Justice and Peace Promoters Meet in Juarez, Mexico
Dios dador de la vida. Tú nos creaste para vivir en amor, paz, y dignidad. Acompaña al que esta en camino, especialmente a aquellos quienes están en busca de seguridad para su familia y desean cubrir sus necesidades básicas. Protege sus vidas y a nosotros danos una conciencia profunda y llena nuestros corazones de compasión al ejemplo de nuestro Padre Santo Domingo. Te lo pedimos por nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Amen.
(English Translation)
God, giver of all life. You created people to live in love, in peace, and with dignity. Walk with the ones who are on the move, especially those looking for safety and for their basic needs to be met. Protect their lives and give us a deeper awareness of their needs and fill us with compassion as shown to us through the life of St. Dominic. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
by Tere Auad, OP
Sr. Toni Harris (center) and others from the Dominican Family gather for Mass at the border of the United States and Mexico.From July 31 to Aug. 4, the first gathering of Dominican continental justice and peace promoters focusing on immigration was held at the Casa del Migrante in Juarez, Mexico. The meeting drew 80 participants from Canada, the United States, Santo Domingo, Rome, Mexico, Argentine, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Guatemala, Spain, and Colombia. There were Dominican Mexican bishops, including Dominican provincials of the United States and Mexico. I was happy to reunite with our Mary Alice Neylon, OP, who lives at the Casa del Migrante in Juarez. The organizers were the North American justice and peace promoters under the direction of our Toni Harris, OP. Toni gave a PowerPoint presentation about global migration and the commitment of the Order of Preachers to help alleviate this problem. She explained that since the beginning of time people have migrated and resisted migration. Toni’s presentation was outstanding.
Other presenters, professors from Mexico and Latin America, made us feel the reality and the pain those countries are living with today. They discussed the great pressure the U.S. government puts on Mexican authorities to control the flow of immigrants to the United States. Yet Mexico is bursting with immigrants who come from Latin America wanting to pass to the United States, thus creating all kinds of abuses. The abusers are the Mexican government; the civil police; the drug, women, and organ traffickers; thieves; and gangs. Most Central Americans leave their homes with their savings to pay “the coyote” at the U.S. border, but before this, they have to cross along Mexico by foot or in trains. The people on the trains are assaulted, raped, or pushed under the trains where they are dismembered and killed. Some are beaten, and their families then become victims of extortion. Others are robbed and left on the road to die.
Nonprofit groups, churches, and others have denounced violations of human rights to the United Nations with no response. There are 24 shelter houses run mainly by the Catholic Church in different regions of Mexico. They shelter, feed, clothe, give psychological support, and, in some cases, care for the wounded and bury the dead from the trains. The Mexican government has 52 detention centers. This means that as the immigrants cross Mexico from south to north or from the United States to Central America, they are stopped many times by people at these centers, and they are robbed.
The best part of this event was Aug. 2 when we went to the border for an outdoor Mass at 7 a.m. The Bishop of Juarez presided over the Mass and Dominican Bishop Raul Vera gave the homily. It was outstanding! We were next to the barbed wires where the United States has cameras right at the fence. There was a helicopter over us and 13 border patrol trucks ready to come get us if we misbehaved.
The meeting ended with several decisions to help all immigrants. If you know immigrants who have to cross to Mexico, please warn them of the dangers. Their lives and the lives of their families are at risk. We developed the immigrant prayer (see p. 19) to pray the first Wednesday of every month in the morning. This prayer will be said by all the Dominicans of this continent. I hope you join us.