Hope Border Institute is an independent grassroots community organization which addresses issues concerning migration and the Mexico–US border. It works from a perspective founded in Catholic social teaching.
About
Hope Border Institute is one of a number of organisations operating in El Paso which has been involved in recent events at the US-Mexican border concerning United States immigration policy. Its founding was a direct result of Pope Francis's direction that the Catholic Church should dedicate greater resources to supporting migrants in the Americas. It is a designated 501 organisation.
Border Refugeee Assistance Fund
The institute has provided support to initiatives and shelters, such as Annunciation House, which are responsible for the humanitarian needs of migrants in Ciudad Juárez. This has been in partnership with the Diocese of El Paso. This activity is directly connected to the U.S.-Mexico border crisis.
In January 2019, the Department of Homeland Security instituted the Migrant Protection Protocols or "Remain in Mexico" policy. This policy causes some asylum seekers to spend extended periods of time waiting in Mexico after arriving at the US-Mexican border with the intention of claiming asylum. The institute has been involved in policy campaigning concerning this issue, alongside providing support for migrants affected by this policy change and leading local community groups organising against the policy. One policy research analyist at the organisation highlighted the conditions Mexican asylum seekers endured as a result of the Remain in Mexico Policy, pointing to the freezing conditions for people sleeping beneath the three bridges between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso.
Family Detention
Hope Border Institute has been vocal in criticizing the Trump administration family separation policy, in part because much of this separation has occurred in El Paso. The organisation has provided advice concerning both the details of this policy development, and how to mount effective challenges to it.
In 2017, the Hope Border Institute and the Borderland Immigration Council launched a report detailing the human impact and moral consequences of developments concerning the United States' immigration system, and the alleged militarization of the southern border. This was followed by a 2018 paper, 'Sealing The Border: the criminalization of asylum seekers in the Trump era'.
Simon, Theodora; Tapia, Edith; Corbett, Dylan. 'Discretion to Deny: family separation, prolonged detention, and deterrence of asylum seekers at the hands of immigration authorities along the US-Mexico border.' Borderland Immigration Council,
Tapia, Edith; Perez-Bustillo, Camilo; Beller, Elli. 'Sealing The Border: the criminalization of asylum seekers in the Trump era.' Hope Border Institute,.
'Principles for Comprehensive Immigration Reform', Hope Border Institute,.
