THE BEST OF SANTA FE VISITS THE BORDER
“You have a good heart,” a man standing behind me says in Spanish. It’s Friday, Jan. 10, and we’re at La Casa del Migrante in Juárez. Arrayed on the concrete in front of us are some 100 pairs of shoes. Dozens of migrants are standing in a big circle, waiting to pick shoes for themselves and their children.
His words make me think of the good hearts of those who made this possible. First, there is Nina Houle from On Your Feet, who donated the men’s and women’s shoes. There is Carlos Garcia, who helped us select the ones we needed. There is the staff at Double Take who sold us children’s shoes at a very generous price. And there is Judy Crawford and so many others who have been so helpful in gathering up used clothing.
That morning, 213 migrants were at La Casa waiting for their asylum hearings, none of which were scheduled until March. The vast majority have come some 2,000 miles from the much warmer Central American countries of Guatemala and Honduras, countries where the murder rate is more than five times higher than in the U.S. The gratitude they expressed for the shoes and clothing was heart-wrenching to me, especially knowing that every day the Trump administration makes the asylum process more dangerous and difficult.
This was one example of Santa Fe reaching out to the needy.
Earlier we were in Palomas (population 4,000), some 60 miles to the west of Juárez, for the annual
Christmas party of La Casa de Amor Para Niños, a program created by Jim and Pat Noble of Santa Fe 20 years ago. Some 300 residents of Palomas attended, enjoyed music played by nine talented young musicians from Ascención to the south plus frito pies and gifts. The 12 volunteers from Santa Fe were joined by others from Durango, Colo., Silver City and Las Cruces, Juárez and El Paso.
In addition to La Casa’s residential program for some 12 young women, Pat Noble has raised scholarship funds for more than 100 children. Nine of these are now in college, fulfilling Pat and Jim’s belief that a high school degree isn’t sufficient.
One of these students is Miguel Angel Peredes. With Pat’s encouragement, I’ve been sponsoring him since 2014, but I had never met him. He is now 20 years old, going to college at the Instituto Superior de Nuevo Casas Grandes south of Palomas and studying computer engineering. It’s young people like him who will be the future of Mexico.
After distributing the shoes and clothing at La Casa del Migrante, I worked my way across Juárez to Anapra, the colonia on the west edge of the city, passed a house built by St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, and found a bright blue building where Operation Christmas Child was holding one of its distributions of Christmas gift boxes for local children.
Santa Fe businessmen and brothers Carlos Garcia with Maestas and Ward Commercial Real Estate and Hector Garcia, the owner of Aztec Upholstery, were both born in Juárez, have their own program there, Amigo Fiel, and are also in charge of Operation Christmas Child for all of Mexico. This involves putting together some 800,000 gift boxes in the U.S. and then distributing them throughout Mexico. In
addition, they distribute these gift boxes at churches and community centers in the Juárez area. In this case, they were assisted by some 30 volunteers from the Flagstaff, Ariz., area, most of whom had never been to Juárez before.
Several hundred little kids came pouring into the building for music, clowns, food, laughter and, most important, the thrill of a Christmas gift. Most of these kids have parents or grandparents with them, but a solemn little boy, Aldo, 7, and his sisters, Kenia, 5, and Sheri, 12, sitting next to me were alone. Where were their family members, I wondered? Thinking of Anapra’s rutted, dirt streets, the dilapidated houses, the violence and a minimum wage of only $9.80 a day (Santa Fe’s is $12.10 per hour as of March 1), I don’t ask questions and just make sure they get their gifts.
The migrant issue is a critical one, and my wife and I have been bringing food and clothing to La Casa del Migrante since 2018. At the same time, it’s essential not to forget the human needs of those Mexican families who struggle to survive on the border. The leaders of La Casa de Amor para Niños, Amigo Fiel and Operation Christmas Child have been doing that for decades. Thanks for bringing the best of Santa Fe to the border.