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Palomas 2023 On Mother’s Day weekend in May 2019, without warning, US Border Patrol started dropping hundreds of legal asylum seeking families in Deming, NM (50 miles south of Grant County/Silver City). Most without food, adequate clothing, and in poor medical condition. Our UU congregation immediately began supporting the emergency shelter originally setup at the county fairgrounds and an old WWII airplane hangar. We were the collection site for our county and sent provisions every week. Weekly emails started going out to several hundred people with lists of immediate needs. With those donations we packed emergency food bags (GoBags) as well as sent clothing, toys, medical supplies and food for the shelter. And then, all of that ceased in fall 2019 when the border was “shut,” and the Remain in Mexico (MPP) was strictly enforced. The shelter for asylum seekers in Palomas MX (just across the border from Deming) held a relatively stable number of guests waiting and waiting and waiting… and we transferred our support to them. In June 2020 Border Patrol started expelling dozens (and now hundreds) of Title 42 migrants (preventing anyone from entering the US due to COVID 19) daily into Palomas (a small town of 5000). These guests might only stay 1 or 2 days, but most were in dire need of food, sleep and first aid before they decide where to go next. And because of the pandemic they had to be kept separate from the asylum seekers who were quarantined. Two totally separate shelters have since opened for these expelled persons, including a 5 month old baby recently. We remain their primary source of supplies and the number has climbed skyward. In January 2023 alone, close to 2000 people were expelled into Palomas, with half of them getting a place to sleep and food through the fire station/shelters. We pay stipends to a team in Palomas to provide for them. In addition, in early 2022, the Deming shelter on the US side of the border re-opened for asylum seekers heading to sponsors in the US! They too need food, warm clothing and care. We supply them as well as Palomas as best we can. What we are able to do is dependent on donations from our wider community… locally, nationally and internationally. Although there are needs across the entire southern border, we remain committed to our corner of New Mexico/Mexico which generally gets overlooked in the bigger picture. In doing so we can have a bigger impact in these smaller communities. We remain a totally volunteer group with all donations and monetary support coming from individuals. If you would like to receive our biweekly emails, contact Barbara Gabioud at bgabioud@gmail.com. Note: Driven by the hope for a better future, many migrants who are being expelled from the US will continue to try to re-enter, regardless of the dangers and hardships they face.
5/12/2023 “OMG
I can’t
believe…” I’m not sure how to finish this sentence. My choices are
“that Title
42 really lifted,” or “that we’ve been at this for 4 years!” I
waited a couple
extra days this week to be sure the first OMG really happened. It
almost
happened several times before and got “delayed” at the last minute.
Although at
the last minute this time, we did have a Florida court filing (of
course it
would be Florida) against expedited release of non-risk asylum seekers,
and
White House tweakings to its new rulings about how to legally seek
asylum
(which are also being contested by the ACLU and other humanitarian
groups). All
in all, it has been, at least so far, as my husband
Ron described it, a
Chicken Little moment. One New York Times headline was “Crowds
but not Chaos
at the Border.” In fact, if you watched any of the video of
El Paso this
morning playing as Ted Cruz ranted about the “massive invasion at our
southern
border” you saw people in neat lines, like elementary school kids lined
up
after recess. El Paso, Las Cruces and Deming are as prepared as they
can be on
this side of the border. Palomas is ready too. And there are lots of
people!
But stay tuned and pay attention to the news. There are lots of “little
words”
used that really make a difference; and a lot of discrepancies between
media
sources, even the ones you trust. So,
my second OMG…we
have been at our Border Justice Project since Mother’s
Day weekend 2019!! I didn’t think it would be
four weeks, much
less four years. Probably best that we didn’t know. When we started, we
had two
collections every week for Deming and hundreds of Grant County folks
volunteered hours and hours of their time at the shelters down there.
You can
read more about the early days on our website. And since COVID hit
early on, we
never had a chance to really celebrate everyone who has participated,
from
here, there, and everywhere. Stay tuned for my next email but put the
afternoon
of June 4th
on your calendar. Photo
below is from
our booth last Saturday at Give Grandly. Thank you to
everyone who
stopped by! It was great to meet so many new people. Thanks also for
donations
which continue at the Give Grandly website (see below) until May 22nd. OUR NEXT COLLECTION IS
WEDNESDAY, May 17th,
from 3:00 to 3:30. PALOMAS
needs (mainly single men but not always)~
Many guests are arriving with need for medical care. Most
needed
are ACE
BANDAGES AND COTTON GAUZE
WRAPPINGS. And for the 800 GoBags we
pack and send every month CRACKER
PACKS, WELCH’S FRUIT SNACKS, GRANOLA BARS, and small cans
of VIENNA
SAUSAGES.
Also, men’s shorts for
them to wear while their clothes are laundering. DEMING
needs (always families) ~ LIGHT WEIGHT JACKETS and CLOTHING. And
people always need sneaker length SHOELACES!!!
