Migrant flow increases need for shelters; here is how you can help
The new shelter is very crowded. The women and children sleep inside, and the men sleep outside in the courtyard area.
The escalating flow of refugees to the U.S.-Mexico border has expanded the demands on shelters operated by El Buen Samaritano Migrante, Fellowship Southwest’s partner in northeastern Mexico.
El Buen Samaritano Migrante recently opened a third refugee shelter in Nuevo Laredo, immediately across the border from Laredo, Texas. That brings the ministry’s shelter total to four—three in Nuevo Laredo and another in Saltillo, about 185 miles south.
The shelters play a crucial role in protecting refugees, explained Lorenzo Ortiz, El Buen Samaritano Migrante’s director. That’s because Nuevo Laredo is perhaps the most dangerous city in North America, particularly for refugees. Mexican drug cartels prey upon them, kidnapping them to extort their families for money.
The men from the shelter sleep outside, leaving the house for the women and children.
So, Ortiz works tirelessly to get newly arriving refugees off the streets and into shelters.
This has created additional demand, because each shelter must be stocked to accommodate the residents safely and comfortably, said Ruth Ortiz, who helps her father operate the shelters.
In addition to usual shelter supplies—such as diapers, formula, baby bottles, backpacks, youth underwear and fever-reducing medicines, as well as food and kitchen/cleaning materials—the new shelter has created other demands. “We are also needing cots, blankets, hygiene kits/toiletries, facemasks, disinfecting supplies, shoelaces, socks, undergarments for children and adults and cookware,” she said.
Leaders of El Buen Samaritan Migrante and Fellowship Southwest acknowledge many friends and supporters delight in shipping supplies to ministry sites. However, that is not advisable for the northeastern Mexico shelters. They cited several reasons:
If supplies are shipped to the Ortizes in Laredo, they often encounter challenges from security officials when transporting them across the border.
If supplies are shipped to the shelters, the arrival of delivery trucks raises the visibility of the shelters. This places both the refugees and the ministers who serve them in greater danger from the cartels.
Shipping materials to Laredo increases the cost to supporters. Their contributions go further when they do not add in the cost of shipping.
So, both El Buen Samaritano and Fellowship Southwest encourage supporters who wish to strengthen the ministry in Nuevo Laredo and Saltillo to contribute to Fellowship Southwest’s fund for supporting this and other ministries on the border.
If you would like to support El Buen Samaritano Migrante’s new shelter in Nuevo Laredo—as well as other ministries along the border—you can do so by clicking here.