The Student Coalition for Immigration Advocacy of Notre Dame (SCIA) hosted Immigration Week from March 23 to March 28 featuring daily events centered on the role of immigrants in communities and recent immigration enforcement.
On Tuesday, SCIA, along with UndocuALLY and Institute for Latino Studies, hosted a workshop titled “Immigration 101” and featured presentations from Fr. Matt Kuczora and third year law student Davis Lovvorn followed by a student-led UndocuALLY training.
Kuczora’s presentation focused on what Catholic Social Teaching has published on immigration. Pulling from the pastoral letter and book, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope," Kuczora pointed out the Catholic Church has a five point framework for understanding immigration.
His presentation described the five principles from this book as, “People have the right to find opportunities in their homeland,” “People have the right to migrate to support themselves and their families,” “Sovereign nations have the right to control their borders,” “Refugees and asylum seekers should be afforded protection,” and “The human dignity and human rights of undocumented migrants should be respected.”
In response to the second and third of these five principles, Kuczora noted that, “A lot of politicians, on either side of the aisle, will say this is irreconcilable. The truth says no, that is not true. If people of good will will come together, we can find a way to balance these rights.”
He explained that these principles are rooted in the biblical texts and tradition from the people’s wandering in the Book of Exodus to Pope Pius XII’s call that the Holy family is the archetype and model of all refugees today.
Emphasizing why people should care about the issue of immigration, Kuczora stated Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend Kevin Rhoades sits on President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. Rhodes had wrote, “In turning them away, we are turning away Jesus and are, in the end, condemned.”
Lovvorn’s lecture focused on the legal avenues for people to gain paperwork, and why the idea of “just be here legally” fails because the process is broken.
Lovvorn critiqued the current questions being asked around the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” section of the 14th amendment legislation.
“I cannot ever see that being overturned by any Supreme Court justice with common sense — I use those last three words very carefully,” he stated.
While he tried to highlight some of the wins happening, including bond being back, at least for now, losses remain.
“Obviously, the big loss in terms of the Supreme Court was the profiling decision down in California that allows ICE officers to effectively racially profile, which I think is the worst Supreme Court decision since Plessy versus Ferguson,” Lovvorn said.
He finished his speech out on a note of hope sharing, “We will one day be back to respecting all of the people who come to this country, and I just hope that this is sooner rather than later, obviously. The pain that we are all feeling right now is very real. That does not change that. But I think once this is all over, we are going to see some serious reckoning.”
Throughout the week, events were held such as bake sale with proceeds going towards the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund and a prayer service in the Log Chapel with Fr. Joseph Corpora.
A demonstration was held on Wednesday in the area between DeBartolo Hall, O’Shaughnessy Hall, Duncan Student Center, Fitzpatrick Hall of Engineering and Cushing Hall in order to show how immigration enforcement has impacted vulnerable communities.
SCIA crafted temporary monuments for construction workers, street vendors and students along with capturing the stories that have received more mainstream attention including victims of recent ICE killings, such as Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
SCIA puts up temporary monument for construction workers affected by immigration enforcement during 2026 Immigration Week.
Sophomore Brandon Na, a SCIA representative, shared they made the monument “to present a very objective, just factual information about what has happened so far.”
Friday brought a flea market of immigrant-owned businesses to Fieldhouse Mall featuring El Llanito, Mi Herencia, among others.
Maria Gomez, owner of Mi Herencia, mentioned details about her small candle business.
“Everything is brought from Mexico and handmade and handpainted by different artists in different states of Mexico.” Gomez shared her inspiration for her storefront came after wanting to bring the scents from her hometown, Michoacán, Mexico, with her.
Saturday’s Immigration Festival saw tabling from a variety of on-campus organizations including: Ballet Folklorico Azul Y Oro, Asian American Association, Shades of Ebony, Latinx Student Alliance ND, Multiracial/Multiethnic Students Association at ND, Nepalese Student Association, Cooking Club of Notre Dame, Diversity Council of Notre Dame and the Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists.
Na explained the Immigration Festival was to bring everyone together for the final conclusion of the week.
“We wanted to plan every event throughout the week to culminate in a more of the happier celebration, where we are able to focus more on the community aspects," he said.
Junior Natalie Astoquilca-May, president of the Diversity Council of Notre Dame, said not only does the board serve as a liaison between student and administrative bodies, but also are a part of the immigrant diaspora.
“We are here today because we primarily, even the board is, descendants of immigrants. But also immigrant rights are human rights and now especially is a time when we need to really show out to that,” Astoquilca-May said.
