Once they’ve survived the crossing, migrants who reach Sister Deirdre Griffin, S.S.J. in El Paso, Texas pour out their stories. She listens, then acts, prays, communes. And so go the days that break her heart yet fill it to the brim.

Sister Deirdre Griffin, S.S.J. receives Communion during a Mass held on a platform in the Rio Grande Canal between El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Mexico. Worshippers gathered on the riverbanks on both sides to pray for migrants. (All photos by Jennifer Tomshack, courtesy of Maryknoll Lay Missioners)

MASS KIDNAPPINGS are not uncommon for those traversing Mexico to reach the U.S. border.

Gangs affiliated with drug cartels have created a large-scale extortion racket that involves kidnapping migrants, smuggling them into Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, and elsewhere, and holding them for ransom in an attempt to get the migrants’ families already in the country to pay.

Lorena was one of those migrants.

She couldn’t run as fast as some of her fellow travelers because she was heavily pregnant. The kidnappers caught her, blindfolded her, and held her captive in a stash house. While waiting for her husband in New York to pay the ransom, Lorena went into labor and gave birth in that house.

The kidnappers eventually released Lorena and her infant in a public park in El Paso.

A kind stranger brought Lorena and her baby to the hospital, which then connected them with Annunciation House [of hospitality] and Sister Deirdre Griffin, S.S.J., a sister of St. Joseph who serves there.

First, she listened at length to Lorena’s story. Then, Griffin got busy.

Besides helping new arrivals like Lorena with shelter, food, and clothing, Griffin uses her skills as an immigration lawyer to troubleshoot legal knots, such as the fact that Lorena’s child was born in the United States but not in a hospital, leaving her without a birth certificate. Griffin helped Lorena secure a birth certificate for her child and filed an asylum application for Lorena. Newborn in her arms, Lorena reunited with her husband in New York to await her asylum hearing.

Stories like Lorena’s are typical, says Griffin. Those who cross the border under duress are invariably traumatized. First, they’ve experienced trauma in their home country, which has prompted them to leave. Then, many endure violence en route to the United States. When they arrive, they are exhausted, dehydrated, and disoriented. And that’s when some are kidnapped. Others are found by U.S. authorities and held captive in detention centers.

Griffin says she has learned to do emotional triage to suss out how much legal information the people she ministers to can mentally handle in the moment. She begins with lots of listening. Then she helps them understand they are welcome and safe in the company of those where Griffin works: Annunciation House and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.

“It is my honor—a sacramental encounter with Christ—to assure, orient, and encourage each person along their journey,” says Griffin.

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