International Migrants Day

United Methodist Women members at an immigrant rights rally in St. Louis during Assembly 2010.

In the last two decades, more people are picking up and moving across national borders than before the turn of the century. As the number one destination country, the United States has a large stake in the trends of migration.

Worldwide, about 232 million people migrated to new homes in 2013; for the United States, the migrant population grew to 41.3 million, making this population the largest it has been in 93 years. With one in six people residing in the United States not born here, this year’s International Migrants Day is all the more relevant, for U.S. citizens and other U.S. residents.

On December 18, we remember that throughout human history, people have used the advances in transportation to discover new continents and new shores. Countries like the United States were built by these same people, all searching for better lives and a new beginning. However, this day is not just to remember the part that migration has played in shaping the world today, but also to oversee the part that migration will play in the world of tomorrow and the challenges that migrants face.

Read the rest of the UMW Action Alert here.