On Sunday, February 8, 2015, US and Canadian Jesuit Provincials and members of the Jesuit Conference visited the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) in Nogales, AZ. KBI provides short-term humanitarian relief for recently deported migrants in need of food, clothing, emergency care, and pastoral care.

"It was very moving to see firsthand this important ministry to those who have been deported," said Fr. Brian Paulson (standing, far left), provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province, and Fr. Tom Lawler (standing, far right), provincial of the Wisconsin Province,

The Kino Border Initiative was founded in 2009 as a bi-national ministry cooperatively sponsored by six Catholic organizations including two Jesuit provinces (Mexico and California), Jesuit Refugee Service USA, two dioceses (Tucson and Hermosillo) and the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist. KBI’s mission is to “promote border and immigration policies that affirm the dignity of the human person and a spirit of bi-national solidarity through direct humanitarian assistance and accompaniment with migrants, social and pastoral education with communities on both sides of the border; participation in collaborative networks that engage in research and advocacy to transform local, regional, and national immigration policies.” 

The patron of KBI is Jesuit Father Eusibio Kino (d. 1711), who founded missions, primarily among indigenous communities in Sonora Mexico and Southern Arizona.