Ohio woman’s pamphletmay help save lives of deportees
‘Social justice coordinator’ seeks to change society.
Paula Miller CLEVELAND — knows she can’t single-handedly stop people frombeing deported, but she isworking on away to keep them safe.
She is creating a simple pamphlet with information that could save lives.
“When people from here are deported they find themselves in a strange land, sometimes with no money and no contacts and danger all around,” she said. “This pamphlet will help them if that happens and prepare them.”
Miller, 47, lives in Ohio City and works with the Catholic diocese and the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland in Pepper Pike with the title of “social justice coordinator.” In that role, she helps the nuns’ mission to “transform society through contemplation, justice and compassion” through prayer vigils and education of social justice issues.
She came up with the idea of a pamphlet after four years working with No More Deaths, a humanitarian aid group that helps immigrants stuggling in the American desert after crossing the border fromMexico. The group also helps people whowere deported toMexico and found themselves lost and alone in an unfamiliar country.
Some areas of Mexico are safer than others. U.S. immigration services deports more than 40,000 people a year to Nuevo Laredo and the state of Tamaulipas, the most dangerous places in all ofMexico. Kidnappings, assaults and robberies are common along the United States and Mexican border but are theworst in Tamaulipas, the most dangerous of all 11 deportation cities.
Miller was horrified to learn of the ordeal of Francisco Narciso of Painesville who was kidnapped July 24 along with another Painesvillemanshortly after being deported toNuevoLaredo. The menwere beaten, starved and held until July 29when theywere released after their families in Painesville raised about $4,000 each to ransom them.
Narciso is in hiding somewhere inMexico, fearful that the self-described members of the Zetas crime cartel that kidnapped him would find him again.
Miller is not sure that her information would have helped Narciso, but she believes it could be very valuable, even life-saving, to deportees.
The pamphletwould contain:
■ Phone numbers and info on Grupo Beta, or “Beta Groups.” These areMexican governmentworkers trained to offer support, legal advice and guidance in 22 border cities to people who were recently deported fromthe United States or Mexicans fromother parts of the country seeking help. The groups provide shelters, which are often overcrowded.
■ Phone numbers and information on National Migration, anotherMexican group thatwill take deportees to shelters or to hospitals if they are injured. They also help deportees and migrants make phone calls and buy bus tickets.
■ Contact information for Casa de Migrantes, a network of shelters in Mexico.
■ Information on places to get free clothing.
She would also like to includeinformationofhowto wire transfermoneythrough Western Union, Zoom and money orders, something she is working on.
She hopes to make the pamphlets available by the end of the year. They will be given out to immigration support groupsandchurches that haveHispanic or Latino members.
Miller knows of the hardships that people facewhen they end up in the American desert.
In Oct. 2012, Miller started her work with No More Deaths, a group with amission to help people immigrants in the harsh Southwestern deserts.
“Often crossing the desert is a death sentence,” she said. “The number of people crossing (from Mexico into the United States) has been going down for years, but thenumberof thosewho have died in the attempt has gone up.”
No More Deaths leaves water, food, blankets and first aid supplies in the desert for the peoplewho need it. She said someone has been slashing the water jugs, dumping food onto the blankets and letting them fester in the sun.
Critics argue that the people being helped are entering the country illegally, but Miller notes that the group does not consider howthey got into the desert. She said the only important thing is that these are people in need and the group helps them stay alive.
The group has published a “DeathMap,” showingwhere human remains have been found to aid identification and to remind people that men, women and children are dying.
“Make no mistake about it,” she said. “People who decide to risk everything and cross into the United States face a huge decision.”