The KBI’s annual gathering of teen advocates, Kino Teens Leadership Days, drew high school students from across the country, and throughout the summer KBI staff are participating in conferences and meetings around the globe. Also at the border, Jesuits West held their ordination liturgy in solidarity with migrants, and the KBI hosted immersions for three high school groups.
- Kino Teen Leadership Days: The KBI hosted the Third Annual Kino Teens Leadership Days, a 5-day advocacy-oriented gathering of 12 students from 10 high schools across the country and a graduate from St. Ignatius in Chicago who served as a mentor. Participants learned how to strengthen solidarity and advocacy efforts in their own communities; refined leadership skills; and accompanied people in migration during their time at the border. These motivated teens inspired each other and those around them as they experienced what they can accomplish working together with courage, compassion, and conviction.
Photo by Alejandra Natera.
Photo by Jason Downer, S.J.
Photo by Jason Downer, S.J.
Photo by Jason Downer, S.J.
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On a recent trip to Honduras, KBI–Florence Project Legal Fellow Rocío Castañeda was interviewed by Radio Progreso off-site, but posed before the station mics for a photo.
Photo courtesy of Radio Progreso.The KBI on the Road: In June, Rocío Castañeda, the KBI–Florence Project Legal Fellow, met in Honduras with KBI partners Jesuit Refugee Service and Jesuit Migrant Service to facilitate trainings on asylum and discuss a range of topics, most urgently ways to identify, support, and reunify deported parents whose children remain in U.S. custody. On July 6, KBI Director of Education and Advocacy Joanna Williams gave several talks in Japan—two in English, one in Spanish—about international migration and KBI accompaniment; the sessions were sponsored by the Sophia Institute of International Relations and the Iberoamerican Institute of Sophia University. Later this month, Joanna will present at the Be the Light Youth Theology Institute annual gathering at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, and the Ignatian Justice Summit, this year focusing on immigration, at John Carroll University in Ohio. Also in early July, Marla Conrad, KBI Advocacy Coordinator in Mexico, presented at a Mexico summit on international migration.
- Jesuit Ordinations at the Border: As an expression of solidarity with migrants and to call attention to their struggles, the Jesuits West Province held its Ordination Mass a mile from the U.S.–Mexico border at Our Lady of Carmel Church in San Ysidro, CA, close to neighboring Tijuana, on Saturday, June 9, 2018. Of the four newly ordained priests, two were born in Mexico and all worked with immigrants as part of their formation, three of them—J.T. Tanner, S.J., Elias Puentes, S.J., and Thomas Flowers, S.J.—with the KBI. Congratulations to these new Jesuit priests and best wishes to them in their ongoing work!
- Immersion Experiences: High school students from both U.S. coasts joined the KBI in June for immersion experiences:
| Immersion Group | # of participants | # of days at the KBI |
| Gonzaga High Washington, D.C. |
10 participants | 5 days |
| Jesuit High School Portland, OR |
10 participants | 4 days |
| Jesuit High School Sacramento, CA |
10 participants | 5 days |
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