Walking Together in Solidarity: Migrant Accompaniment across the Stages of Migration

While migration has been a phenomenon associated with every era of human history, it has accelerated at a dramatic rate in the last quarter century. As the rate of migration has intensified, so have the hazards and human costs associated with it, particularly for those migrating in an irregular fashion. This study examines the social and pastoral accompaniment of irregular migrants and their families in countries of origin, transit, resettlement, and return. This exploratory investigation relies on primary data derived from 35 in-depth interviews conducted in Mexico and the United States with clergy, religious, and lay volunteers and staff that accompany migrants and their family members. This exploration was anchored by four central questions: 1 )What are the varied needs of migrants & their families at different points in the migratory trajectory? 2) How do various Catholic faith inspired actors and organizations work together to advance a coordinated pastoral/social accompaniment? 3)What are the constitutive elements of a model for social and pastoral accompaniment of migrants? and 4) How is the accompanier touched by the experience of accompanying irregular migrants? The study identified several major themes: varied expressions of hospitality and accompaniment; the vulnerability of migrants at various stages of migration; the centrality of faith for migrants and their accompaniers; and the challenges posed by migration to church institutions. The study findings indicate that the practice of accompaniment is highly relevant, adaptable, and transformative. Implications of an accompaniment model for transnational social work practice with faith-based organizations is addressed.