As Caravan Of Migrants Heads North, Trump Threatens To Close Southern U.S. Border, May we find ways to help them.

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/18/658607385/as-caravan-of-migrants-heads-north-trump-threatens-to-close-southern-u-s-border?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20181019&utm_campaign=news&utm_term=nprnews

Today, I witnessed the deep faith  of a vibrant Latino community here in Florida praying to the Saint of Miracles. A friend and I were on our way to see the movie "A Star is Born", but the movie was sold out, so we stopped for yogurt and then drove to see the site where Habitat for Humanity is building new homes. On our way we passed  a local Catholic parish, where the people were outside and music was playing. We decided to check  it out. It was a colorful festival to honor the Saint of Miracles. Although we did not see the movie of our choice, we felt we had encountered people who were filled with light, love and goodness all around us.  See photos below. 

I pray that we will find little ways to be "saints of miracles of compassion" for people in need -near and far- each day. I pray especially for our sisters and brothers in the Caravan of Desperate Migrants approaching our southern border. May we find ways to help them.  https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2018/10/thousands-of-migrants-ask-us-to-share.html Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, https://arcwp.org

Saint of Miracles

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Honduran migrants walk toward Tecún Umán, a Guatemalan town along the Mexican border, as they leave Guatemala City on Thursday.Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

A large group of mostly Honduran refugees, reportedly numbering into the thousands, has crossed into Guatemala in a caravan that is believed headed to the U.S. border.

Hundreds of migrants have arrived at the Guatemalan border town of Tecún Umán, along the southern border of Mexico, James Fredrick reports for NPR. Organizers of the caravan say they are waiting for thousands more to join them in the coming days, before attempting to cross the Mexican border.






James Fredrick@jameslfredrick

Hundreds of migrants from the #CaravanaMigrante are already in Tecun Uman, the Guatemalan town bordering Mexico. They’re waiting for the thousands more to arrive and plan to walk to the Mexican border peacefully. Surprisingly good spirits here. Listen to @npratc today for more.

Mexico has ramped up security along its southern border and says that only migrants with valid paperwork will be allowed to enter Mexico — namely, a passport, which most of those in the caravan do not have.

"You can tell Mexican security forces are preparing because there are dozens of police in riot gear waiting here for the imminent arrival of this caravan," Frederick told NPR, while standing on a bridge that links Mexico and Guatemala.

Most of those who had gathered were from Honduras, he said, but there were also people from El Salvador and Guatemala.
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Judy, a 34-year-old woman in the group who requested that her last name not be used, said that her home country of Honduras has become very dangerous: no safety, jobs, and the hospitals lack medicine. Basic freedoms are being oppressed by the government of Juan Orlando Hernández, she said, and Honduras simply feels unlivable for her right now.

Mexico's interior ministry said it would ask the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for support, as it prepares to receive possibly thousands of refugee requests in the coming days.

The Mexican government says that the migrants may apply for asylum in Mexico, but that they'll have to do so from a detention center. Mexico warned that if migrants are caught crossing illegally, they will be detained and deported.

With the midterm elections in the U.S. just weeks away, President Donald Trump kept immigration front and center, by threatening to close the entire U.S. border with Mexico to prevent the migrants from entering.

"I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" he tweetedThursday.