Week of

Los Caminos De La Vida - Walking for Life                                                                                                          

My recent visit to the Refugee Center in El Paso, Texas has given me first hand information about the trauma going on at the border.  Besides helping with laundry, serving meals and cleaning, we were privileged to listen to the stories of our migrant brothers and sisters who have suffered so much in Central or South America and again at our border seeking asylum in the US.  When they cross the border they are put in detention centers where they remain for days and sometimes weeks before they are released to the Border Patrol and bussed to the Casa de Refugiados, a converted warehouse for refugees. At the center we welcomed them, fed them, played with the children, helped them make arrangements to get to their destinations with family or sponsors and drove them to a bus station or airport.  The center is only a temporary relief from their suffering since they still have to await a court date to prove their need for asylum. Most of them will be deported back to their countries even after explaining their urgent need for asylum due to violence, threats to their safety, kidnapping and extortion. Most of our guests were women and children seeking refuge and many had been separated from spouses, parents and siblings at the border in an effort to have them change their mind and return to Mexico.  

I listened to the heartbreaking story of a woman from Guatemala who traveled to Mexico with her 3 boys to escape the violence and seek refuge in the US.  While waiting in Mexico her boys were kidnapped and she had to raise $8000. ransom to get them back. Needless to say the boys were traumatized and she was desperate to get them to safety in the US.  Some women were in wheel chairs due to broken ankles or legs from climbing over the wall. So many were depressed from their experience and our mission was to give them a sense of security and to restore their hope in humanity at least while they were with us.  Angel, a 15 year old from Mexico, told us that he wanted to be a lawyer and politician some day so he could change the laws that limit people from getting a better quality of life for their families. So many hopes and dreams… so much suffering at the margins of life.  I saw the suffering Christ in so many members of the Body of Christ just trying to walk for life. We have much to do and much to pray for to help relieve the suffering of our brothers and sisters as the Gospel calls us to. And we have much to learn from them as they teach us how to trust and believe in the power of God’s providence.  Los caminos de la vida!

Stop the Inhumanity Caused by the Remain in Mexico Policy 

January 29 was the first anniversary of the institution of the harmful Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) which forces asylum seekers to  remain in Mexico while they await their  hearings in the US. LCWR and other Catholic organizations have launched a campaign to stop these inhumane policies that threaten asylum seekers.  Recent changes in. immigration policy are preventing them from waiting for their hearings in safety in the US, instead forcing them to wait in locations in Mexico where they face violence, extortion, sexual assault and kidnapping. At least 636 people have been raped, kidnapped, assaulted, and even murdered, including 138 children. When I was in El Paso I visited a house of refugees in Juarez, Mexico run by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati where 7 women with their children from Central America (Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala) are awaiting their court date in the US. They live in great fear of their children being kidnapped for ransom money.  When asked why they did not go back to their own countries they assured me that the dangers there were far greater and that their only chance for safety was in the US.                         

The Remain in Mexico (MPP) policy violates international law by forcing asylum seekers to live in dangerous conditions denying them access to lawyers and preventing many from receiving a fair day in court. More than 58,000 asylum seekers have already been sent to Mexico under this policy.  Visit the website www.Faith4Asylum.com to learn more about this inhumane situation and take the pledge to protect our migrant brothers and sisters. We are called to act with justice….  If not now, when?

Action:  Take a few minutes to view a video on the Migrant Protection Protocols which gives us a glimpse of what the Remain in Mexico policy is and how those who wait suffer: https://www.raicestexas.org/2020/01/30/one-of-trumps-cruelest-immigration-policies-a-year-on/?ms=em202  (left click and then click on open link)                                                                                  If you scroll down under the video you can sign a petition or call Congress for action.

         “Love builds on justice    

                   or it is not love at all.” 

                        --  St. Thomas Aquinas