Mass along U.S.-Mexican border to remember those who died trying to reach U.S.

Record ID: 80227

  • Title: Mass along U.S.-Mexican border to remember those who died trying to reach U.S.
  • Date: 5th November 2016
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FATHER JAVIER CALVILLO, SAYING: "We must not forget that (U.S.) President (Barack) Obama was very strong against migrants. So I think that we are scared about this aspect because there are many walls and, if there are walls about ideas, about actions like racism or discrimination, that would be dreadful. Honestly, I think that Mexico and part of the United States are scared that Donald Trump could win." MASS BEING CELEBRATED CALVILLO SAYING MASS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LISTENING TO MASS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JOSE MANUEL DIAZ, HONDURAN MIGRANT ATTENDING MASS, SAYING: "I am very concerned (about Trump winning) because our dream would end. You can imagine, as difficult as it is, it would be even more difficult. I imagine we would no longer be able to go to the United States because if you go there, they could deport you back later, so we have to ask God for us, the migrants, that this gentleman doesn't win so that someday we can reach the United States." BORDER BRIDGE BETWEEN CIUDAD JUAREZ AND EL PASO FAITHFUL LISTENING TO MASS MASS BEING HELD IN RIO BRAVO CANAL
  • Embargoed: 20th November 2016 23:33
  • Keywords: migrants mass U.S.-Mexico border Ciudad Juarez El Paso
  • Location: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
  • City: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00257635FN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Residents on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border gathered on Saturday (November 5) for a mass organized by Texas and Mexican dioceses to remember migrants who died trying to enter the U.S..
    Hundreds made their way to the ceremony, which was held on the American side of the border near El Paso, just days after Mexicans traditionally remember their deceased loved ones on Day of the Dead.
    The faithful carried white crosses and yellow marigolds in honour of the deceased.
    Father Javier Calvillo (kal-VEE-yo) who heads a Ciudad Juarez migrant shelter celebrated the mass which also made special mention of the hundreds of Haitian and African migrants in northern Mexican shelters hoping for asylum.
    Calvillo said that, while there is much concern that U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could be voted into office in three days, people need to remember that the administration of President Barack Obama increased deportations.
    "We must not forget that (U.S.) President (Barack) Obama was very strong against migrants. So I think that we are scared about this aspect because there are many walls and, if there are walls about ideas, about actions like racism or discrimination, that would be dreadful. Honestly, I think that Mexico and part of the United States are scared that Donald Trump could win," he said.
    The number of families stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border jumped 122 percent between October 2015 and April 2016 from the same period a year earlier, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
    His former Secretary of State, the current Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, has proposed comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship, and says she will end detention of immigrant families.
    Trump, a real-estate tycoon who has narrowed the gap with Clinton ahead of next Tuesday's vote, has vowed to make it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States, to increase deportations and to limit remittances unless Mexico pays billions for a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border.
    Honduran Jose Manuel Diaz arrived in Mexico with hopes to continue on to the United States. He said he is praying to God that Trump does not become the next president of the United States.
    "I am very concerned (about Trump winning) because our dream would end. You can imagine, as difficult as it is, it would be even more difficult. I imagine we would no longer be able to go to the United States because if you go there, they could deport you back later, so we have to ask God for us, the migrants, that this gentleman doesn't win so that someday we can reach the United States," he said.
    Mexico has more than 5 million citizens living without regular papers in the United States, or about half of the entire undocumented population.
    Most opinion polls in the run-up to the election put Clinton consistently ahead of her Republican rival, but the polls also show her losing ground in the final stretch.
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