Back in September 2019, members of this committee sponsored a party at Templo de Embajadores de Jesús shelter in the hills along a dirt road in Tijuana. At the time, about 200 people were sleeping in tents and bunks in this church led by Zaida Guillen and her husband, Pastor Gustaro Banda-Aceves. They started by housing Haitians, and then built a separate building for them. Haitians ate separately from the other migrants because they liked different food. When we visited, Gustaro was busy building more buildings with help from some of the migrants, and had started a computer center/school. Now they have 1,500 migrants from Haiti and Central America, and are working with UCSD to develop the UCSD-ALACRÁN Community Station (one of four that UCSD is developing along both sides of the border). The goal is to develop an infrastructure of productivity through economic incubators including fabrication shops, a nursery, and an industrial kitchen. Pastor Banda will be speaking at our February 9 meeting to tell us more of what they have done and are planning. Migrants are still backed up in Mexico, so this kind of opportunity for them is vital.
At the January meeting, Ralph Enriquez from Catholic Charities spoke about the shelter they run for asylum seekers just arriving in San Diego. They house 400 people in hotels similar to that of Jewish Family Service's shelter (the San Diego Rapid Response Network Migrant Shelter), and provide legal counseling, onward transportation, health checks, food, clothing, and shelter for a night or two before they move on to their sponsors. They also have legal and other services for refugees, especially Afghans & Ukrainians, and for unaccompanied minors.
We are planning another party, tentatively scheduled for the morning of Thursday, March 30. This one will be held at a school in Tijuana that has 80 children, a third of whom are American children who have been deported with their families. If you want to help staff this party, we’d love for you to join us.