I think most people know now that the influx of asylum seekers from Mexico and the Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador is straining available resources. This is sad for everyone, but the good news is volunteers are helping!

On My Visit

While I was visiting last week, I didn’t go to the detention centers where we’ve all heard about deplorable conditions. Instead I spent my time with Joyce Hamilton, one of the eight founders of Angry Tias and Abuelas. I was delivering a carload of donations from Hays County (TX) Democrats, along with Universal Unitarians and other friends. The Tias and Abuelas help migrants in two ways. First, they carry water, food and umbrellas to migrants detained on the bridges awaiting their turn to enter the United States. Sometimes these waits take months. Second, they provide cultural assistance and orientation to migrants in the Harlingen, Brownsville and McAllen bus stations before they start their treks to sponsors (normally family) at locations across the United States.

Angry Tias and Abuelas

According to Joyce, the Angry Tias and Abuelas started in June 2018, when a group of friends noticed people camped out for days on the Reynosa bridge. “Shocked,” Joyce said, they gathered food, water and umbrellas and hauled these across the border in coolers and carts.

“It was just this large group of people, and we pulled everything across. Some were sleeping on pieces of cardboard. Most said they had been there five days. One was carrying a 9-month-old baby.” Before the Tias arrived, people from Mexico had been providing food and water, though not enough, Joyce noted.

“We were appalled by what we saw and just shocked that our country would treat people this way,” Joyce said.  “We were angry at the sense of injustice.”

Going Daily

So now volunteers go daily to the bridges. They also go to the bus depots to help the migrants on their way. They offer bags or backpacks of supplies, generally such things as snacks, energy bars, refillable drink bottles, wipes and hand sanitizers. If needed, the volunteers also have over-the-counter cold medications or pain relievers, diapers and other supplies. In the photo above, Susan Law offers an orientation session to two migrants at the McAllen bus station before they start their trip.

 

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award

In early June, the group received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and donations have increased to the point that they often can send travelers on with a little spare cash. “But with 1,000 people coming through sometimes in a day, the money doesn’t go too far,” Joyce said.

Other Groups Helping as Well

Loaves and Fishes of the Rio Grande Valley is an organization that has been helping the homeless and abused women with shelter and food for many years, according to Administrator Bill Reagan. Last month, for example, the facility served 16,000 meals, 4,000 more than usual. This is one sign of the stepping up of services due to the influx of migrants in need. Inside the group’s spacious facility in Harlingen the cots are stacked up and waiting the next influx, now expected in mid-July. Supplies are ready to house and feed them as needed. Donations make it possible to prepare for the next group. Loaves and Fishes insists that no one needing a bed will be turned away, Reagan said. In just two months alone, Customs and Border Protection released some 1,500 migrants into the Harlingen community, he noted.

Loaves and Fishes also had been sending pan dulces, milk and Spanish coloring books along to the bus station to help with the migrants as they awaited their buses, Reagan said.

La Posada Providencia

Joyce and I also visited La Posada Providencia in San Benito. Sponsored by Sisters of the Divine Providence, this is an emergency shelter for men, women and families. Most clients arrive destitute and seek legal asylum or other legal recourse to begin new lives in this country. Since 1989, La Posada has provided resettlement assistance to thousands of people from close to 100 different countries. On the day I visited, we were greeted by a young woman and her baby who had immigrated from Cameroon via Mexico. She now has a work permit to help at the facility.

Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley have been providing assistance to the needy and to migrants for many years from cramped quarters near the McAllen bus station. When the more recent influx began, they were overwhelmed. They moved to an abandoned nursing home in a neighborhood but lost that space after neighbors complained. Just recently the group was able to move into a spacious location diagonally across from the McAllen bus depot.

Big Smiles

The morning I was there, a volunteer named Claudia and other staff met busloads of detainees being dropped off from detention with cheers and “bienvenidos.” The most striking thing about this was the smiles on the family members’ faces as they were made to feel welcome and as they stepped forward to receive a sack lunch, other supplies and assistance on their roads to asylum.

More Information or Donations?

 

Those wishing to know more about these groups or who wish to volunteer or donate may visit:

Angry Tias and Abuelos at Angrytiasandabuelos.com

Loaves and Fishes at https://lfrgv.org

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley at https://www.catholiccharitiesrgv.org/

La Posada Providencia at https://lppshelter.orgLa Posada Providencia