Imagine que tratar de cruzar hileras de alambre de púas fuera más seguro que quedarse en casa.
Imagine que el sumergirse en un río embravecido con su bebé les ofreciera una mejor oportunidad de sobrevivir que el regresar a su país.

Ahora imagine que aquellos que toman tales decisiones fueran blancos y hablaran inglés. ¿Podría usted imaginar que se pusieran en efecto las actuales políticas y tácticas del Gobernador Abbott que resultan en más muertes innecesarias?

Imagine that trying to cross rows of razor wire was safer than staying at home. 

Imagine that plunging into a raging river with your toddler offered them better odds of survival than going back to your country. 

Now imagine if those making such choices were white and spoke English. Could you imagine Governor Abbott continuing policies and tactics that result in more unnecessary deaths?

In early May, we issued an urgent call for volunteers to come to Brownsville, Texas, and serve migrants at the border. If you recall, Title 42 was due to lift May 11, and tensions at the border were swelling. Our primary partner in Brownsville, Pastor Carlos Navarro, was preparing for an enormous increase in the numbers of migrants he would be serving at the Welcome Center adjacent to the bus station and at his church's immigrant respite center.

On Wednesday FSW staff members Anyra Cano and Stephen Reeves traveled to the small village of La Modelo to celebrate the opening of a new building. The structure will soon be a shelter for migrants who hope to apply for asylum in the US and others who are seasonal workers in the nearby fields. It will be part of the Red de Albergues de Migrantes, Tierra de Oro which is led by longtime FSW partner Pastor Rosalío Sosa.

Fellowship Southwest is privileged to support interns at Center for Church and Community Impact (C3I) at Baylor’s Diana Garland School of Social Work. These graduate students, some of who are dual-degree students getting their M.S.W. and their M.Div at Truett Seminary, have been serving at C3I this year for their internship. They each chose a project related to their focus of work and developed an asset map. Two staff members from Fellowship Southwest, Cameron Vickrey and Anyra Cano, attended their presentations in person in Waco to learn from them and see the impact of their work.

Today, May 11, 2023, is the long-awaited day when Title 42 finally lifts. But instead of rejoicing, we are bracing for what comes in its aftermath: the Biden Asylum Ban.

The Biden administration has begun preparing to end Title 42 –the COVID-19 order that authorizes the rapid expulsion of migrants, primarily to Mexico– on May 11. The administration will impose penalties for those who enter the U.S. without inspection, while at the same time opening new programs for migrants to come to the U.S. Unfortunately, the efforts the administration is taking largely exports our immigration dilemma to other countries, militarizes our border, and fails to fulfill our legal obligation to allow people to seek asylum in the United States.

Our wonderful partner in Tijuana, Pastor Juvenal Gonzalez and his wife Maria are hosting a group of young Russian Christians in their home, while they work through their immigration process.

Our border partner in Tijuana, Pastor Juvenal Gonzalez, shared a hopeful story with us about some Afghan refugees he was able to assist because of Fellowship Southwest's support. 

Yes, you read that headline correctly. The Biden administration announced earlier this week a proposed rule that would create the presumption of asylum ineligibility for the majority of asylum seekers. Immigration advocates, like Fellowship Southwest and our partners, warn that this rule runs counter to the universal human right to seek asylum.

2023 marks an exciting development in Fellowship Southwest's immigration ministry with the ability to provide low cost legal services to immigrants in San Antonio. ELIM, which stands for Educational and Legal Immigration Ministries, currently operates out of Trinity Baptist Church in central San Antonio. Last week, Woodland Baptist Church in North Central San Antonio hosted an open house to celebrate an additional future location for ELIM's operations later this spring.

What are you looking for? Jesus asks this profound question of two disciples of John. They reply with a question of their own: “Where are you staying?” Here at the beginning of the gospel, John articulates a search at the heart of the human condition— the search for home or belonging. John’s gospel is a search for the place to abide. Not just a new home, but, a new household.

Fellowship Southwest is pleased to announce the addition of a new program to the organization. Educational and Legal Immigration Ministries (ELIM) will be providing low cost immigration counseling, legal services, and immigration training to churches and individuals. Jesús and Elsa Romero have led a similar ministry with ISAAC, which stands for Immigration Service and Aid Center, housed at the Christian Life Commission (CLC) at the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), since 2010. 

This week Anyra Cano, director of programs and outreach, had the opportunity to interview a young man from South America who was recently released from an immigration detention center. To protect his identity, we will refer to him as “PR”.

1,500 migrants crossing en masse in El Paso this week is an act of desperation by folks frustrated with a broken system. The U.S. immigration system is broken and overwhelmed, not unlike so many individuals seeking asylum here.