A Day in the Life of Mexican Repatriation at a Migrant Resource Center Jonathon Shacat - Modern Times Magazine
go to original March 29, 2013

Laura Stump, the U.S. Coordinator for the Migrant Resource Center in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, reviews medical records of a man with a broken ankle who illegally immigrated into the United States near Douglas, Arizona. (Jonathon Shacat)

A plate stacked high with bologna sandwiches was offered to a group of tired and hungry individuals one Friday earlier this month in Agua Prieta, Sonora, a Mexican border city across from Douglas, Ariz.

But almost every day, the sight is replayed — a regular scene in the ongoing drama of repatriated and undocumented immigrants from Mexico who got caught entering the United States.

Most, if not all, of the people in this group had paid $3,000 or more to follow a smuggler across the desert, but they were apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol and then deported back to Mexico through Douglas, Ariz. They were seeking help at the Migrant Resource Center in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. Operated by Frontera de Cristo ministry in Douglas, it has helped more than 71,000 people since opening in June of 2006.

The center provides free food, drinks, clothing, basic medical care, and connection to services, such as a free bed in a shelter for the night or a free or discounted bus fare to return to their hometown in Mexico.

Read the rest at Modern Times Magazine

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