In November of 2018 a caravan of about 6,000 migrants from Honduras and other countries of Central America arrived in Tijuana, Mexico. Most of migrants left their home countries due to the terrible conditions of violence and poverty. Their goal was to seek asylum in the U.S. Upon arriving in Tijuana, the migrants were placed in a baseball field near the U.S. border. A week after they arrived there was a demonstration of migrants near the U.S. border which led to a riot between the U.S. border patrol and the migrants. As a consequence of the riot, the migrants were moved to another location about 20 miles away from the border but only 3 miles away from the Oblate Mission Parish.
The new camp/shelter has an indoor area where women and children were placed. The men, young and old, were placed in the outdoor patio of this shelter where most of them slept in tents. The next few months were very difficult for the migrants because of the continuous storms and very cold weather. Aside from the difficult weather conditions, the lack of bathrooms and food became another challenge. People waited in long lines for a plate of food. Sometimes the food would run out before everyone was fed. They also waited in long lines to use the toilet or take a shower.
At first the Oblates from the Tijuana mission helped the migrants by taking food, water, blankets, clothes and hygiene supplies to the shelter. Soon after, we were invited to celebrate a weekly mass at the migrant camp. After mass we would provide food and refreshments for 700 – 1000 people. The ongoing visits gave us a great opportunity to interact and share meaningful moments with the migrants. We had the blessing of listening to many stories of pain and suffering and stories of hope and courage.
Aside from the ongoing visits to the migrant camp, we gave shelter to group of women, children and men at Youth Center. We were able to provide these 20 people a comfortable place to sleep, food, medications, lawyers, English classes and jobs. Soon this group of young migrants become an important part of our youth group family. It was beautiful to see the love, concern and sharing that was exchanged between our youth group and the migrants. During this period, I had the honor of baptizing three of the children. The godparents of these children were some of the young adults from our program; thus, demonstrating the strong ties that developed in a few weeks between our youth and the migrants.
By February 2019 all the migrants left the camp. Most of them went back to their home countries, others processed their asylum case, and some decided to stay in Mexico. From the group staying at the youth center, eight went back to Honduras, four stayed with us in Tijuana and nine of them got an asylum interview and are now in the U.S. Two of nine people are still in an ICE detention center. We are providing shelter for two others in the Los Angeles area and the other five are staying with family. Their asylum case will continue for a few months or even years. In the meantime, we continue to give these nine people financial supports because they do not have a work permit and shelter, food and lawyer fees are very expensive. Sharing our time with the migrants has been a true blessing for the Oblates and our youth. It is an honor to walk with them during this very difficult process.
There is another migrant caravan coming to the border. At this point we don’t know how many of them will make it to Tijuana. The journey to the border can be very difficult and dangerous. Please pray for the well-being of all the people traveling in the caravan.
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By Fr. Jesse Esqueda, OMI
Fr. Jesús Jesse Esqueda was born in Zacatecas, Mexico. His family moved to the United States, to the Los Angeles area, when Jesse was 3 years old. Shortly after high school, he became active in his parish, helping with youth retreats and eventually serving as a youth minister in a Vincentian parish in East Los Angeles, His connection to the Vincentians led to several stays in Honduras as a lay missionary. Upon returning from a two-year period of service in a diocese in Honduras, he got a job as youth minister at the Oblate parish of Santa Rosa in San Fernando. This led to his interest in the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and his application to enter the pre-novitiate in 2007. In August of 2008, he completed a B.A. degree in Philosophy at D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY. After his first profession of vows in 2009, he began his theology studies at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, earning a Master of Divinity degree in 2014. He did a pastoral internship in New Orleans at St. Jude Shrine/Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. Fr. Esqueda serves as a parish priest at Iglesia San Eugenio de Mazenod (St. Eugene de Mazenod Church) in La Morita and is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Oblate School of Theology.
