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Cartels threatening to kill their loved ones. Struggling to find better paying jobs to feed their families. No longer having a country to call home.
This is the story of immigration at the Mexico/Arizona border. People on the move, trying to find a safe place to live and thrive.
On the Mexico side of the border in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, these people, often having left behind all they know, are greeted by Catholic Sisters, staff and volunteers at the Kino Border Initiative.
‘Loved and Cared for’
Whether recently deported from the United States, attempting to seek asylum or just trying to figure out what’s next, these immigrants are loved and cared for here. They are given homemade hot meals, clothes, medical care, counseling services, legal aid and more. They are offered God’s love at a time of great need.
Sister of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-WoodsTracey Horan serves as the associate director of education and advocacy for Kino Border Initiative. She works firsthand with these migrants. She also leads immersion groups as they listen to stories, serve meals, walk in the desert, play with the children and experience just a bit of what it means to be migrating. Sister Tracey documents abuses and advocates for changes from U.S. lawmakers as well.
A ‘Story’ to Tell
Sister Tracey Horan talking with a young girl.
She tells the story of a man who recently came to seek services at Kino.
“Alex was recently deported to Nogales, Mexico. He’s a young man who grew up in the U.S. He was brought by his parents when he was five. They just wanted a better life for their family and to find work,” Sister Tracey said. “It wasn’t until he was 10 or 11 that he realized that he didn’t have documentation in the U.S., that he didn’t have legal status. The other day he was sharing with me that when he was detained and returned to Mexico, he asked the border patrol agent, ‘Is it a crime to try to go home?’ Because for him home is South Carolina.
“These days we’re seeing a lot of folks where a place in the U.S. really is home for them. Some barely speak Spanish.”
A Reason to Leave
Sister Tracey plays a little game with a young girl at Kino.
Sister Tracey has ministered at Kino since 2019. The bilingual Sister of Providence said, “A lot of the people we receive here in Nogales are coming from southern states in Mexico like Guerrero, Chiapas, where there is a lot of fighting over territory between the cartels. It’s not uncommon for me to talk to someone who says, ‘Organized crime came to our village. They gathered up all the men for a meeting and they said, Here are your options: You can work for us or you can leave. You have 24 hours to decide or we will burn your house down or murder your family.’
“These people don’t have a good option. Many are folks who would prefer not to leave their towns of origin, but don’t see other options to keep their families safe.
“A lot of people who have arrived here over the last year, more than 80 percent, have said their main reason for migrating is that they are fleeing some kind of danger.”
So, they come to the U.S.-Mexico border hoping to find passage to safety. These days they find no help there.
“Over the past few years, we have seen more and more obstacles to people fleeing persecution. When there has been a process, they bent over backwards to try to do it,” Sister Tracey said.
Sister Tracey joins a group of volunteers she is accompanying in leading a craft activity for migrant children.
No Longer a ‘Passage’ to Safety
But these days, no legal pathway from the border exists for people seeking protection. Opportunities for asylum, a process created after World War II that allowed people in danger to apply for safe haven, have been discontinued at the U.S./Mexico border. Now, just as during the holocaust, people fleeing for their safety to the U.S. are turned away.
“Our immigration system is so out of date and we really haven’t responded to the needs of the people who are arriving now,” Sister Tracey says.
Caring for Those in Need
Sister Tracey lives a mission of caring for people the United States has discarded or turned a back on.
“As Catholics, as people of faith, we say we believe in the dignity of each person. For me when we put someone in prison because they are trying to reunite with their family, we’re not honoring that person’s dignity and need for connection, for belonging,” she admitted.
“So, for me the work that we do here in accompanying people who are just trying to seek a better life, we’re recognizing the dignity of each of those people. We want them to be connected with their families, to be able to find work, to be able to have a hot meal and to find safety. I think those are things that all of us want. And for me my faith calls me to accompany these people and to keep reminding people around me of the dignity they have as children of God.”
Sisters of Providence at the Border
After two-and-a-half years serving at Kino Border Initiative in Mexico, Sister Marilú Covani, SP, spends her final day teaching women at the Mexican border how to set up a loom to weave. The women then create items that are sold to provide for their families.Maité Rodriguez-Mora volunteers at Kino as part of her postulant year as a Sister of Providence. Here she helps sort and organize clothes and then finds specific sizes needed by migrants who have come to the center.
Amy Miranda is a Providence Associate of the Sisters of Providence and a staff member in their Mission Advancement office. Amy is a 1998 graduate of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. After serving in marketing and communication for the Sisters of Providence for nearly 25 years, Amy now serves as the Congregation's annual giving manager.
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