A few days after selling all she had to flee Cuba with her three children on a crowded boat, Daneilis Tamayo raised her hand in praise and sang the rousing opening hymn at Sunday worship in this Miami suburb.
aimed at preventing illegal border crossings is expected to bring even more people, because it applies to the four countries with large diasporas already in Miami.immigration courts are so backlogged migrants can be in limbo for years, ineligible to get a job legally.
Advocates say that makes them vulnerable to criminals, puts an impossible financial burden on existing migrant communities that try to help, and slows down integration into U.S. society. “It's completely irrational that they're not giving out work permits," said Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, whose Catholic archdiocese has long helped welcome migrants."Because of that, the government can make a situation that’s not too bad yet, become worse.” Many migrants are homeless due to soaring rent and motel rates. Faith leaders say some are paying $800 a month for an inflatable mattress in a living room or staying in a single-family home with more than a dozen relatives. “Every day, people knock on the doors of our parishes, saying they have no place to sleep,” said the Rev. Marcos Somarriba, rector at St. Agatha Catholic Church on Miami’s outskirts, who came to Florida more than 40 years ago as a teen fleeing Nicaragua. In addition to providing food, clothes and some housing relief, Somarriba's and other churches are helping educate migrants about their legal options. At St. Agatha, a recent informational event about asylum drew 500 people. St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, a few miles away, put together a migration forum with Catholic Legal Services in mid-February. Three dozen people listened intently as attorneys explained the new humanitarian parole program that allows 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans into the U.S. each month if they have a sponsor who assumes financial responsibility for them for two years. Parishioner Dalia Marrero attended to learn about sponsoring an uncle having “political problems” in Nicaragua, where“I don’t want to fail him or U.S. law,” she said, worried about how long she'd be required to support her relative. Another Nicaraguan migrant, Ileana Luna, nodded in agreement. Her niece wants to come to the U.S., but with two children and exorbitant rent, Luna can’t afford to be her sponsor.At a pork and rice weekly dinner cooked by the parents of Iglesia Rescate’s pastor, three Cuban men who arrived in recent months voiced similar concerns about how harsh the reality is, even as they remain determined to get settled and bring their families after they get legal status.Miami’s established diaspora communities know all too well the hardships that migrating entails, and that motivates many to help. But there also is mistrust among some old timers who remain active in opposition to autocratic regimes like Cuba’s and view some new arrivals’ politics with suspicion, said Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. That underscores the potentially crucial role for faith leaders — to preach forgiveness and build a sense of shared experience. “That’s it — to unite,” said the Rev. Elvis González, pastor at St. Michael the Archangel, a historically Cuban church that welcomes faithful from across Central America. “They have seen the church as the only institution that can give some hope.” A few miles south on the seashore stands La Ermita, a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Charity that’s long been a beacon for Cuban exiles. It’s one of the first stops for many migrants from across the region, said its rector, the Rev. José Espino, who at 5 years old was one of thousands of children sent to the United States after the Cuban revolution. Migrants come to bring sunflowers to the Virgin, to cry in gratitude for having made it and to ask for help with food and clothing, said Sister Consuelo Gómez. “Jesus also was a migrant,” said Gómez, who helps many newcomers find jobs and decent housing, often with the aid of diaspora members. “We try to help so that they can get ahead on their own.” Among them was Rognierys Señaris Brito, a Cuban who volunteers at the shrine on her breaks from working as housekeeper for a woman who fled the island ahead of Fidel Castro’s takeover.where he saw fellow migrants die.Two Venezuelan sisters also showed up at the Ermita, the youngest clutching a little Virgin medal she credited with safe passage. With a spontaneous donation from a family who noticed them at Mass, Gómez helped the young women get their own place as well as jobs that allow them to send money back to their ailing mother. “Here I motivate myself, even though, yes, I miss my family,” said older sister, Daniela Valletero, who works two jobs, six days a week. “Here I feel that I’ll make it.” That’s the kind of faith that motivates Marylin Rondon, an attorney originally from Venezuela whose weekly prayer group of professionals from Latin America prepares hundreds of sandwiches for the nuns to distribute to migrants and the homeless. On a recent evening at her house, they prayed the rosary as they briskly apportioned bologna and cheese. “As a Catholic, you can’t stop at sadness,” Rondon said. “The biggest faith is that of the one who is arriving. He has to depend 100% on providence.” Outside the Ermita shrine, a couple stood under the palms, their homeland of Cuba some 200 miles across the sea. Roberto Sardiñas came seven years ago through the Mexico border, and in December managed to get his wife, Dadiana Figueroa, to immigrate legally through family reunification. Asked about the influx of new arrivals, Sardiñas said it would be selfish to argue anything but that “all who can come, let them come.”Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please follow us on Google to support usUnited States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Cuba blasts U.S. for years of disregarding evidence on 'Havana Syndrome'Cuba on Thursday blasted the United States for taking too long to accept evidence that the ailment 'Havana Syndrome' was not likely caused by a foreign enemy, saying Washington ignored the science as a pretext for cutting off relations with the Communist-run island.
Read more »
Union-Inter Miami game prediction: Will Jim Curtin break a bad habit?Jim Curtin knows he has to rotate his lineup now, but the rest of us can never be sure it will happen until we see it.
Read more »
Fantasy Baseball 2023: Favorite draft steals outside the top-250 picks in Tout WarsLook, this is not going to be one of those uncertain, self-indulgent, navel-gazing examinations of a fantasy industry draft. I am not seeking your approval of my Tout Wars roster; I already know it was a triumph of game theory and modern drafting principles. In fact, many are saying it's the greatest collection of human talent ever assembled for a virtual purpose (in a 5X5 OBP format).
Read more »
Miami faith community strains to help new exiles, migrantsIn the last 18 months, an estimated 250,000 migrants and asylum-seekers, mostly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, have arrived in the Miami area, often only on temporary legal status that doesn't allow them to work
Read more »
Miami faith community strains to help new exiles, migrantsIn the last 18 months, an estimated 250,000 migrants and asylum-seekers, mostly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, have arrived in the Miami area, often only on temporary legal status that doesn’t allow them to work.
Read more »