Tijuana, Mexico, July 3, 2019 – For several months the city of Tijuana has been living in a Perfect Storm, we are witnessing multiple events that are already worrying, but when they coincide in a moment and place, they result in explosive and regrettable events: People are still being deported every day; Trump threatens to deport millions of people after July 4; López Obrador sends more than 15,000 agents of the National Guard to “protect migrants”; people from Central America and Africa continue to arrive at our doors; the Government of Mexico maintains its position of not providing support to Civil Organizations; hundreds of children and adolescents continue to live inside detention centers in deplorable conditions; finally, the United States continues with its policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico while we live in times of extreme violence, insecurity, poverty, and inequality. All these facts are elements that add up to what we call a Perfect Storm, which leads to the crisis that is experienced in different parts of the Border.

As Catholics, our Faith tells us that in the face of fear, doubt, and uncertainty we must approach and implore God’s help, we must trust in Him. Courage, it’s me, do not be afraid! 1. For this reason, we call a moment of Prayer and Solidarity to our brother migrants. This Thursday, July 4, 35 Priests of the Community of the Missionaries of San Charles (Scalabrinians) from different missions of humanitarian aid to migrants in Latin America, we will meet to pray in the border wall before the hatred and indifference that separates and destroys the hopes of thousands of families.\

The Scalabrinian Missionaries unite in the Faith representing the multiple Storms that are experienced in other countries, which, like us, are experiencing times of crisis; Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Brazil, among others. We seek human solutions to this humanitarian crisis out of control. Our Pope has told us:

“It is, then, that we are the first to see it and so we can help others see in the migrant and the refugee not only a problem that must be faced, but a brother and sister who should be welcomed, respected and loved, an opportunity that Providence offers us to contribute to the construction of a more just society, a fuller democracy, a more solidarity country, a more fraternal world, and a more open Christian community, in accordance with the Gospel” (Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2014).

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1 Matthew 14,27

Valeria Ruiz Griego

Casa del Migrante en Tijuana