy targets for traffickers in an unfamiliar place and do not have local contacts they can trust. Confusing and constantly-changing U.S. policies make it easier for bad actors to take advantage.”
In the shadows — around the corner from a young mother, who fled with her son away from their home and the soccer field where he played goalie, to a foreign place where they have no resources for basic human needs — are human traffickers.
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to exploit another to obtain labor or a commercial sex act. It is a crime under both U.S. and international law. According to Polaris Project, an organization working to combat and prevent sex labor trafficking in North America, over 70% of persons trafficked in the U.S. each year are immigrants, including children. The number of international migrants is 281 million, reports the International Organization for Migration. And the International Labour Organization estimates that their suffering earns their traffickers approximately 150 million dollars annually.
The global Catholic community has sounded the call to eradicate human trafficking. In an article in 2019, National Catholic Reporter cited Pope Francis as saying, "Trafficking is an unjustifiable violation of the victims' freedom and dignity, which are integral dimensions of the human person willed and created by God. This is why it must be considered, without a doubt, a crime against humanity."
The Alliance to End Human Trafficking (AEHT), founded and supported by Catholic Sisters, and the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (NACSGS) are answering the call. “The elimination of human trafficking is a priority issue for the Catholic Church and all people of good will. Every life is a gift from God and is sacred. Every human being deserves to be protected and nurtured.” A joint statement issued by the organizations, both founded by women religious, asserts that “We each have a responsibility to fight against the violation and degradation of our brothers and sisters.
“In the past, U.S. anti-trafficking policy has taken a primarily criminal justice approach. While interdiction and prosecution of traffickers is essential, it is not alone sufficient.” And, too often, these crimes go unreported. “If there is any hope of putting an end to this horrendous crime, government, law enforcement, social services agencies and anti-trafficking advocates must focus on its root causes.”
And recently, KBI joined AEHT and NACSGS, merging their firsthand knowledge acquired by listening to the stories of thousands of people in migration and accompanying them on their journeys, to the U.S. Capital in Washington D.C. They rallied other organizations, policymakers and members of congress and their staff to create legislation that severs the ties between migration and human trafficking.
Sister Eileen addresses 75 Congressional staffers and media in Washington, D.C.
With them was Sister Eileen, her feet planted firmly on the ground in Washington, D.C., providing testimony and meeting with policy makers there. We asked her to share some of the highlights of her experience at the capitol.
Q: How did the opportunity come about?
A: Since forced migration is playing an ever-increasing role in human trafficking, the U.S. advocates in each of these areas are seeing opportunities for collaboration in political engagement that would be beneficial to all. We at Kino reached out when we noticed the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants was sharing the implications of changes in the asylum process upon survivors of human trafficking. Sisters who are accompanying people in these situations started to reach out, too. In January we at Kino were connecting with members of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking and the National Advocacy Coalition of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. We began working together, collaborating to make a stronger impact.
Q: Who from KBI, AEHT and NAC participated?
A: I represented Kino. Various staff from AEHT, NAC, Network Lobby for Catholic Sisters plus sisters from all over the country joined us. Our contingency was 34 in total.
Q: What were the precise goals you took to Washington with you?
A: Our aim was to educate our elected officials about the nexus of forced migration and trafficking and to put forward legislative solutions to help end this scourge. In the end, we hope to protect people on the move — who make up the majority of those trafficked in the U.S.
Q: What events, such as meetings, testimony, etc., did you participate in, and who did you speak with?
A: We had a pre-meeting with all the advocates the night before going to Capitol Hill. The next day, I spoke on a panel for a briefing for 75 staffers and media. During that time, I shared a perspective of the vulnerability to trafficking that people who come to Kino experience. I then personally met with staffers from Arizona Senators Mark Kelley and Krystin Sinema and Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva. [For more detailed information about the groups’ primary effort, “Pass the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act (H.R. 1325), click here.]
Senators Mark Kelley and Krystin Sinema with Sister Eileen
We had a pre-meeting with all the advocates the night before going to Capitol Hill. The next day, I spoke on a panel for a briefing for 75 staffers and media. During that time, I shared a perspective of the vulnerability to trafficking that people who come to Kino experience
Q: Did you all feel heard? Receive feedback, positive and/or negative?
A: Absolutely! The staffers we met with were knowledgeable, open, wanted to hear from us and had specific questions. All of the congressional officials I met with were supportive, and when I asked if they would co-sponsor or how to move the legislation forward, they offered good advice. For example, since two days before U.S. President Joe Biden made an executive proclamation decreasing access to asylum seekers that enter the country in between ports of entry, they suggested that we start to engage the Biden Administration because this order bypasses congress.
If they didn't know something they promised me they would check into it and the next day I received a call from one of the staffers.
Congressional visits from constituents are a very powerful form of encuentro. FSPA’s Encuentro@The Border ministry grew from FSPA’s 2017 support of immigration as an issue for the congregation to explore. 'Instead of focusing merely on the meaning of encuentro, to “meet,” we chose to educate ourselves as to the deeper significance of immigration issues, namely the needs of people who could no longer remain in their homes and countries.'"
Q: What new tasks emerged for Kino, AEHT and NAC?
A: We keep pushing! While I felt heard and my representatives are in favor of the legislation, there are other offices that were not visited (like Wisconsin, Iowa and Washington State). I ask everyone who reads this to reach out to your elected representatives or their staffers (who often REALLY do the work) and urge them to pass HR1325, the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act (click here for fast and easy action!) and HR6145 / S138, the Immigration Court Efficiency and Childrens Court Act (click here to take action).
Sister Eileen with Sister Ann Oestrich IHM
For Kino, I returned to the reality of decreased access for our people to apply for asylum, so we are educating them on the new process and advocating for more asylum appointments to be processed everyday at the ports of entry.
Can you provide an overall statement of your experience? The fruits that we hope to bring to the intersection of forced migration and human trafficking from such advocacy?
The dominant narrative now is that congress is polarized, inefficient and doesn't listen to the people. I found the opposite to be true. Our democracy is, in fact, an exercise in encuentro: listening to various, complex needs and trying to work for progress. It calls for everyone's participation in dialogue, discernment and action.