Borderlands

I intended to submit this article reporting on the large groups of migrants that the United States Border Patrol was sending back to Mexico – all along the border – but specifically in Agua Prieta, Sonora, and the increased efforts of the volunteers at the Migrant Resource Centre (CRM for its acronym in Spanish) to assist those migrants. In December, with no advanced notice, Border Patrol began sending migrants – both Mexicans and Central Americans who had crossed to the US in other places – back to Agua Prieta

Many people, both migrants and residents in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, have been suffering since the Covid-19 virus arrived. The pandemic has not only affected the public health sphere but also resulted in the closure of the US/Mexican border, affecting migrants and almost everyone who is not a US citizen.

In February of this year, Ernesto and Maria* arrived at the CAME (Centro de Atencion al Migrante Exodos) migrant shelter in Agua Prieta, Sonora. Fleeing extortion and threats of violence from the organized crime groups in southern Mexico’s State of Guerrero, they hoped to present their asylum claim at the U.S. Port of Entry and to live with family members in Indiana while they awaited their asylum hearing.

Please pray for all the migrant mothers who celebrated Mother’s Day on 10 May at the CAME (Centro de Atención al Migrante Exodus) shelter in Agua Prieta, Sonora and for the children who honored them. Pray that they might have courage and patience in this time of waiting. And let us give thanks for the volunteer mothers and donors who are helping the migrants at CAME.

On Easter Saturday I accompanied a group of six humanitarian aid workers into a remote region of the Cabeza-Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Our hope was to recover the remains of a man who had collapsed and died there last month.