Historically, El Paso has been a city that receives waves of immigrants coming from the south to the north of the United States. In 1893 the Church of the Sacred Heart was founded to welcome Mexican immigrants. 130 years later, the city is the scene of the drama of thousands of people who arrive fleeing death, kidnapping, extortion, hunger, misery and other types of generalized violence. But the increasingly intolerant immigration policy of the United States prevents them from passing.
In Texas, just five blocks from the Mexican border, Father Rafael García runs the Casa del Sagrado Corazón shelter, with a capacity for 150 people. Thousands of immigrants arrive in this Hispanic neighborhood of El Paso, the poorest in the United States, every month.
“A stopover point”
“Since December, more than 90% has been from Venezuela. They have come through the entire Darien Gap in southern Panama, throughout Central America and throughout Mexico, which for them is the most difficult part due to extortion, corruption, violence, even kidnappings. So they’ve been through a lot when they get here. There are single women, single men, married couples, couples with children. Sometimes there are other relatives as well, apart from dad, mom and children”, explains Father Rafael García.
“Now we have done studies, most of them have already been processed by immigration. The Venezuelan group is the one that has the least support from relatives here in the United States. Because many of the others do have an acquaintance on trial, they put their name, the sponsor, and what city they are going to, so most of them don’t stay. It is not to stay here, they want to continue to other places and sometimes they go to New York, Chicago, Miami. This is no more than as a stopover point, ”she details.
“Many want to work”
Meanwhile, many migrants try to find work, some activity to survive: “They have gone to work in the fields, agriculture. Others have gotten construction helper jobs… All kinds of work. Some of the people who have come here with us are professionals. In other words, I have already spoken with engineers, people who have worked in the medical field, nurses, teachers… So they are people who are prepared. They also have a profession. Many of them want to work. They come because the situation in Venezuela is terrible and for what they report to us, the official salary is between 5 and 10 dollars a month”, emphasizes Father Rafael García.
“One of the new things is that under Title 8, when Title 42 ends, a certain number of Venezuelans can be deported to Mexico. There is an agreement between Mexico and the United States that Mexico is going to receive people from various countries, not just from Venezuela,” he concludes.
