Help refugees at the border and improve life in El Salvador
Maryknoll lay missioner Heidi Cerneka serves as an immigration attorney with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas. In her new ministry at the border, she helps serve the legal needs of immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers.
In the El Paso immigration courts, where only 3 to 7 percent of asylum claims are granted, it is an uphill battle, but Heidi’s skill and tenacity made the difference for Ugandan asylum seeker Zam, who had fled government persecution and violence and whose asylum case Heidi recently won.
Meanwhile, Maryknoll lay missioners in El Salvador wrestle with the root causes that have been driving Salvadorans to leave their country. Gang murders, shootings, violence, extortion and threats are common in many of the communities where they serve.
Peter Altman, Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ regional director in El Salvador, says, “We are helping to create a better future and more opportunities for people here.”
Our lay missioners serve internally displaced Salvadorans at secret church-run shelters and are engaged in educational programs with at-risk youth and programs with small farmers; they are creating business opportunities for women and providing educational assistance, working with nutritional programs, accompanying small Christian communities and reaching out to people who are homeless—including many who were deported from the U.S.
In this time of special need—both for legal assistance for immigrants and for making life better in countries like El Salvador—your generous donation to our “Border and El Salvador Fund” makes a big difference on both sides of the border.
