Due to COVID 19 and resulting closing of the border, people who are apprehended by CBP (including unaccompanied minors) are immediately taken to the nearest port of entry and sent back across.
A small church from a nearby village has opened a shelter in Palomas for asylum seekers. Some who have made the journey from their countries to Palomas discover they cannot request asylum at the border so they are stuck.
Palomas, Chihuahua, MX
12 / 01 / 2019
The shelter receives between 20-50 people per week, some in transit and some who stay for a while. This situation gives the cartel the opportunity to “recruit” (kidnap) new members – coyotes – to exploit this desperate situation for money by offering help to get across. Worst of all is the danger of unaccompanied children being picked up by traffickers.
A very urgent need is to secure the property with chainlink fencing to make it harder to enter. The mayor of nearby Ascensión has agreed to hire a security guard at night, but a fence is necessary for this to work. Some places have had guests and even the pastors/directors kidnapped right from their shelters.
Pastor Rosalio Sosa from El Paso who is a member of the network of evangelical churches in Juarez and has worked for many years in Chihuahua with church shelters, is overseeing this work. Thanks to HFTW Global offerings, materials for the fence have been purchased and construction is underway. The shelter guests and church members are providing the labor.
