Accompaniment for Immigrant Families

The Diocese of Austin recognizes the God-given dignity of all people, especially those most vulnerable. Pope Francis reminds us that “an evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself in necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others,” (Evangelii Gaudium, 24). 

Services and Information for Parishes to Accompany Immigrants

• Ensure opportunities to encounter and express gestures to support immigrants
  •   Participate in Recognizing the Stranger
    • The Recognizing the Stranger strategy works with local parishes to identify, train, and mentor immigrant leaders to build connections among themselves and with nonimmigrant allies in their parishes and the broader community.  It’s a collaborative effort among clergy, leaders, and organizers to develop a capacity to tackle tough issues
    • Recognizing the Stranger is a collaboration effort with Austin Interfaith and Catholic Charities of Central Texas
  • CLINIC's Rapid Response Toolkit
    • The newly released toolkit is based on best practices and lessons learned from communities conducting rapid responses during ICE raids and arrests. It provides a plan of action for communities to support and guide people during and after a raid, as well as, a how-to guide and a model notebook to help you build an inclusive rapid-response team. Help empower your community by organizing and staying informed.
  • Ten Things You Can Do to Accompany Undocumented Immigrants (English | Spanish)
    • This backgrounder provides suggested actions that you can take to support undocumented migrants.
  • How the Catholic Church Can Assist Immigrants and Refugees (English | Spanish)
    • The guidance you and members of your community can provide to undocumented immigrants to help put them in the best situation possible.
  • Join the Campaign for Hospitality
    • The campaign invites Catholics in the United States to get to know people in our countries with recent stories of migration. This campaign helps to reflect on our common human dignity and values to create more welcoming communities and nations.

• Ensure access to information on immigration legal services
  • Catholic Charities of Central Texas: Immigration Legal Services
    • Catholic Charities of Central Texas provides low-cost, high-quality legal representation in immigration matters for our clients. Our Immigration Legal Services program has experienced attorneys and legal support staff to help with most immigration-based needs.
  • Texas Here to Stay
    • A local coalition of immigrant legal services providers and advocacy groups dedicated to strengthening our diverse community by ensuring access to legal information and services for all immigrants.
  • Encourage families who may be impacted by potential enforcement to connect with the consulate of their native country and request information on consular protection and/or legal services.
    • Click here to see a list of consular offices in Texas
    • Consular Protection and Legal Services for Mexicans