ALTAR, MEXICO Church gives support to illegal immigrants

The U.S. Border Patrol sees the support as aiding illegal immigrants.
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
ALTAR, Mexico -- The Templo de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is a common stop for those seeking divine intervention on their illegal journey across Arizona's desert inferno to the "promised land."
"Please God, don't let anything bad happen," Elizabeth Hernandez says, praying aloud at an afternoon Mass popular with soon-to-be illegal border crossers. "Protect us."
Postings on the walls illustrate the dual role of the church -- on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border -- when it comes to illegal immigration. It's a role that's both defended and criticized.
On one church wall is a poster asking those making the perilous journey into the desert, "Is it worth it to risk your life?"
For those who answer yes, another wall lists their rights in case of capture by the U.S. Border Patrol as well as a migrant prayer.
Along with a blessing, the Catholic church in Altar, like those in other towns near the Sonora-Arizona border, offers food and shelter to people waiting to cross illegally into the United States.
U.S. help
Their U.S. counterparts help illegal entrants as well. Groups like Humane Borders maintain water stations on routes used by border crossers while Samaritan Patrol, also rooted in the Christian faith, gives medical aid to illegal border crossers. Both do so in an effort to stem an increasing number of deaths during the hot summer months.
Further, a council of bishops signed a declaration earlier this year urging Catholics on both sides of the border to recognize that U.S. policies are failing and costing migrant lives.
"It's a help we have to give," says the Rev. Jesus Eleazar Tarazon Moreno, who last week gave a service at the Altar church.
"Sometimes they can't stand the heat in Altar; we tell them the desert will be even worse," said Jose deJesus Martinez Suarez, a volunteer at the Casa de Migrantes, a church-run program in Altar providing food and shelter to migrants.
If the Altar church is the last sanctuary before leaving Mexico, the water stations of Humane Borders are the first sign of religious help for some illegal entrants trekking across the Arizona desert.
"If Jesus Christ were here, he'd be offering water and welcoming the stranger," says the Humane Borders director, the Rev. Robin Hoover of First Christian Church in Tucson, Ariz. "Water in the desert means life."
The U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops signed a declaration in January critical of both U.S. and Mexican border policy and calling for better treatment of illegal entrants, said Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee services for the council in Washington.
"Certainly we believe the rule of law should be upheld ...," said Appleby, "but we also understand that countries have an obligation to uphold certain human rights and to protect those rights."
Disregarding law
Groups that help illegal entrants -- based in religion or not -- should not disregard the law, said David Ray, associate director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based nonprofit group pushing to curb mass immigration.
"If their faith dictates they need to reach out a helping hand to help people in distress, terrific," Ray said. "But they should feel equally compelled to contact immigration authorities."
"The Mexican government has all but canonized people trying to enter the United States illegally," he said.
The U.S. Border Patrol views the help that groups like Humane Borders and Samaritan Patrol give as a form of aiding and abetting illegal entrants, said agency spokesman Frank Amarillas.