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02-11-2018, 08:24 AM #1
Texas nuns are helping illegal immigrants buy bus tickets to get across the US
EXCLUSIVE: Texas nuns are helping illegal immigrants buy bus tickets to get across the US after they sneaked past the border as Catholic Church resists Trump's immigration crackdown
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in McAllen, Texas, are aiding undocumented immigrants by helping them buy bus tickets
The migrants had all been apprehended trying to get into the United States illegally, detained, then been released to attend court at a later date
This 'catch and release' system was condemned as 'stupid' by President Donald Trump on Tuesday as he strives for tougher immigration policies
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley got involved in 2014 because they thought it was a humanitarian crisis and Pope Francis commended them in 2015
Nuns give the undocumented immigrants food, a place to sleep and help them purchase bus tickets to get to their final destination in the US
By Daniel Bates In Mcallen, Texas, For Dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 13:15 GMT, 9 February 2018 | UPDATED: 19:15 GMT, 9 February 2018
It is a desperate scene that is repeated every afternoon at the bus station in McAllen, Texas.
White buses with bars on the inside of the windows pull up and between 100 and 400 tired and hungry migrants disembark.
They have all been apprehended trying to get into the United States illegally, detained, then released to attend court at a later date – a 'catch and release' system condemned as 'stupid' by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
At the bus station they are met by volunteers from Sacred Heart refuge run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley who escort them to their center three blocks away.
Photos show the long line of men, women and children walking through this southern Texas city as they take their first steps on what they hope will be a new life in America.
Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas, are aiding undocumented immigrants travel across the United
States by helping them buy bus tickets. Pictured: Migrants who have just been released after detention
by the U.S. Border Patrol wait for assistance at the center
Nuns give the undocumented immigrants food, a place to sleep and help them purchase bus tickets
to get to their final destination in the US. Pictured: Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic
Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, assists a migrant
The 'catch and release' system of illegal immigration was condemned as 'stupid' by President Donald
Trump on Tuesday as he strives for tougher immigration policies
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley started meeting the migrants at the bus station in 2014 because they considered it to be a humanitarian crisis arriving every day on their doorstep.
But their actions, which have been praised by Pope Francis, are at odds with the Trump administration's hard-line approach to immigration.
In an interview with DailyMail.com Daniel Flores, the Bishop of Brownsville who represents 1.2 million Catholics and is head of its charities in South Texas, said that he disagreed with Trump's approach.
He asked the president to tone down his rhetoric and warned him against the human 'capacity we have to simply not want to see'.
Bishop Flores said: 'Jesus didn't ask us to check what papers they had, Jesus asked us to check: are they hungry, are they thirsty, do they need a place to stay?'
DailyMail.com understands that the buses that arrive each day in McAllen are arranged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Migrants who were a threat to public safety and national security would be far more likely to remain in custody, but a lack of space means that not everyone can be held.
The rest are taken in by Sacred Heart where such matters are forgotten and everyone is welcome, regardless of their background.
On a Monday in January the new arrivals, who had mostly come thousands of miles from Guatemala and Honduras, were given a bowl of chicken soup, which for many was their first meal in days.
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley started meeting the migrants at the bus station in 2014
because they considered it to be a humanitarian crisis arriving every day on their doorstep. Pictured:
Migrants that have just been released after detention by the U.S. Border Patrol walk through downtown
McAllen toward a respite center
DailyMail.com understands that the buses that arrive each day in McAllen are arranged by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and drop off the migrants there (pictured)
A nun at the charity said: 'They weren't aware immigration was going to allow them to travel, so they're
relieved and somewhat lost, so we welcome them and we help them to understand at what point of
their journey they are on now'
Sister Norma Pimentel, the founder of the refuge, took down their details and called their families to get them to pay for a bus ticket to their next destination. Those who needed a bed for the night were housed at the dormitory a few blocks away.
Sister Norma, the Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, said: 'We help them because they're people, they're human beings and they are here in our country and they need help and this is what the community began to see, these families they were not from here and they were in dire need of help.
'We saw them at the bus stop, we saw them hungry and we saw them crying so our community responded.
'The families from our community have to help these families. I took the lead in organizing that desire that the community wanted to help. We saw the need to restore their dignity'.
Sister Norma, who was singled out for her work by Pope Francis in 2015, and the other volunteers gave each person a bag of toiletries with a razor, toothpaste, toothbrush and some soap inside.
The migrants' immigration documents are put into a folder with a sign in English stapled to the back which reads: 'Please help me. I do not speak English. What bus do I need to take? Thank you for your help!'
Sister Norma said: 'They're in a very difficult state because they've been traveling for a while. They're scared because border patrol detained them for two days.
'They weren't aware immigration was going to allow them to travel, so they're relieved and somewhat lost, so we welcome them and we help them to understand at what point of their journey they are on now.'
The migrants' immigration documents are put into a folder with a sign in English stapled to the back
which reads: 'Please help me. I do not speak English. What bus do I need to take? Thank you for your help!'
Sister Norma Pimentel (far right), the founder of the refuge, took down their details and called their
families to get them to pay for a bus ticket to their next destination. Those who needed a bed for the
night were housed at the dormitory a few blocks away
Photos show the long line of men, women and children walking through this southern Texas city as
they take their first steps on what they hope will be a new life in America
Sister Norma continued: 'We give them an opportunity for them to receive food, a nice warm meal, to take a shower, clean clothing, call their family and buy themselves a ticket so they can travel.
