Four students from the Academy of the Holy Angels (AHA) in Demarest recently spent a week at the Arizona-Mexico border meeting migrants and the volunteers who courageously try to help them.
Their journey included stops in Tucson and Douglas, Ariz., and a visit across the border to Nogales and Agua Prieta, Mexico, said AHA’s Public Relations Manager Jennifer Crusco.
The trip, which took place Feb. 18 to 22, was organized by AHA’s foundresses and sponsors, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and was led by AHA Director of Mission and Ministry Joan Connelly. Participating students included Grace Cuttita of Glen Rock, Jacqueline Garcia of Bergenfield, Chloe Rodriguez of Leonia, and Emma Spadora of Ridgewood.
Travelers enjoyed a "Cowboy Dinner" at the ranch where they stayed in Nogales, Ariz. Pictured with Academy of the Holy Angels students are Sister Judy Gourd, SSND, and Sister Lucy Nigh, SSND, (both at left); Dean (center), who cares for animals on the ranch; and Irene (at right), caretaker of the ranch.
The trip to the border, which focused on providing aid to immigrants, is among the five ministries on which the School Sisters of Notre Dame Atlantic/Midwest Province focus. The ministries include dismantling racism, addressing climate change, sustainable development in Haiti, promoting justice for immigrants, and ending human trafficking.
Thirteen years ago, the sisters established their ministry in the border town to serve volunteers and organizations that reach out to migrants in the sister city of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, and support humanitarian aid efforts in the Arizona desert. The sisters offer hospitality and an educational experience for those who wish to learn about the issues of immigration as they relate to the border.
A part of the sisters’ ministry is to bring people to the border so they can experience challenges firsthand, while shedding light on the complexity of the issues faced by migrants, Connelly said.
The School Sisters of Notre Dame also run a program called Border Advocates for Justice, which memorializes migrants who have died in the desert in Cochise County, Ariz. Handmade wooden crosses are carried into the desert by a group of volunteers, and planted at the sites where people have lost their lives trying to reach the U.S.
During their trip, the AHA students planted a cross in memory of José Peralta Noperi, a migrant who froze to death while trying to reach the U.S. border. The cross placement and a subsequent prayer service was led by Gabriel Espino, an indigenous person of the Yaqui people and a Deacon at Immaculate Conception Parish in Douglas, Ariz.
The Border Advocates for Justice program, organized by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, memorializes migrants who have died in the Arizona desert. Pictured, visitors from Academy of the Holy Angels place a cross in the desert in honor of José Peralta Noperi, a migrant who froze to death while trying to reach the U.S. border.
The group also participated in a Healing Our Borders prayer vigil for other migrants who died near the border.
“The names of migrants who have died in Cochise County in the past 22 years were remembered by the group,” said Connelly. “Names on individual crosses were announced aloud one by one.”
In Tucson, the students visited Casa Alitas, a family shelter sponsored by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona where immigrants receive shelter, meals, clothing, and assistance.
To learn about immigration law, AHA students attended a hearing for 20 people arrested for illegal reentry at the federal courthouse in Tucson and visited Keep Tucson Together, a free legal aid service that assists migrants.
“Seeing all these people coming together in prayerful and practical ways to support migrants was important for the girls to see,” Connelly said.