JUAREZ, Mexico – It wasn’t long ago that children chased a soccer ball in the courtyard while their parents rested in the crowded dormitories of Casa del Migrante. It was here that hundreds of migrants en route to the United States found a roof over their heads, a warm meal and words of encouragement after sharing with others stories of hardship endured along the way.
Today, only a handful of families remain at Juarez’s largest church-run migrant shelter. The Trump administration’s asylum crackdown and the surge of troops and Border Patrol have disincentivized mass migration. If people are still coming to the border, it is because they have little choice, says the Rev. Francisco Bueno Guillen, director of Casa del Migrante.
The shelter has been around for 36 years and its staff is used to the ebb and flow of migration. Whether it’s five or 500, they are committed to heal a traveler’s body and mind.
“We have only about 20 people but our mission remains the same: to serve those who are in need and come to us for help. The doors are still open,” said Bueno, a Catholic priest.
Casa del Migrante this past Saturday celebrated its 36th anniversary with a fundraiser and open house at its complex on Calle Neptuno. Church volunteers provided food and labor; residents like Jaime Flores showed up to support the shelter.
“My daughter is a psychologist and she came here often to provide counseling. I met some migrants, too, and their stories are really tragic,” he said.
The ones he remembers involve people climbing atop trains in southern Mexico and seeing friends or loved ones fall off and die or get maimed.
“I wish more people would have come and contributed because the work they do here is important,” Flores said.
Most of the shelter’s current guests are from Mexico and Central America. Some came here because of drug or gang violence; most are just fleeing poverty and seeking a better life for their families.
The Rev. Bueno hopes to raise enough money to fix up the roof and other structures at shelter that experienced much wear and tear during the migrant surges of 2019 and 2023.
For more information or to pledge a donation, you can call the staff as Casa del Migrante at (011-52) 656-687-0676.
