Immigration

“Towards an ever-wider WE” is the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 26th.

Netflix has a new docuseries, Immigration Nation, which premiered Monday, August 3.  Filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau were embedded with immigration officers, and the series allows viewers to peer into the secretive agencies waging the war on immigrants.

In these days of crisis, we are all threatened, few more than those fleeing violence in search of refuge in the U.S.  Let us not fail to act to protect the most vulnerable among us.

This week Srs. Natalia Mejia and Rosie Nicholson were joined by Cathy Minihan (left) Pat Clausen (middle) and Cheryl Nichols (right), who came to experience the lives of the asylum seekers in the San Diego border area.  They received a warm welcome from the workers at the shelter, participated in art activities with us and met migrant families with new born babies.  This week several migrants were in quarantine due to the flu.

MIGRANT MINISTRY REFLECTIONS - Sr. Norene Costa, RJM

In the darkness of the night, white vans transport migrant families to the shelter. Approximately 125 mothers, fathers and children arrive at the shelter, located in an unoccupied school named in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Upon arrival, there is a background check of the migrants by border officials, followed by a medical examination of each newcomer. What was once a school auditorium now serves as a bedroom furnished with cots and a blanket, but no pillow.

The staff and volunteers are getting used to the new shelter location. It is a bit of a maze of hallways, staircases, rooms on different levels but it does have a very handy elevator.

Again, we are faced with an 'address to our nation' presenting the migrants without any dignity, respect or compassion and depicting them close to being a 'national threat' even while many political figures and people along the border have presented a starkly different picture.

Our country, our CA community of different faiths, different colors, different cultures, young and old from near and far - some from Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego - all gathered this Friday night and Saturday in various parts of San Diego to show solidarity and compassion with the immigrants especially the children.