Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
By Agostino Bono WASHINGTON (CNS) – Migrants caught trying to enter the United States illegally at the Mexican border are quickly deported. At the border near the Tijuana River levee, deported migrants often have nowhere to go and quickly become homeless, taking refuge in the river levee in storm and sewer drains. To lessen the suffering, a humanitarian aid group, Angeles del Desierto, provides food, water and medical attention to migrants each week. Rafael Hernandez, one of the “angels of the desert,” knows the hardships of trekking across desert and mountains to enter the United States from Mexico. He did it with his wife and daughter 21 years ago. Now, as a legal U.S. resident, Hernandez and his band of volunteers patrol both sides of the MexicanCalifornia border near San Diego looking for lost migrants and leaving water, clothing and food at strategic desert locations to help people on their journey. “I know how people suffer. I’ve lived it in the flesh,” Hernandez told Catholic News Service. Hernandez, a construction equipment mechanic, is the director of Angeles del Desierto, Spanish for “desert angels,” which he founded eight years ago. The angels are 60 volunteers, many from San Diego Catholic parishes, who take turns with the 52-year-old Hernandez patrolling the borderland two to three times a week. In groups of 10 to 15 people, they patrol
a swatch of desert covering a radius of 60 miles and extending into both countries. “If we find people who need help, we take care of them. We get them back up on their feet so they can continue their journey,” said Hernandez. Sometimes, the people they find are dead. Through September, Angeles del Desierto had found five bodies this year. Hernandez said that he often finds people — on average about 10 to 15 a week — who are badly injured or in a weak condition. These people are urged to go to a hospital if they are on the Mexican side and Hernandez offers to take them. If they are on the U.S. side, Hernandez said that he tries to convince them to let him call the U.S. Border Patrol and let the Border Patrol take them to the hospital before deporting them. Hernandez said that initially he had problems dealing with the Border Patrol and Mexican immigration officials. On the U.S. side, “I was accused of helping Mexicans come here to commit crimes,” he said. “I had to work in secret.” Mexican officials accused his group of interfering with their work, said Hernandez. “Now we are accepted” on both sides of the border, he said. “Officials see that we are rescuing people.” Hernandez added that sometimes the Border Patrol calls him and asks his help in finding people they hear about who are lost in the mountains. He also learns about lost migrants from people deported from the ‘ANGELS’, page 9 United States.
(CNS PHOTO/DAVID MAUNG)
Band of ‘angels’ leaves food, water for people crossing U.S. border
A couple recently deported walks down the embankment of the Tijuana River levee with bags of food and water from the migrant assistance group Angeles del Desierto. In the background are high intensity lights illuminating the U.S.-Mexican border, which transects the river.
Vatican supports treaty to regulate sale of conventional weapons By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican expressed strong support for an international treaty to regulate the sale of conventional weapons, saying light arms and
small-caliber weapons have been used to harm millions of people in recent decades. Conventional weapons are an element in every civil conflict and constitute “one of the most common instruments
in most violations of human rights and disrespect for international law,” said a Vatican statement released Oct. 10. The statement, issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, came as the
United Nations was debating a proposal by seven countries to take steps toward a legally binding agreement on the import, export and exchange of conventional weapons. VATICAN SUPPORT, page 10
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION ‘Theology on Tap’ . . . . . . . . . 3 Catholic women meet. . . . . . 5 Under the Vatican. . . . . . . . . 9 Pope on vocations. . . . . . . . 15 Archbishop’s homily . . . . . . 19
Notre Dame AmeriCorps
Vocations Guide
Church and Domestic Violence
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Ocotber 13, 2006
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Classified ads . . . . . . . . 22-23
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 8
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