Posted on 11/17/2003 7:06:27 PM PST by c-b 1
Somerton church offers help to aliens
BY LOUIE VILLALOBOS Nov 17, 2003
SOMERTON — Flario Dominguez hopes to get enough rest and money to continue his trip to California, where his daughter has been waiting for the past two years.
He expects the trip to be dangerous and long and said he wasn't all that confident he would make it. What he did know, is the assistance he was given in Somerton will go a long way to help.
Dominguez, 23, spoke to The Sun while standing in the back yard of a Somerton home maintained by the Catholic Church, where illegal aliens are given food, clothes, shelter and almost anything else they may need before continuing north from Mexico.
"It’s a great help because without it, we’d be worried that (Border Patrol agents) would return us as fast as possible,” Dominguez said.
The home has been in operation for several years and one church official said will be formally announced come January or February.
It is also expected to be the first of as many as three immigrant homes opened in Yuma County by the Catholic Church, said Javier Perez, a priest of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Somerton.
Perez said his church helps an average of 20 illegal aliens a day by providing a variety of services, including food and shelter.
He said they are allowed to stay at the church-operated home, the exact location of which he asked not be disclosed, for several days while they rest.
Dominguez said he arrived this past week from San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., on his way to the Los Angeles area and said staying at the home allowed him to do odd jobs for area residents and save the money for the rest of his trip.
He lived in California for 15 years before being returned to Mexico more than two years ago and said he was happy about the possibility of seeing his daughter — an American citizen — again.
Perez knows there are bound to be critics who say the church is breaking the law for helping illegal aliens, but said the church doesn't concern itself with anyone's legal status.
For the church, he said, the only requirement for being helped, is needing it.
"It doesn’t matter to me if they do or don’t have documents," he said. "That’s isn’t my responsibility. My responsibility is to give a helping hand to a brother who needs it."
Michael McGlasson, spokesman for the Yuma sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, agreed.
He said that job belongs to Border Patrol agents and it is one they will do in churches if they believe the church is taking part in alien smuggling, which he said it doesn’t appear Perez is doing.
McGlasson said he couldn’t speak specifically about the Somerton church without knowing more about how it serves the illegal aliens.
He said agents have in the past taken illegal aliens out of a San Luis, Ariz., church after physically tracking them into the church. Generally, McGlasson said giving illegal immigrants food or water isn’t something the patrol would consider smuggling.
But, he said if the patrol receives information that a person or organization is actively smuggling immigrants for profit or simply "furthering the entry" of illegal immigrants, agents will investigate.
"If the church knowingly is harboring and aiding and abetting for gain, that’s a whole different ball game,” he said.
As it stands, Perez said the home will continue to help anybody that needs it and said there are plans to open a second home in San Luis, Ariz. He said anyone wishing to donate time or goods to the Somerton home is asked to call 627-2918.
The ultimate goal, he said, is to have an immigrant home in Yuma, something Monsignor Richard O’Keeffe said is long over due but something the city of Yuma isn’t ready to allow.
O’Keeffe said Yuma leaders need to do "a lot of soul searching” and work to do away with the hostility illegal immigrants face locally.
Meanwhile, he said the Catholic Church will continue helping immigrants.
"We don’t want to break the law,” he said. "But if a person comes in hungry, we are going to feed him.” --- Louie Villalobos can be reached at lvillalobos@yumasun.com or 539-6858.
Pinging all terrorists!
Somewhere inside the twilight zone, about 15 miles from the Border, I think there are more churches doing this but they are not as open about it. The Mayor of Somerton is trying to solicit money to build housing for migrant workers, we know what that means don't we?
LOL. The only extraterrestrials we get around here come from South of the Border.
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