'We give them an orientation and explain to them their bus ticket and how it works, you're going to New York it will take two and a half days, you will have several stops….to warn them against anybody taking advantage of them so they can stay on track.
'We explain the next step with immigration, that they are expected to show up in court and they should find legal representation and they need somebody to speak to them so they can have a better opportunity for their case to be heard'.
Among the migrants was Evan Reyes, 32, who said he paid coyotes around $2,000 to come from Honduras to the US with his son Christopher, seven.
He said that he started out in a group of 150 people and that they took some buses and went on foot. Reyes planned to go to see his cousin in Miami and find work to support his two other children back home.
He said: 'I'm here to work, I want to send money home. The crossing was very difficult and it took about 20 days. We were held in detention for three days before being taken here'.
Carlos Dominguez, 43, broke down in tears with relief as he ate a bowl of chicken soup.
His journey from Honduras lasted two months and in Mexico he was held to ransom by thugs who forced him to sell his house to them.
Among the migrants was Evan Reyes, 32, who said he paid coyotes around $2,000 to come from
Honduras to the US with his son Christopher, seven. He said: 'I'm here to work, I want to send money
home.' Pictured: The father and son
Walter Rodriguez, 40, had been in the US for some years and had returned home to see his family.
He was now coming back again with his son Jason, 16, (pictured together) to 'have a better life', he said
He arrived with his son Willy Anthony, 14, and was hoping to take a two day bus ride to Maryland to find work.
Dominguez said: 'I'm not coming here to be rich, I'm coming here to support my family and send money back home to my five children in Honduras and my wife'.
Walter Rodriguez, 40, had been in the US for some years and had returned home to see his family. He was now coming back again with his son Jason, 16, to 'have a better life', he said.
Sister Norma said that when Trump was elected the numbers of migrants coming each day reached 400, though it has dropped off now.
She said: 'I think before we can look at whether they have a right to be in the country we have to realize that they are here already and they need help and that's a priority first for us as people to ensure that we take of someone who is in dire need of help'.
Speaking at his office in McAllen, Bishop Flores said that he saw parallels between the President's treatment of migrants and the message from the Gospel of Luke.
One parable in particular talks about a wealthy man who shunned a beggar and was sent to Hades where he burned in eternity for being selfish.
Illustrations of the verse show the man walking over flames with fire coming out of his body as he pleads for mercy.
Bishop Flores said that If Trump were listing to one of his sermons he 'wouldn't look to give him a message' and would let scripture do the talking instead.
Carlos Dominguez, 43, broke down in tears with relief as he ate a bowl of chicken soup. His journey
from Honduras lasted two months and in Mexico he was held to ransom by thugs who forced him to
sell his house to them. He arrived with his son Willy Anthony, 14, (pictured together) and was hoping
to take a two day bus ride to Maryland to find work
Pictured: A migrant that has just been released after detention by the U.S. Border Patrol receives
assistance at the respite center
But with a wry smile he said: 'I think the Bishop's responsibility is to preach the gospel and if the gospel text that day happened to be Matthew 25, I would expound the gospel text and I would talk about the responsibility of a Christian to respond to those who suffer with a sense of open eyes and compassion'.
The verse he referred to is Matthew 25:40 which reads: 'And the King will answer them, ''Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.''
Bishop Flores said: 'It's simply not a Christian option to pretend people are not suffering because that's the indictment of Lazarus and the rich man in the ospel because Lazarus was sick, was starving at the door and the rich man didn't see him.
'There's a capacity we have to simply not want to see. I don't believe in using the pulpit to poke people, I think we need to preach the gospel and it's quite sufficient to explicate why it is, certainly from a Catholic ethos the faith has to manifest itself in a human response to the Christ who is suffering in front of you'.
The story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus - not the same Lazarus who was brought back from the dead by Jesus in the Gospel of John - is in Luke 16:19-26.
It talks of a man 'clothed in purple and fine linen' who 'fared sumptuously every day', a description which does not seem too far away from Trump.
Lazarus begged to eat the crumbs from the rich man's table and was so destitute the dogs licked his sores. Both men died and Lazarus went to heaven whilst the rich man was sent to Hades where he spent eternity in agony being burned alive.
The rich man pleaded to Abraham for mercy but Abraham told him: 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented'.
Bishop Flores said that in the current climate he was particularly concerned about the partnering of local law enforcement forces with federal agencies because it discouraged people from reporting crimes.
He said that Trump, and other politicians, should tone down their rhetoric and stop making 'the immigrant the problem'.
An ICE spokesman said that since the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997, which governs the
standards for the detention, ICE has been 'severely limited' in how it can detain families and that
it can only do so in 'designated facilities'
Volunteers give to each person a bag of toiletries with a razor, toothpaste, toothbrush and some
soap inside (pictured)
Texas nuns are helping illegal immigrants buy bus tickets to get
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02-11-2018, 09:29 AM #2
Send in ICE
They need to be arrested and the building shuttered and closed down!ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM
DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL
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02-11-2018, 10:41 AM #3
I told you, the church vote is for left because the illegals.
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02-11-2018, 11:03 AM #4
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02-11-2018, 02:40 PM #5
This makes me so angry! These churches are being allowed to openly disobey federal law by aiding and abetting illegal immigrants. Why is ICE turning a blind eye to something so flagrantly obvious?
Catch & release ......... another broken promise!"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**
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