Our partners give orientation on immigration process to migrants

On Nov. 30th, more than 600 migrants who are stranded in Matamoros, Mexico - just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas - were given an orientation on U.S. immigration processes by Elket Rodriguez, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship U.S.-Mexico border field personnel, with the coordination of Pastor Eleuterio Gonzalez of Valle de Beraca Church.  

Rodriguez, an immigration attorney, informed the group, predominantly Venezuelan migrants, on the human right to seek asylum and the new private sponsorship program for Venezuelans. 

"The plan is to tackle misinformation about immigration processes in the United States and the opportunities that exist to enter the country," Rodriguez said. "Many families make mistakes that cost them a lot of money, and sometimes it can even cost them their lives, because they are not properly informed about the realities of being a migrant at the U.S.-Mexico border."

The orientation was given at Valle de Beraca Church Valley Church by Eleuterio Gonzalez, who feeds, protects and shelters thousands of migrants stranded around the entire city of Matamoros. In anticipation of the potential elimination of Title 42, a policy that authorizes the expedited removal of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border under the guise of preventing the spread of COVID-19, border cities like Matamoros have seen an increase in the number of migrants waiting for more opportunities to open up at the border.

"We registered more than 1,800 Venezuelans this week," Gonzalez said. "Hundreds of Ukrainians and Russians are also arriving (in Matamoros)."

Rodriguez's seminar coincides with other conferences held this fall and winter, alongside national and international churches and religious organizations, in response to the sudden change in border policies toward Venezuelans, discussions in Washington D.C.on immigration reform and the potential elimination of Title 42.

"It has been a whirlwind because the misinformation about every immigration issue in the United States is enormous," Rodriguez said. "And the Church, a divine transnational organization that is generally responsive to the needs of migration, needs to be well informed to minister to migrants with dignity and reliable information."