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Social Justice Tag: Immigration

Seeking short, student produced videos that will help Mercy spread the word about immigration or voting.

View last year’s grand prize winning video. (*Note: the contest themes have changed for 2024.)

The Mercy Justice Team needs you, a Mercy student, to create a short, social media style PSA (public service announcement) video – think Reels or TikTok – that reflects the Sisters of Mercy’s Critical Concerns. Put those creative ideas and video skills to work and you could win $500!

What does it mean to be a faith filled, values voter?

What is your own immigration story?

What is the immigration story of someone you know?

How can voting with Mercy affect our community, our nation, our world?

To receive information, updates and reminders about this year’s contest, complete this form and we’ll be in touch. Click here to learn rules for entry and how to upload your video.

View the grand prize winning video from 2022. (*Note: the contest format has changed since 2022.)

Purpose

For this year’s contest we are seeking short, PSA style videos (30 to 90 seconds) that are suitable for sharing on social media platforms such as TikTok or Reels. Video entries must focus on one of these topics:

Immigration
  • Videos should reflect the Mercy Critical Concerns, especially the Critical Concern for Immigration, but do not need to identify the Critical Concerns specifically.
  • Videos should inspire action to address the injustices that cause people to immigrate or the injustices that immigrants face in their new countries.
Voting
  • Videos should explore the ways that faith and Mercy values can influence the choices we make on our ballots.
  • Videos should inspire faithful citizenship and active involvement in elections without promoting partisanship or individual candidates.

Contest Webinar

Watch our 20 minute webinar to learn more about this year’s contest.

Who Can Enter

Any student or group of students, high school age or older, enrolled in Mercy high schools, colleges/universities, or involved in a Mercy-affiliated ministry.

Use this tip-sheet to help you as you begin the process of creating your video.

Format

Read the complete rules

Length: 30 to 90 seconds

Language: English or Spanish

Other Requirements

1. Title. Each video must have a title. The title must be indicated on the submission form. The title does not need to be included in the video itself.

2. Credits. Credits must include the name of those involved in the creation of the video. The credits must also include citations for any images, audio, or text used in the video that is not original. The credits do not need to be included in the video itself, but must be included in the submission form.

The Sisters of Mercy may delete title and credit screens before posting videos on social media.

Entrants are strongly encouraged to use original footage and graphics as much as possible.

Important Note on Rules: In order to honor copyright protections, rules regarding use of images and music were updated for the 2022 contest and remain in effect for 2024. See the complete rules for details.

Deadline

All entries must be received by April 3, 2024.

Prizes

A panel of judges will use these criteria to select the winning video. Individual winners will receive financial awards. The Grand Prize Winner receives $500.

Winning entries may be featured on the Sisters of Mercy Institute web site and social media channels. Winners and their winning institution will be formally announced.

Interested?

If you think you might be interested in entering this contest, fill out this form to receive contest information and updates.

Past Winners

Click here to view all of our past winners.

The Mercy Community engages with immigrants in a variety of ways and locations. Join us for interviews with sisters, associates and others who walk with migrants.

Episode 1. Sister Anne Connolly shares her experiences living on the US/Mexico border and how it informs her work now.

Episode 3. Sister Rosemary Welsh discusses her thirty one years living Mercy in Laredo, Texas.

Episode 2. Sisters Mary Waskowiak and Mary Kay Dobrovolny talk about Casa de Misericordia, an intentional community of service in San Diego.

Episode 4. Sisters Judy Carle and Joan Marie O’Donnell discuss their work in the San Francisco Bay area with collaborators Rev. Deborah Lee and Rev. Penny Nixon.

Border immersion trips are educational experiences. They are designed to prepare participants to return home and take action by raising awareness about immigration and its root causes, as well as engaging in advocacy for justice based immigration reforms.

The Mercy Justice Team is hosting two border immersion experiences in 2024:

April 21-26, 2024, El Paso, Texas, United States/Juárez, CI, Mexico, hosted by the Columban Mission Center. Click here for more details.

November 3-8, 2024, Rio Grande Valley, South Texas (McAllen), hosted by ARISE and its Mercy associates. Click here for more details.

To apply for either immersion delegation, please click here. Contact the Mercy Justice Team with any questions at justice@sistersofmercy.org.

Watch the video to learn more about Mercy border immersion trips.

Three recent border immersion participants share their experiences:

Three recent border immersion participants share their experiences:

  • story

    Border Crossings

    December 7, 2022

    I am living proof that the journey and challenges immigrant parents face can well be worth it for them and their future families. It brings me great sadness to see what immigrants face when I remember and reflect that my parents were once also facing the same challenges: not knowing the language, not knowing the process of how to apply for a visa properly, not knowing how to enter the country properly, not knowing their rights or having anyone to help.

  • story

    Bringing the Border Experience Home

    July 5, 2022

    By Elnora Bassey, Policy Advocate, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) — In early May 2022, I arose from my cozy bed hours before sunrise to catch an early flight to the U.S.-Mexico border. An advocate attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), which works to protect immigrant and humanitarian rights, I was participating in a week-long border immersion experience to El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to learn more about immigration issues facing migrants during and after their journey to the U.S.-Mexico border. The program was sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and hosted by the Columban Mission Center.

  • story

    Walking with Saints at the Border

    June 25, 2022

    By Joanne Castner, Mercy Associate — On May 8, 2022, 13 of us from across the United States gathered in the living room of the Columban Mission House in El Paso, Texas, the beginning of an immersion trip to meet with people who find ways to organize their communities and improve living conditions for those in need, and to discover why so many people from other countries are seeking to cross our nation's borders.

