This is a re-publication of the letter that Pastor Ryon Price sent to the congregation of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, during his trip with Fellowship Southwest to the border.
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You are probably reading and hearing about the unrest in Haiti over the past couple of weeks. We've wondered how this will impact migration flows and the pending immigration of Haitians who have been waiting to seek asylum in the U.S. for many months already. It looks as if we aren't the only ones wondering. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has decided to act preemptively to shield Floridians from what he sees as a threat: Haitian refugees. We are disappointed that once again, our leaders are choosing to criminalize immigrants rather than respond with humanitarian compassion.
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A commentary by Cameron Vickrey for San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 9, 2024
The deadline looms. Every public school district in Texas has been given until March 1 to choose between what seems to be two options for the role of chaplains in their schools.
But many are finding their way forward with a third way. This third way might at first seem like a people-pleasing, nondecision that avoids conflict and ignores the issue, but there’s wisdom in it.
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I’ve written before about the wide gulf between what I hear, see, and experience at the border and the tenor of our political debate. Never has the contrast been as stark as what I experienced last week.
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Stephen Reeves and I spent last week in Cd. Juarez, Mexico, for a four-day ecumenical conference on human mobility by “Como Nacido Entre Nosotros ( or CNEN)” (as one born among you). CNEN is a regional network driven by churches and Christian organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean that seeks to join existing efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Christian community to care for, protect, and promote the rights of migrants.
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Earlier this week, a bipartisan Senate border proposal surfaced and then failed, after being negotiated for three months. But we want to tell you about it anyway.
First, the current state of our border is unsustainable. No one thinks that waves of asylum seekers making a dangerous trek to our border is the best scenario for anyone. We need a secure border, but we also need a humane border.
As the border deal fails to secure enough votes in Congress, attention has pivoted to push for the passage of H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act. However, a closer examination of the bill reveals alarming provisions that pose significant risks to the well-being and rights of migrant children –those they claim to protect.
Here's a breakdown of what is included in H.R.2:
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Migrants from Latin and South America are frequently the victims of exploitation and extortion in their home countries or along their journeys north. Unfortunately it doesn’t get much better for some once they get here. Instead of cartels, they face unjust corporations. Nowhere is there a better microcosm of multifaceted immigrant exploitation than in Colony Ridge.
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Sojo Action, la división de defensoría de Sojourners, invitó a Anyra Cano a unirse en Washington, D.C. a principios de esta semana, con un grupo de líderes religiosos latinos para compartir sobre y abogar por sus comunidades de inmigrantes. Anyra es directora de programas y alcance de Fellowship Southwest y ha organizado docenas de viajes para iglesias e individuos en la frontera este año, a los que les siguen acciones de defensoría. Una de esas actividades recientes de defensoría fue una postal navideña que los niños de dos iglesias del área de Dallas-Fort Worth colorearon y completaron para ser entregadas al Congreso durante esta semana de defensoría de Sojo.
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Sojo Action, the advocacy division of Sojourners, invited Anyra Cano to join a group of Latino faith leaders for advocacy in Washington, D.C. early this week, to share about their immigrant communities. Anyra is the Fellowship Southwest director of programs and outreach and has organized dozens of trips for churches and individuals at the border this year, which are followed up by advocacy actions. One such recent advocacy activity was a Christmas postcard which children at two DFW churches colored and filled out to be delivered to Congress during this Sojo advocacy week.
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In nearly every moment of the Christmas story, characters heed promptings from angels. An angel announces to Mary she is chosen to be the mother of God, and she accepts. An angel encourages Joseph to support Mary in this calling, and he does. The magi return home from Bethlehem by another road, and the new family flees to another country in order to protect their child, all thanks to divine messengers.
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Ministry to migrants looks like many things one would not predict. Most people assume it includes providing meals, clothing and shelter. Emotional and spiritual attention is just as important in FSW migrant ministries, too. But caring for the whole person, the whole family, also involves commemorating special celebrations like birthdays for children.
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It was a normal Monday night in a middle class neighborhood full of busy families driving kids to and fro activities, cooking dinner and doing homework. A fellow mom, Nancy, texted 22 of our neighbors, including me, with this:
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A few weeks ago, I was honored to meet over 350 remarkable women from 22 Latin American countries in Bolivia. I joined my friend and mentor, Rev. Alicia Zorzoli, at a quinquennia gathering of Baptist Women in All of America (UFBAL--an auxiliary of the Baptist World Alliance).
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I remember when I heard the news that migrants were being pushed into the Rio Grande and getting trapped in razor wire. I’ve never felt such horror and shame, and I know you felt that too.
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Linda and I traveled to West Brownsville as an advance team for our church, Iglesia Bill Harrod, located in West Dallas. Anyra Cano, director of Programs and Outreach for Fellowship Southwest (FSW), inspired our trip. We carried donations from what one might euphemistically characterize as an economically challenged church in an economically challenged West Dallas to Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville, a neighborhood and church with challenges on a whole different level.
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Last week, I engaged in four different types of advocacy. I have experience in advocacy, but this was a rare week for me. One thing I did wasn’t more important than another. And one kind of advocacy isn’t more impactful than the others. All are needed. And all of us can do one of these things.
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Calling all Texans! The Senate is getting to pass two terrible immigration bills that would encourage racial profiling and create a lot of fear and chaos.
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