Some families would arrive in the morning, some in late evening,
sometimes in the middle of the night at 3 a.m. The time did not matter; staff
at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine was ready to
receive the immigrant children and parents who had just been reunified a few
hours before at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Bayview.
With open arms and an outpouring of love, the Catholic Church in
the Rio Grande Valley provided families with a safe and holy place to reconnect
with each other after weeks and months of being separated.
From the first families that arrived on July 13 to the last two on
July 30, more than 500 reunited families spent their first nights together,
reunified on the basilica grounds.
One child said it would be the first night she would go to sleep
without crying now that she was with her mother. One mother from Honduras who
was reunified with her son on July 27 after 55 days of being apart did not
sleep that first night. She wanted to watch her son sleep and hear his heart
beat. "Mi corazón comenzó a palpitar de nuevo,” she said. (My heart
began to beat again.)
She recounted the pain of her initial reunification, saying it
took nearly an hour for her six-year-old son to hug her at the detention
center. “No me
toques,” he told her; “no te conozco. Tu me abandonaste.” (Don’t touch me. I don’t know you. You abandoned me.”)
Each child, mother, father who was thankful for their
reunification carries at the same time untold traumas because of their
separation. As a nation, many of us felt helpless as more than 2,000 immigrant
children were separated from their parents as part of the “zero-tolerance”
policy.
As soon as the reunification of families began, everyone wanted to
do what they could. Here in our diocese we witnessed the Church in action
during a critical time. This is an amazing moment in the history of the Church.
We focused not on the politics but rather on taking care of our brothers and
sisters before us.
The Church response is not new. It is ongoing. Each week since
2012, volunteers pray with children who are living in detention centers for
unaccompanied minors. They sit and listen to their hopes and dreams, their
prayers to be reunified with their family.
Also, other volunteers help keep the Humanitarian Respite Center in
operation. To date, more than 100,000 immigrant men, women and children have
found rest at the center, which first opened in 2014 at Sacred Heart Church in
McAllen and is now at a temporary site nearby.
“This is a blessed moment, where we have been chosen to care for
them, to welcome them, to help them beyond this point in their journey,” said
Sister Norma Pimentel, of the Missionaries of Jesus, who has been overseeing
the care of newly released immigrants as executive director of Catholic
Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
From the moment they arrive, it is important to welcome them and
care for them, to let them know that they are safe, said Sister Pimentel, who
is a licensed professional counselor. “The moment that another human being
opens up their heart and their care to them begins a process of healing,” she
said. “That human contact is so transformative, and that is what is happening
here.”
Witnessing the Church’s response, witnessing the people who turned
all their attention to helping the families, helps us to see the light of
Christ shine in even the darkest of times.
Their joy was contagious as we witnessed countless embraces
between children and their mothers and fathers. Their smiles and laughter gave
us hope. We trust in God that that their faith will continue to guide them in
the journey ahead.
As we rejoiced with families celebrating their reunions, it was
joyful as well to serve. Consuelo Jones from Mission worked from early morning
into the evening securing food for each meal. Socorro Ortega and her family
drove to San Juan from Brownsville at 5 a.m. to cook breakfast for the
families. Parishes and businesses donated meals as well. St. John the Baptist
Church in San Juan hosted an outdoor picnic for the families. The youths from
the parish organized games and gifts for the children. The abundance of giving
from so many in our diocese translated into smiles for the children and their
parents. That evening, they cried, they celebrated, they rejoiced.
An added joy, on Friday after the government’s deadline to reunite
families, the six-year-old who hesitated to hug his mother at their initial
reunification presented her with a yellow Esperanza flower he found after
spending the morning with her. He picked it for her just as he used to pick
flowers for her when they were in Honduras, she said.
To witness and be a part of this moment in history is the most
blessed experience of all my years of working with the Church.
(Originally
published in August 2018 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)