Sister Betty Campbell, 87, in her backyard shrine at Casa Tabor, her Juárez home where she has lived for over 25 years. On the shrine’s walls, she and visitors write the names of people who have died violently along the border, as well as names of thousands of Mexican women who have disappeared.
View a border immersion photo essay from staff person Cathy Walsh

Hear and read what participants and staff have to say about their border immersion experiences in these videos:

The dangers of conflating Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism

November 2023 – Two terms that have surfaced over the past several weeks as the ongoing hostilities between Hamas and Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continue are Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism. While they are often used interchangeably, and any criticism of the government or the policies of the State of Israel is labeled anti-Semitic, Jewish Voice for Peace has highlighted the danger of conflating these terms.

Antisemitism is discrimination, targeting, violence, and dehumanizing stereotypes directed at Jews because they are Jewish and is totally unacceptable. It denigrates one of the great faith traditions of the world which is thousands of years old. Anti-Zionism, on the other hand, opposes a political philosophy (Zionism) that originated in the late 1800s and led to the formation of the State of Israel, a process that included dispossession (750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in 1947- 48), ongoing occupation (Israel has occupied Palestinian the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem since 1967) and numerous violations of international law.

In a March 23, 2023 article in Georgetown Voice, contributor Annette Hasnas says, “Zionism as a political idea needs to be judged on its own merits and condemned for its own failings, and antisemitism needs to be taken seriously and actively combated. And conflating the two related but separate concepts actively hinders both pursuits.”

Red flag laws in jeopardy: faith voices speak to save them

Women are particularly vulnerable to gun violence in the United States, especially in the context of intimate partner violence. Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States vs. Rahimi, a case that centers around whether those subject to domestic violence restraining orders can legally own firearms. An article by Justice Team member Angie Howard-McParland details how the Sisters of Mercy participated in advocating for the continued protection of women and others vulnerable to intimate partner violence through red flag laws.

Article Archive

October 2023

Jewish and Palestinian perspectives on Gaza crisis

September 2023

U.S. China tensions impact efforts to address climate change

August 2023

When Good Economic Policy Isn’t Enough

July 2023

States Move to Weaken Protections for Child Workers

June 2023

Corporate Lobbyists at Climate Talks

May 2023

Electric Vehicle Transition Challenges

April 2023

Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery

March 2023

Misrepresenting War

February 2023

The Rise of Christian Nationalism

January 2023

How the News is Reported Affects What We Know

December 2022

How Corporations Took Over the Government

November 2022

The Independent State Legislature Theory Explained

October 2022

The Next Phase in the Voting Wars

View last year’s grand prize winning video (*note: the contest format has changed for 2023)

The Mercy Justice Team needs you, a Mercy student, to create a short, social media style PSA (public service announcement) video – think Reels or TikTok – that reflects the Sisters of Mercy’s Critical Concerns. Put those creative ideas and video skills to work and you could win $500!

What form of injustice makes your nostrils flare every time it’s mentioned in the news?

Who do you know who’s been impacted by gun violence?

What story is yours to tell about the need for Mercy?

How do we challenge injustices in our society?

To receive information, updates and reminders about this year’s contest, complete this form and we’ll be in touch. Click here to learn rules for entry and how to upload your video.

View the grand prize winning video from 2021 (*note: the contest format has changed for 2023)

Purpose

For this year’s contest we are seeking short, PSA style videos (30 to 90 seconds) that are suitable for sharing on social media platforms such as TikTok or Reels. Video entries must focus on one of these topics:

Gun Violence
  • Videos should reflect the Mercy Critical Concerns, especially the Critical Concern for Nonviolence, but do not need to identify the Critical Concerns specifically.
  • Videos should inspire action to address gun violence.
Advocating for Justice
  • Videos should reflect the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy efforts to advocate on behalf of social justice issues.
  • Videos should inspire further advocacy.
  • Videos should seek to make the idea of advocating for justice more accessible to people of all ages by explaining why is it important or showing what it looks like.

NEW! Watch our 20 minute webinar

to learn more about this year’s contest.

Who Can Enter

Any student or group of students, high school age or older, enrolled in Mercy high schools, colleges/universities, or involved in a Mercy-affiliated ministry.

Use this tip-sheet to help you as you begin the process of creating your video.

Format

Read the complete rules

Length: 30 to 90 seconds

Language: English or Spanish

Other Requirements

1. Title. Each video must have a title. The title must be indicated on the submission form. The title does not need to be included in the video itself.

2. Credits. Credits must include the name of those involved in the creation of the video. The credits must also include citations for any images, audio, or text used in the video that is not original. The credits do not need to be included in the video itself, but must be included in the submission form.

The Sisters of Mercy may delete title and credit screens before posting videos on social media.

Entrants are strongly encouraged to use original footage and graphics as much as possible.

Important Note on Rules: In order to honor copyright protections, rules regarding use of images and music were updated for the 2022 contest and remain in effect for 2023. See the complete rules for details.

Deadline

All entries must be received by April 1, 2023.

Prizes

A panel of judges will use these criteria to select the winning video. Individual winners will receive financial awards. The Grand Prize Winner receives $500.

Winning entries may be featured on the Sisters of Mercy Institute web site and social media channels. Winners and their winning institution will be formally announced.

Interested?

If you think you might be interested in entering this contest, fill out this form to receive contest information and updates.

Past Winners

Click here to view all of our past winners.