What’s really going on at the Mexican border

By Thomas Costanza
Guest Column, Clarion Herald

I recently made a trip to the southern U.S. border to visit with Missionaries of Jesus Sister Norma Pimentel, CEO with Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, and I was able to volunteer for a few days at the Respite Center in Brownsville, Texas.

I first entered a basic building in McAllen, Texas, that looks like an old, downtown department store. U.S. Border Patrol agents screen the families that are bused to the respite center for a brief stay before moving on to their sponsor destination city. The sponsor must pay for their plane or bus tickets.

At the respite center, families are fed a modest meal, and there is a large area for sleeping accommodations. It is a time of respite after months-long journeys from Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala, Venezuela or other countries.

As the families were processed into the center, I noticed many taking the free rosaries and then moving to kneel by the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray. McAllen is about 95% Hispanic, with many Catholics.

I tried to volunteer at the “pharmacy,” an area with basic, over-the-counter medicine. I gave out Tylenol, baby formula, band aids and cold medicine to the weary travelers. I was not good at Spanish, and it was fast-paced, so they told me to go and make diaper packs. That was more my speed.

One afternoon, four Jesuit priests arrived to celebrate Mass and provide pastoral care. Father Brian Strassburger was the main Mass celebrant. The eucharistic table was in the center of the large processing and sleeping areas. It was a moving experience, with the Eucharist offering a common table for families from many countries. While some were not Catholic, they stayed in long lines to receive a blessing.

The next day, the Jesuits invited me to cross the border to Reynosa, Mexico, to visit the ministries of the Daughters of Charity and their non-denominational, faith-based partners. What struck me were the hundreds of people in the encampments waiting for their appointment from border patrol. The Daughters of Charity offer a safe haven from the drug cartels and human traffickers while they wait for their appointments.

Again, the Eucharist brought them together.

After the trip, I communicated with our Louisiana congressional delegation and informed them of the humanitarian work being done at the border.

We all know the system is broken, and everyone needs to work to reform it. But, the healing power of Jesus was evident to me in the loving care of Catholic Charities, the Jesuits, Sister Norma, Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville and the Daughters of Charity staff.

It is what Jesus would do.

Tom Costanza is executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops. He can be reached at [email protected].