Plastic pollution is a major environmental and health problem. Every year 19-23 million tons of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas – the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic dumped daily.  As we take time this...

Congress has before it bipartisan, commonsense legislation poised to better support and protect unaccompanied migrant children entering the U.S. while simultaneously helping to address the enormous immigration court backlog. Unaccompanied migrant children should not be...

The Farm Bill is a package of legislation that Congress reauthorizes every five years or so. This legislation has a tremendous impact on farming livelihoods, land use practices, food assistance for the poor, environmental policies, and much more.TheHouse Committee on...

The United States has a maternal health crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. in 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. This is much higher than any other high-income country, with France having...

We take heart that our SSND partnership with Beyond Borders to address the rights of the people of Lagonav, Haiti proceeds, despite the heartbreaking situation in and around Port-au-Prince. Armed gangs control the capital city with many people trapped in their homes...

The U.S. Asylum process allows individuals to seek legal protection at the U.S. border, both at ports of entry and between ports of entry, or in the interior. However, the asylum system is currently heavily backlogged. It takes an average of four years for a case to be...

The FOREST Act is a bipartisan bill that aims to prohibit importing products into the U.S. sourced through illegal deforestation. The bill will promote government and business collaboration in countries suffering from illegal deforestation by improving laws, monitoring,...

The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs investigative report details the legacy of violence and abuse and death perpetrated by Indian boarding schools. The report found that the United States operated or supported 408 boarding schools across 37...

On February 13, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023 (H.R. 5856). Now we need the Senate to take action! This bipartisan legislation does...

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian groups has led to much hardship, violence, and bloodshed over the years, much of it endured by innocent civilians.  Our hearts grieve over the the brutal killing and kidnapping of civilians, the bombings, and the...

The School Sisters of Notre Dame believe in the sanctity of life, that every life has inherent dignity and worth. Urged by the love of Christ and of our sisters and brothers, we work actively toward enhancing just structures that foster fullness of life and toward changing...

The catastrophic war in Ukraine continues with no immediate end in sight. It has resulted in at least 8 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing to other countries for safety, 7 million internally displaced persons, nearly 9000 civilians killed (including at least 500 children),...

Thousands of immigrant youth are in the United States under the protected "Special Immigrant Juvenile" (SIJ) classification. These youths had to prove to a state court judge that they cannot be returned to their parents or their home country due to abandonment, neglect, or...