BROWNSVILLE — A familiar opportunity knocked at the door of a Brownsville church last Christmas Eve when a journey-worn family sought shelter from the church in the midst of their holiday mass.
“The cathedral sort of made some room at the gym to accommodate these families and give them a warmer place to stay for that night,” Bishop Daniel E. Flores said on Thursday. Since then, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral has kept its doors open.
Two weeks ago, a Venezuelan family walked in only to walk out 15 minutes after their arrival.
Maria Carolina, a Venezuelan mother who preferred not to share a last name for safety reasons, remembered feeling a little more than the expected emotions that came with finally setting foot on U.S. soil.
That morning of Jan. 16, Maria Carolina, by then nine months pregnant, her husband and 10-year-old daughter walked into the Brownsville port of entry after living 45 days cramped into a tent by the Rio Grande with three other relatives.
After meeting with immigration officials, the family was released from federal custody and allowed into the country to pursue an asylum claim.
“I felt excited, because of the long wait, the long journey. It’s been four months,” she said, referring to the perilous journey that included a walk through the infamous Darien Gap. “When we got here, I felt a little worried because my husband’s cousin wasn’t answering the phone. Between the anguish and excitement, I wasn’t able to differentiate the pain.”
A friend of Maria Carolina told her of a shelter where she and her family could get guidance after entering the country, but they didn’t have an address.
The walk was not daunting to the family who was at the end of their five month journey from Venezuela, but with a baby nearly due, it seemed much longer for the 36-year-old mother.
“It was so close, but it felt so far because we didn’t know the address,” Maria Carolina said.
By the time they reached the church, Maria Carolina was finally able to distinguish excitement from pain.
“About 10-15 minutes after I arrived, someone was able to call an ambulance for us,” she said.
She was in labor.
Swaddled in a blanket held gently in his mother’s arms, baby Keiver Emanuel was peaceful and quiet Thursday afternoon as his mom received help from the church’s pregnancy center. They’ve provided diapers, formula and instruction for the mother whose last newborn was born 10 years prior.
“A person told me that all the struggle that we had been going through for almost five months, and the baby waited to get to our destination and be born was because God had always been with us,” Maria Carolina said. Her child’s name was an affirmation of that belief; Emmanuel means “God with us.”
The mission behind the shelter, which houses up to 100 people, who stay mostly between a day or two, is to amplify that belief.
“I don’t know that we realize how frightening it is for an immigrant family that has moved from like Venezuela, for example, to be in a new place,” the bishop said. “Who can you trust? Who can you not trust? Who do you ask to give you reliable information?”
On Thursday, men, women and children sat on mats laying along the old Immaculate Conception Cathedral gymnasium resting, playing, eating food brought by volunteers or sorting clothes donated by compassionate parishioners.
Many have bus or plane tickets that are scheduled out a few days out. There are other organizations like the Ozanam Center which welcome immigrants waiting to leave the Valley, but the changes in immigration policy can stretch help thin.
Bishop Flores said they keep close watch on the needs to determine if they will need to operate the temporary shelter on long term.
“You kind of check the news every morning to see if the courts have ruled one way or the other on Title 42,” Flores said, referring to the public health policy used to turn back asylum seekers, which was nearly lifted last month.
“If the federal government changes its policy or Title 42 goes away … the situation could change radically. And it will be something that the local communities from Brownsville all the way up to McAllen and further is going to require a lot of cooperation,” Flores added.
As the situation persists, Flores said they’re making improvements to bring the building up to code by adding more lighting, signage, fans and other safety precautions.
Flores said funding comes from Catholic Charities, which also helps fund a larger shelter in the upper Valley. Restaurants and community members also donate time, money or both.
Father Nicholas Hardy and Deacon Luis Zuniga help coordinate efforts at the shelter and say volunteers have offered to help in many ways.
“We put the stuff on the tables, but it’s kind of subdivided. So that’s where we rely on the volunteers,” Zuniga said. “Then they’ll also bring apples, oranges, bananas, so that [families] have something to snack on, between meals or if they’re leaving.”
Recently, the church added wifi services at the gym to keep families from searching elsewhere for a signal to reach out to families and coordinate their trips.
Flores said they’ll continue to provide these services, with the help of donors and grants, as part of the church’s mission to help thy neighbors.
“It is a complex situation, but it’s a human drama,” the bishop said, adding, “and we can’t forget the human faces that are there.”
Staff writer Denise Cathey contributed to this report.
