Alleviating Pain
on the Border
The Church's Response to Immigration Issues
Some of the most forgotten and the most vulnerable people in the United States are those migrants held in federal immigration detention centers pending deportation. The vulnerability of these people does not end with deportation, however; many of the migrants we encounter at the newly inaugurated Kino Border Initiative (KBI) in Nogales, Mexico, find themselves stranded in the border town far away from their homes and families, with few options or resources to plan for a future life in Mexico or Central America. To help these forgotten people, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and five partner organizations officially launched the Kino Border Initiative in the twin cities of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and Nogales, Arizona, U.S.A., in January.
The Kino Border Initiative responds to the immediate needs of the deportees by providing a shelter for unaccompanied women and children, and a meal center for recently deported migrants in Nogales, Mexico.
In the words of Fr. Sean Carroll, S.J., the project’s executive director, KBI “is the culmination of a three-year process of reflection, discernment and conversations along the Arizona – Mexico border about the reality of migration and the most urgent needs with respect to migration in general and for our Church in particular.” Through KBI we seek to serve and to understand the needs of newly deported people of Ambos Nogales, the twin cities straddling the Arizona-Mexico border.
Nogales, Sonora, Mexico is about 60 miles south of Tucson, Ariz. It is the point of deportation for many of the hundreds of thousands of Mexican and Central American migrants who are dropped off in Mexico by U.S. immigration and border authorities annually. The streets of Nogales, Sonora, are teeming with recent deportees. The deportees journeyed to the United States for a host of reasons: some hoping to reunite with U.S. citizen family members, others pushed north by increasingly desperate economic conditions in their countries of origin. Others had little choice in the matter, having crossed the border with their parents as children.
Many of the deported migrants spent years in the United States before detention and deportation, and they arrive in Nogales disoriented and desperate, clinging to what few possessions they can carry, and relying on volunteers and the Mexican authorities to help them find their way home. Many of the deported migrants – hundreds of miles from their homes and families – have nowhere to go at night and end up sleeping in the streets of Nogales.
Deported migrants have few options, as many do not have the money to make it back to their countries or Mexican states of origin. Without the money or means to return home, many migrants have little choice but to attempt to re-enter the United States soon after deportation.
Human Rights Issues & Growing Needs
At present, the Mexican government offers limited assistance to deportees and the U.S. authorities are just beginning to explore the possibility of working with Mexico to ensure that it provides appropriate care and options for recently deported migrants. Unfortunately, tales of abuse by U.S. immigration authorities, human traffickers and smugglers, and local Mexican officials are not uncommon in Nogales. Some migrants report that U.S. Border Patrol used unnecessary force during their apprehension.
“[U.S. Border Patrol] grabbed me and shook me, and kicked me in the leg. I didn’t do anything to provoke them. Now …. my leg is hurt,” said Hector, at the Kino facility in Nogales.
Other migrants arrive at the KBI center with complaints that they were dropped off by U.S. Border Patrol in the middle of the night, without proper clothing or blankets to brave the desert climate. Even more distressing, migrants report that U.S. immigration authorities have refused to provide migrants with water or sufficient food during deportation.
The town of Nogales is also a hub for smuggling gangs and criminal human trafficking enterprises that prey on migrants and exploit their vulnerability.
One migrant, Susanne, recounted a story of abuse and exploitation at the hands of an unscrupulous smuggler while trying to cross the border to visit her mother who lives in North Carolina.
“As I was crossing I was robbed and beaten by the coyote I hired,” Susanne said.
When she arrived at the KBI women’s shelter her face, arms and shoulders and back were visibly swollen and bruised. “My mouth is so swollen I can’t even eat,” she said. Susanne stayed in the shelter run by the Sisters of the Eucharist for several weeks and made a strong recovery.
A drug war on the Mexican side of the border has killed thousands of people this year alone. Deported migrants, particularly women and children, are particularly vulnerable to the rising violence in the Mexican border communities. As the violence from the Mexican drug war increases, local authorities in the Mexican Border States have directed little attention at the special vulnerability of the deported migrants stranded within their communities.
Giving Options and Hope
“We do not know where we would eat if not here. We are glad to have found this place this morning,” Benito said during a meal at the KBI.
At the Kino Border Initiative’s outreach center in Nogales, Sonora, an average of 200 to 250 hungry deportees are welcomed and provided the comfort of two free meals a day. The KBI staff, in collaboration with community members from Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, and volunteers from humanitarian organizations such as No More Deaths and local parishes, prepare and serves food to deported migrants, who frequently have eaten very little for a number of days. The center also serves as a place where the migrants can receive pastoral support from the sisters and priests of the KBI staff, which is especially important after the often traumatic and dehumanizing experience of deportation.
A number of migrants seek medical attention as well, particularly for severely blistered feet and swollen legs, a consequence of having walked for many days in the Sonoran desert as they attempted to cross into the United States. The small outreach center, just inside the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora, serves as a sign of hope for deported people at one of the most difficult moments of their lives.
An important part of the Kino Border Initiative is its offer of a safe haven to unaccompanied women and children through its shelter, Casa Nazaret. The KBI has hosted more than 200 women and children since May of 2008 and allows them to stay for up to seven days. Casa Nazaret provides women and children a place to recuperate after being deported and an opportunity to receive pastoral and emotional support. The Casa also enables them to contact their family members by phone and to access Mexican government services, such as the financial assistance needed to make it possible for them to return to their town of origin. Through this KBI ministry, many women and children have found a place of peace and time to gain strength during a very difficult time in their lives.
A third aspect of KBI is its community outreach. To help foster greater understanding of migration issues, KBI staff present information sessions at parishes on the U.S. side of the border, providing insight into the reality of migrant life. They also have hosted many high school, college and parish groups who have visited the KBI to bear witness to the migrant’s condition.
Recommendations for Action
The United States should promulgate uniform and binding regulations for deportation and short-term custody of migrants to ensure that migrants’ human rights are observed during deportation processes.
The U.S. Immigration Authorities should inform the Mexican immigration authorities of expected times of deportation and should take special care to inform them of the arrival of medical cases, pregnant women, unaccompanied women and children, and elderly or disabled individuals.
The Mexican immigration authorities, Grupo Beta, should give migrants a list of shelters, food and care centers in the Nogales area that serve the needs of recently deported persons.
The Mexican government and the U.S. government should work together to ensure that deported migrants, especially those from Southern Mexican States and Central American nations, have the ability to return to their places of origin, in order to prevent migrants from being stranded for months in border communities, homeless and vulnerable to human traffickers, smugglers and unscrupulous officials.
In light of burgeoning violence in Mexican border communities, the United States government and the Mexican government should ensure safe and humane accommodations for deported migrants until they are able to return to their states and countries of origin.
