WCK increases efforts at US-Mexico border
Over the past several months, the humanitarian situation at the US-Mexico border has deteriorated rapidly. March saw nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children cross the border, while families have filled up shelters on both sides. An informal tent settlement housing hundreds of families has popped up on the California border. In response, WCK has doubled the number of meals we’re serving from our Relief Kitchen in Tijuana, which was first established in late 2018.
Now, as the situation is once again intensifying and we are seeing more asylum seekers arriving at the border, WCK has increased our support for these families. In Tijuana, our local team began preparing more meals to take to the El Chaparral crossing, where 1,800 people are now living in hopes that at some point they’ll be granted asylum in the the United States. In several locations on the US side of the border, our team is working with local restaurants to provide meals to refugee families sheltering in place due to Covid protocols.
In Ciudad Juárez—just on the other side of the border from El Paso, Texas—the WCK Relief Team is providing meals to people who are returned to Mexico each day under Title 42, a policy restricting entry to the US due to the pandemic. After being flown across Texas and bused to the border, families learn they have arrived in Juárez—where there is currently no space available in local shelters.
We met one family from Honduras; their 18 month old daughter was with them, but sadly the family’s two older sons—3 and 4 years old— had been kidnapped along the route to the US.
We’re partnering with Gobernadora, a local restaurant WCK has worked with in the past, in Ciudad Juárez to serve comforting meals like spaghetti with meat sauce and carne con arroz with tortillas and salad.
In McAllen, Texas, 786 miles southeast of Ciudad Juárez, we’re working with local restaurants to provide meals to asylum seekers sheltering in place due to Covid protocols. Jorge—from Koko’s Restaurant—and Pablito delivered 1,100 bacon and egg breakfast tacos.
We will continue this work as long as we’re needed—follow WCK on Twitter and Instagram for more real-time updates about our efforts at the border and beyond.
