Archdiocese of Mexico warns migrant reception centers are overwhelmed

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 6, 2023 / 18:40 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Mexico warned that the shelters run by the Church in the country’s capital are “overwhelmed” and called for all Catholics “who have the possibility” to provide help.

In an Oct. 5 statement, the archdiocese noted that Mexico “has experienced the migratory phenomenon for several years, but in recent years the flow has increased in such a way that it has created a true humanitarian crisis.”

According to the Ministry of the Interior of Mexico (SEGOB), between January and August it had encountered 402,324 undocumented migrants in the country.

The Mexican government also announced that during the first eight months of the year, 158,712 people were deported from the United States to Mexico, of which 17,865 were minors under 18 years of age.

Faced with this situation, the Church has provided help through its migrant centers, staffed mainly by men and women religious and diocesan priests, providing services such as food, medical care, psychological first aid, and legal advice.

In Mexico City, the Church serves migrants at the archdiocesan Caritas facilities; at the House of Shelter, Training, and Empowerment for Migrant and Refugee Women and Families (CAFEMIN) of the Congregation of the Josefina Sisters; Holy Cross and Our Lady of Solitude Parish; as well as at Mambré House of the Scalabrinian Sisters and at the Archangel Raphael House of the Scalabrinian Missionaries.

The news media Fuerza Informativa Azteca posted on X a short video showing many people lying down on thin mattresses or walking around in the nave of a church along with the text “The Parish of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Solitude in Mexico CIty has become a refuge for hundreds of migrants. There are between 500 and 1000 migrants, mainly from Venezuela, Haiti, Croatia, Afghanistan, and Africa, who arrive every day to eat and sleep.”

The Archdiocese of Mexico also invited “all people of goodwill” to join the volunteer work carried out in these centers or to “provide financial or in-kind help, according to the needs of these centers.”

In its statement, the archdiocese also urged the civil authorities “to expedite legal processes for the stability of migrants” as well as “grant humanitarian visas so that they can transit freely to their destination.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.