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In April 2023, the leadership team made a visit to a migrant shelter in Mexicali. Their visit was to offer companionship and friendship to those who are staying there while awaiting appointments with U.S. immigration.
The shelter is a former motel, two stories, with about 20 small bedrooms with bath. Women and children sleep here—sometimes ten to a room—while the men occupy crowded tents in the patio. Essential services are provided by an outdoor kitchen, small snack room, and a line of washing machines. Three ESL classes are offered daily for children, teens, and adults.
The Sisters all remarked on the joy of playing with the children staying at the shelter, and the ways they managed to communicate successfully with the migrants despite only Sister Pati being able to speak Spanish. But they also lament the conditions and circumstances; surely “we can do better” than this. Congregation President Sister Rosina Conrotto reflected that the border experience was bittersweet. “Bitter because of the difficulties endured by the migrants in search of new life for themselves and their families; sweet because being in this migrant camp was the next step to the freedom they were seeking.”
Sister Pati Reinhart’s full report with additional photos can be found at presentationsisterssf.org/border-visit-2023
Photos: Sister Judy Cunningham playing games with children at the shelter. Group photo L-R: Sisters Pati Reinhart, Judy Cunningham, Rosina Conrotto, Pam Chiesa