A Crisis Breaking Our Hearts

stock.adobe.com Lydia Geissler

Let the children come to me and do not hinder them!

According to the Huffington Post, officials in Central America have noticed a surge in women and children crossing the US – Mexico border. Father Heyman Vazquez, director of a migrant shelter in Chiapas reports:

“I remember a little boy of 9 years old and asked if he was going to meet someone and he told me, ‘No I’m just going to hand myself over because I hear they help kids.'”

+++

“During the decade preceding fiscal year 2012, the federal government agency tasked with caring for unaccompanied minors who cross the border illegally dealt with an average of 7,000 to 8,000 cases a year, according to a Department of Health and Human Services fact sheet. In fiscal year 2011, the number was 6,560. The following year, however, the number jumped to 13,625. This fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2014, federal officials are estimating that the number could be 80,000, according to an internal memo cited by The New York Times.”

Mark Sappenfield, Staff Writer

Christian Science  Monitor

June 8, 2014

The Interfaith Peace Project joins with all persons of good will seeking an end to this crisis. We must open our borders and hearts realizing that the lives of the children take priority over every other consideration. We call upon all governmental, political, and humanitarian organizations to engage in justice to correct this crisis. The time has come to realize our responsibilities as citizens of the World.

Thomas P. Bonacci, C.P., Director The Interfaith Peace Project