Almost all immigrants in Texas shelters are Venezuelan

Although there has been a considerable decrease in migrants crossing into the United States illegally, there are those who continue to risk everything to seek better opportunities for themselves and their families. Those who arrive in El Paso, Texas, and do not have support for food and shelter, turn to shelters, almost always run by Catholic churches, in search of protection.

Although there has been a considerable decrease in migrants crossing into the United States illegally, there are those who continue to risk everything to seek better opportunities for themselves and their families. Those who arrive in El Paso, Texas, and do not have support for food and shelter, turn to shelters, almost always run by Catholic churches, in search of protection.

García sums up the experiences and obstacles of the walkers and although he says that many arrive traumatized by the journey through the Darien jungle after seeing dead people on the road and the difficult terrain, he asserts, citing the immigrants, “worse than the Darien is going through Mexico because of the assaults, extortions, kidnappings.”

The priest, of Cuban origin and who years ago also swelled the number of migrants, explains that the situation and the dynamics of the different countries that push their nationals to flee are very complex and varied and cannot be grouped into a generality: “What we hear most is the reality of Venezuela, above all, cases of political persecution for not being in favor of the system, people who are watched or threatened, economic crisis and extortions,” he emphasizes and adds that Colombians are currently fleeing from the guerrilla and violence, that other immigrants are escaping from corruption, organized crime or extreme poverty.

According to Father Rafael García, “psychosocial help and emotional support for migrants must be stronger in the final destination cities” by the authorities to cooperate with the well-being and mental health of those who have been walking north for weeks or even months, facing various difficulties in search of the American dream. He says that in the church they are offered “temporary emergency help; it is a bit of healing the wound, quickly, so that they can continue,” since less than 1% of the walkers remain in El Paso due to the difficulty of finding work and earning some money.

The father says that there are many churches, even non-Catholic ones, and other organizations around the United States that provide support and advice to migrants who arrive in vulnerable conditions. They are offered shelter, food, clothing, emergency help for health problems, advice from immigration lawyers, “we do what we can,” he says.

Another of the major problems that Rafael García finds in Venezuelan migrants is that once they arrive in the US, “they feel unprotected, alone, because they don’t know where to go, because there is no established community that can receive them.”
Those who arrive through CBP One at the Sacred Heart Church are guided to fill out forms and apply for a work permit and then find a job. “Venezuelans in particular arrive wanting to work because they are professionals, people who had businesses, and the US needs workers,” explains the priest.

In these facilities, immigrants received three meals a day, clothing, access to showers, medicine, children played, there was psychological care, English classes and at night each one took a mat to sleep in a safe space.

When the number of migrants exceeded the capacity of the shelter, many, even thousands, improvised mats in the surroundings of the temple because they said they felt safer in that space.

The Sacred Heart shelter in Texas closed its doors last October due to the decrease in the arrival of migrants, after President Joe Biden issued the order in June that restricts the entry, asylum of undocumented immigrants and accelerates deportations. The last two migrants that the shelter received were Venezuelans.

Priest Rafael García remembers that there were two years of uninterrupted care for thousands of migrants and although the doors of the shelter are currently closed, the church remains willing to provide help to whoever needs it.

“I am afraid and I am hungry” are the main reasons that citizens tell Rubén García, priest and director of the Casa de la Anunciación shelter, also located in El Paso, for migrating. He says that these reasons have continued throughout the 47 years that the center has been operating.

She recalls the case of a mother who came to the United States from Guatemala, with several children, fleeing poverty, and the 18-month-old baby was already about to die from malnutrition, but also indicates that poverty and hunger are not reasons to grant asylum.

This is an NGO that in total has five different shelters under the same management and coordinates many other shelters for migrants from other Catholic churches. A few months ago, at the height of migration, the Casa de la Anunciación received 150,000 migrants, but since it opened its doors, García says that they have served “about two million refugees.”

García explains that citizens of Venezuela began to arrive between 2021 and 2022: “Maduro does not guarantee anything to Venezuelans and that is when they began to leave,” he says and reiterates that this community has no one to receive them and that is why they ended up sleeping on the street.

“Everyone knows that Maduro did not win the election, but who is going to do something? And if you are Venezuelan, you can run away and come knock on the door at the House of the Annunciation; but there is no mechanism to put pressure on Venezuela so that Maduro is thrown out and Venezuela begins to work,” says Father Rubén García about the complicated situation in this nation.

“It is difficult, it is difficult economically,” says Father García about the decision to migrate and settle in the United States.

Currently, the Casa de la Anunciación only has about 25 migrants and all receive food, medical care from volunteers who study medicine, sleeping mats and advice to continue their migratory journey.

However, for this organization the work has not been easy, because it has a lawsuit from the Attorney General of the State of Texas, Ken Paxton, after accusing it of “trafficking and managing ‘safe houses’ (a place where migrants are kidnapped)”; that is, the official says that this shelter facilitates illegal migration and human smuggling.

But the resolution of the lawsuit is still awaited, the district judge Francisco Domínguez issued an order that blocked the subpoena of the prosecutor Paxton to the Casa de la Anunciación, alleging that it seemed that the prosecutor’s motive is political; after this, the case went to the state judicial system.

According to Father García, the objective of this official is to close the Casa de la Anunciación and to give a warning to the other shelters to stop their humanitarian work; However, this shelter remains operational. In his defense and that of the organization, the priest says that his work “comes from faith” and from the gospel feeling of “welcoming the neighbor,” the most needy.

In this area, due to its characteristics, there are shelters from Catholic and Christian churches, as well as from the local and regional government to care for the migrants who arrive daily.

Until August of this year, Border Patrol officials detained more than 243,000 migrants who crossed illegally into the US through El Paso, Texas. This is the second most important border city after San Diego, exactly bordering Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua. In this region is the Rio Grande, which forms a natural barrier between the two countries. Crossing through El Paso is dangerous due to the combination of natural and security challenges, but it is the area chosen by thousands of migrants or to which they are sent by criminal organizations that traffic people with the aspiration of the American dream.

Economically, El Paso is not an attractive place for migrants because the average wage tends to be lower than in the rest of the country: migrants can earn about $12 per hour; while in other states, the average minimum wage is $17.55 per hour and in others it can exceed $19 per hour.

This is a Spanish-speaking community that can facilitate temporary adaptation for migrants seeking to settle down, but the majority, seeking better life opportunities, prefer to go to other cities.

Sacerdote Rubén García, director de la ONG Casa de la Anunciación