People fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine will join the myriad others fleeing poverty and oppression to reach our self-promoted land of freedom and prosperity. Like those who came before, they will encounter a country — two, actually — that don’t know what to do with them.
In all likelihood, migrants are just focused on getting here, and haven’t thought about the conditions they will find when they arrive.
Fortunately, a more altruistic atmosphere is taking over among many officials, both in the United States and Mexico, where many migrants stay while they petition for entry into our country. In Reynosa, Senda de Vida II, part of the Committee for the Coordination of Migrants, is building a shelter that promises to be better than previous encampments that lacked utilities and security. The center promises to have dining facilities as well as a classroom to provide schooling for children who stay there.
Unfortunately, Senda officials say they’re having trouble completing the project. They are short on resources such as lighting hardware and primary infrastructure. They might not be ready when the next big waves of migrants arrive.
The center is an acknowledgement that the stream of immigrants coming to our border won’t abate anytime soon. But it’s also an example of the problems that can arise when people rely too much on government to address immediate needs.
This brings to mind the reaction to similar issues that arose with regard to construction of the border wall. When litigation, resource issues and ultimately the change in administration slowed and later stopped construction, interested parties took it upon themselves to keep the project moving forward.
Perhaps a similar injection of private resources could help bring the Senda de Vida project back on track, and perhaps even duplicate the effort in other places along the border. Modern funding systems make such involvement easier to accomplish.
Online funding networks enable interested people offer donations of any size to help support benevolent causes and projects. An established, trustworthy organization, such as Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, might consider managing such a fund and using it to support private efforts that can augment any public effort to offer assistance to the people who assemble at our door.
Such an organization might also attract and assist other groups that can further improve conditions at such shelters, such as Doctors Without Borders. Health screens, vaccinations and other medical services might be all that some immigrants need to secure passage into this country.
People have been indoctrinated to leave things to government just because bureaucracies have been created and taxes taken. Sometimes, however, a nudge from the private sector can accomplish goals better, faster and more efficiently.
Many people along the border and beyond have shown an interest in the fate of those who seek to offer their talents and abilities in return for a new life in a country that respects individual rights. An organization that gives them a chance to help improve conditions for those who seek entry into our country.