Children's needs include DIAPERS sizes 3-6, BABY
WIPES, BABY FORMULA, GERBER BABY
FOOD POUCHES, BABY BOTTLES and
SUERO/PEDIASURE. Adult guests need CUP-OF-NOODLES,
SOCKS AND NEW UNDERWEAR in all sizes. Women and girls
need HAIR TIES and ELASTICS in
all sizes. We
collect donations
on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, 3:00-3:30, at
the UUFSC
building, 3845 N Swan (not
our mailing address)
in Silver City. You can drive straight down on either side of our
collection
vehicles. We will get you unloaded and then you can drive out
easily. If
you are bringing any of the above GoBag items,
please let the crew unloading your car know about them. If
you would like to read my last 3 posts they are
available on our UU website uufsc.com. It
might give you ideas of other needed
supplies. Click on the Palomas/Deming 2023 link on the left side of the
page. Or you can dig deeper on our fellowship’s Facebook page htt To
contribute financially you
can mail checks
made out to UUFSC (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Silver City)
with
‘Border' in the memo line to UUFSC, PO Box 4034,
Silver City, NM
88062. For
now you can also donate on our Give
Grandly page https://www.givegrandly. ![]()
4/26/2023 This
year we have a new
avenue for giving. On
Saturday, May 6th, from 9-2, the Grant County Community Foundation is
sponsoring
Give Grandly, a day celebrating 64 non-profits in our community! And
the UUFSC Border
Justice Project is one of them for
the first time. It will be a wonderful event in downtown Silver City
with
booths for every organization, music, entertainment, food and drink.
Please
come by our booth and say hello! We would love to meet every one of
you. We’ll
have hundreds of photos to share with you, and try to answer questions
you may
have. We’ll have an activity for children, making WELCOME cards for
families
who are entering the United States for the first time. For those of you
who
live too far away or have other commitments, Give Grandly is also
online. From
April 22-May 22 and here’s the link: https://www.givegrandly.org/organizations/unitarian-universalist-fellowship-of-silver-city.
You can learn more about our story and donating is easy. Please share
it with
friends. You
may not be able to read the two photos below very well but it’s the
accounting
for some of our monetary expenses. Our whole project is built on trust.
We
trust the people on the ground who do the daily work and we hope you
trust us. And
now, not to ignore those of you who still visit us every other week
with
incredible donations, here’s that information in brief:
PALOMAS
needs ~
Many guests are arriving with need for
medical care. Most needed are ACE BANDAGES
AND COTTON GAUZE WRAPPINGS. And for the 800 GoBags we
pack and send every month CRACKER
PACKS, WELCH’S FRUIT
SNACKS, GRANOLA BARS, and small
cans of VIENNA
SAUSAGES. DEMING
needs ~
LIGHTER WEIGHT
JACKETS and CLOTHING.
Children's needs include DIAPERS sizes 3-6,
BABY WIPES, BABY FORMULA, GERBER BABY FOOD POUCHES, BABY BOTTLES and
SUERO/PEDIASURE. We
collect donations on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month, 3:00-3:30, at the UUFSC building, 3845 N Swan (not our mailing address)
in Silver City. You can
drive straight down on either side of our collection vehicles. We will
get you
unloaded and then you can drive out easily. If you are
bringing any of the
above GoBag
items, please let the crew
unloading your car know about them. If
you
would like to read my last 3 posts they are available on our UU
website uufsc.com. It
might give you ideas of other needed
supplies. Click on the Palomas/Deming 2023 link on the left side of the
page. Or you can dig deeper on our fellowship’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UUFSC all
the way back to May 2019 when our project started. ![]() ![]() 4/12/2023
Greetings from our collection team last Wednesday! Sandra brought the handprinted heart banner as a thank you from the migrants in Palomas. We always have an enthusiastic group. This last time we even had visitors from northern Michigan helping us! And yes, that’s me with the walker following a hip replacement the week before. Movement north across the border into migrant shelters in the US is picking up a little. Deming has been seeing almost no Spanish speaking families. Many from Brazil and Turkey. Most stay 2-3 nights before moving on to their sponsors. I am very proud of our NM legislature and governor. Our legislative session has ended and a bill was signed into law establishing a special immigrant juvenile classification for abused, neglected and abandoned foreign migrants, and extends those rights to minors who fear returning to their home country. This stands in stark contrast to the Florida legislature and governor who are planning to crackdown on undocumented migrants, and expose people to felony charges for sheltering, hiring, or transporting migrants, among other hateful proposals. (I’m sorry if you live in Florida) The oddest one to me is it would prevent undocumented immigrants from being admitted to the bar in Florida. How often does that happen?? Or does it mean the other kind of bar… OUR NEXT COLLECTION IS WEDNESDAY, April 19th, from 3:00 to 3:30. PALOMAS needs ~ If anyone has a MEN’S ELECTRIC HAIR TRIMMER the shelter could use it. They had one but it “disappeared”. Now that the weather is getting warmer SHORTS are needed for shelter guests to wear while their clothes are being laundered. And for the 800 GoBags we pack and send every month CRACKER PACKS, WELCH’S FRUIT SNACKS, GRANOLA BARS, and small cans of VIENNA SAUSAGES. DEMING needs ~ All guests are transitioning to LIGHTER WEIGHT JACKETS and CLOTHING so no more winter wear. Children's needs include DIAPERS sizes 3-6, BABY WIPES, BABY FORMULA, GERBER BABY FOOD POUCHES, BABY BOTTLES and SUERO/PEDIASURE. Adult guests need CUP-OF-NOODLES, SOCKS and NEW UNDERWEAR in all sizes. We collect donations on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, 3:00-3:30, at the UUFSC building, 3845 N Swan (not our mailing address) in Silver City. You can drive straight down on either side of our collection vehicles. We will get you unloaded and then you can drive out easily. If you are bringing any of the above GoBag items, please let the crew unloading your car know about them. If you would like to read my last 3 posts they are available on our UU website uufsc.com. It might give you ideas of other needed supplies. Click on the Palomas/Deming 2023 link on the left side of the page. Or you can dig deeper on our fellowship’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UUFSC all the way back to May 2019 when our project started. To contribute financially you can mail checks made out to UUFSC (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Silver City) with ‘Border' in the memo line to UUFSC, PO Box 4034, Silver City, NM 88062. |
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Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Silver City - 2012
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