‘Spirit of truth’:
Local refugee ministry hosts forum on immigration to dispel myths
To address some misconceptions about immigration, the Yuma Refugee Ministry (YRM) hosted a refugee forum Friday night at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.
“There were some negative rumors about what we do and general antiimmigrant myths flowing around our community which were incorrect and just a general culture of ignorance,” said YRM Transition Coordinator Connor Veneski in an interview with the Yuma Sun. “Tonight’s purpose was to address those and to address the misconceptions so that we can have a culture where we can get donors and volunteers and just a culture that we can operate which doesn’t have active hostilities.”
Veneski stressed that YRM has “a specific role.”
“We are just in full accordance with the law and we work directly with ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so people don’t have to be afraid of a program like this operating in their neighborhood,” he said. “They shouldn’t be afraid of the people that we help that might stay here or go to other communities.”
The YRM is a program that assists asylum seekers released in the Yuma Border Sector. According to program board members, YRM is a joint Catholic Methodist program run by volunteers and has been in operation since 2014.
Additionally, YRM worked with federal law enforcement to provide assistance to migrants after their release from detention. The program aims to serve a population fleeing from violence and severe economic hardships who are seeking legal refuge status in the United States. Many are from Central America.
At the start of Friday night’s panel, Veneski said the program offers these individuals and families temporary housing and assistance in uniting them with family sponsors in the United States.
He noted that YRM does not engage in political ac-
tivities, but instead focuses on providing services to these individuals to integrate them into the United States so that they may succeed in the future.
Panel members of the evening included Manuel Fragoso, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish; Alma Bon, YRM senior site coordinator; Erika Galindo, B.S. candidate in justice studies and Chicano/Latino studies with a concentration in U.S.Mexico regional economics and immigration policy at Arizona State University; Suzannah Maclay, owner of Immigration Law Office of Suzannah Maclay PLLC; and Kim Curtis, lecturer at Northern Arizona University with a Master of Arts (MA) in sustainable communities.
The lineup for the night also included special guest speaker Gerald Kicanas, former bishop of the Tucson diosese, which includes Yuma.
During the panel discussion, Galindo discussed the Northern Triangle of Central America and the “push and pull factors” that push people out of the area and pull them to the United States.
“The United High Commissioner for refugees of the United Nations Refugee Agency actually dubs the Northern Triangle as one of the most dangerous places on earth,” Galindo said. “This is due to the extreme crime rate, brutality, drug activity and high murder rate happening in the area. Honduras is actually number one for homicide and number seven for female homicide. El Salvador is number five for homicide and number one for female homicide. And Guatemala is number six for homicide and number three for female homicide.
“For comparison, this is matched by Iraq and Syria, which are both war torn countries,” she added, noting that some gangs such as MS-13 are “part of the reason for all the violence and murder in the area.” She also stressed that gangs engage in human trafficking and assist cartels.
“These gangs have infiltrated the governments in the area and the authorities - or leave the government and authorities in fear,” Galindo said. “They actually have the same amount of power over the citizens of the area as the government does in the same area. Because of this, many citizens can’t turn to the police or the authorities because they are often the perpetrators of the violence and abuse.”
At the beginning of her speech, specialty immigration practitioner Maclay covered border statistics regarding those whom she says the Boder Patrol refers to as “illegal cross border migrants who are apprehended either at the port of entry or have recently just crossed the border illegally.”
“In the year 2000 Border Patrol calculated that that number of ‘crossers’ was 1,676,430,” she said. “Interestingly, since 2000 we’ve seen a steady annual decline in those numbers. It had peaks such as in 2004 but overall there was a steady decline until recently. In 2017, the year for which we have the most recent figures, the number of border crossers was 310,000.
“In the year 2000 again 98 percent of border crossers were New Mexican nationals,” Maclay added. “Central Americans made up only 1 percent. Apprehensions of Central Americans remained under 10 percent until 2011. Today, Central Americans are about 50 percent of that demographic, so a significant increase.”
Information distribted at the panel by YRM shows that senior members of the program’s staff participate in monthly conference calls with similar programs across the border, facilitated by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to discuss migration trends and new developments in enforcement strategies.
Veneski said while a panel such as the one held Friday night may not occur for quite some time, he encourages the public to reach out with questions.
“If people are interested, they can reach out to the church (or) to individuals we have in the community and we will be happy to answer,” Veneski said. “They don’t have to be pro-immigrant to ask these questions. If people don’t agree with immigration they can always reach out to us too because it’s a spirit of truth and transparency. It’s a very real concern-you don’t know who is coming in so if they want to know who is coming in we will be glad to tell them.”
For more information on YRM, call Senior Site Coordinator Alma Bon at (928) 446-9153 or email almabon94@gmail.com.