The Rio Grande Borderland Ministries team is in the process of mapping our assets in preparation for the inevitable policy changes to come with the next Presidential administration. We are preparing for the possibility of a large influx of asylum seekers arriving at our shelters in Juarez and Ojinaga, Mexico and an increased number of unaccompanied minors released from detention in the US. We are also assessing the implications of a mass influx of asylum seekers making their way into Texas and New Mexico with the reopening of the border.
President-elect Joe Biden, his incoming domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, and his pick for national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, have ensured they are committed to addressing the current crisis on the border. “We will be able to take some steps to change policies right away. Others will take time to put in place, and the situation at the border will not transform overnight, due in large part to the damage done over the last four years. But we are committed to addressing it in full,” Rice said.
While the timeline of changes to immigration policy are uncertain, the transition is an opportunity to assess our own performance, as well as continue to build relationships with our partners. At the same time, we are working to gather potential sites and sources of funding for housing, first-aid and food once again on the US side of the border.
Finally, on the forefront of everyone’s mind, we are having conversations about the challenges that lie ahead related to vaccinations for this transitional population. Father Hector Trejo Cano, who runs our Jaurez shelters is working with a team on the Mexican side of the border to gain access to vaccinations given that these shelters and their guests are highly vulnerable. At the same time, we are looking at how we might partner with organizations on the US side of the border in order to facilitate similar vaccination opportunities.
What can you do? While this mapping process is complicated and important, it does not compare to the immediate need we have to be able to offer the most basic food and medical care for our neighbors on the border. As an organization, we struggle everyday to figure out where our limited resources are best applied. What we need right now is money to feed people, buy blankets, and stock medical supplies. We also need you to tell your friends and family about our work and ask them to start making their own gifts to RGBM. Next week, we are transitioning our online giving tool so that you can make recurring donations. Monthly gifts, small and large are the key to our long-term impact. They also help us go to foundations and large donors and illustrate stability. We hope you will consider supporting us monthly and will let you know when our new platform goes live.
In the meantime, please do hold the border and our own nation in your prayers. We are in a fragile place. In the midst of the chaos of COVID and the recent unrest in Washington, take heart that despite the challenges, RGBM continues to welcome the stranger, provide food to the hungry, care for the wounded and treat every soul we encounter on the border as a child of God.
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered together under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one God and Creator of us all; to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever. AMEN
- For Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p. 815