EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 Migrant advocacy groups in the Borderland announced an expansion of aid for migrants and asylum seekers in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, Mexico, citing growing needs as asylum access narrows and deportations increase. <\/p>\n
The Hope Border Institute and the Diocese of El Paso, led by Bishop Mark Seitz, announced on Thursday they are expanding humanitarian efforts through their joint initiative, the Border Refugee Assistance Fund, that helps provide aid to thousands of migrant families. <\/p>\n
During a ceremony on Thursday in Ju\u00e1rez, Seitz signed $10,000 grant agreements with Jesuit Refugee Service Mexico and Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acci\u00f3n (DHIA), according to the El Paso Times. <\/p>\n
DHIA provides emergency shelter, health care, mental health services, and transportation to those displaced by violence, the border closure, and deportations. <\/p>\n
According to Hope, the funding awarded by the Border Refugee Assistance Fund allows for a partnership with DHIA that will help provide immediate assistance to migrants who have experienced crime and exploitation.<\/p>\n
Specifically, through the DHIA, the organization aims to offer humanitarian, legal, and psychological services, counseling, and psychosocial support to address mental health needs. <\/p>\n
Bishop Seitz, speaking at a press conference in Ju\u00e1rez on Thursday, said the effort is rooted in partnership and a faith-based call to respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cPartnership is not a luxury in times like these\u2014it is a necessity,\u201d Seitz said. \u201cThrough the Border Refugee Assistance Fund, we have learned to respond with both flexibility and conviction to the needs of migrants at our border. As the enforcement campaign intensifies, its human cost is felt on both sides. Our faith communities are called to answer that cry. I am proud that this Fund is helping to lead that response.\u201d<\/p>\n
The advocacy groups said the announcement comes amid a continuing crisis on both sides of the border as migrant populations in Ju\u00e1rez face several humanitarian needs, with many having survived trafficking, violence, or family separation. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when the border is closed to asylum seekers, and deportations are intensifying, our work with Bishop Seitz and our partners in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez has never been more urgent,\u201d said Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute. \u201cThe Border Refugee Assistance Fund represents something essential: the willingness of faith communities on both sides of a wall to act as one body. We are grateful to our supporters across the country and the world who make this binational solidarity possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expansion in funding also comes as international and national humanitarian funding cuts have further strained the way local organizations respond as the Trump administration continues to seek to end protections for immigrant children, including federal legal aid for minors facing deportation.<\/p>\n
This comes after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in March 2025 that it was terminating nearly all legal work non-profits provide to unaccompanied migrant children, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
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