A D&S Special Report

VHaller

Immigration Laws Form Barriers More Powerful than a Border Wall

Migrants impacted by the “Remain in Mexico” protocols attempt to cross the border to seek medical care in the U.S. (Photo by Nicolas Palazzo)

By Juan Diego Ramirez and Annmarie Gajdos

Jonathan, a 28-year-old Salvadoran who asked that his full name be withheld for fear of deportation, traveled through Mexico by bus, taxi and foot until he reached the U.S. border at El Paso on Oct. 22, 2018. After turning himself into border patrol agents to claim asylum, saying he was persecuted at home for identifying with the LGBTQ community, he spent 15 months in immigration detention centers near the border before he won asylum thanks to the efforts of attorneys from Las Americas, an El Paso legal aid organization.

“Before coming into contact with Las Americas, I was contemplating taking my life,” said Jonathan, who spoke during a phone interview from his new home in New York, where he settled in January. “Being incarnated was traumatizing. It impacts you mentally. They chain your feet. They treat you as if you are a murderer or a drug trafficker.”

Jonathan’s struggles are representative of the tangled and complicated legal battles that many immigrants face at the Mexican border, where immigration lawyers navigate a labyrinth of new laws and policies implemented by the Trump administration to curb immigration, said Nicolas Palazzo, the Las Americas attorney who represented Jonathan.

“I think people don’t understand how insignificant the wall is,” Palazzo said during a Zoom interview in April, referring to President Trump’s promises to build a wall along the border with Mexico. “The real problem is the policies and the laws that prevent people from coming into the country. It’s not the wall. The policies are effective. They accomplish what they are intended to accomplish.”

The Trump administration has implemented some of the toughest anti-immigration laws in recent American history. Under his policies, the number of immigrants detained at the border has risen significantly. In 2016, Trump launched his presidential campaign based on nationalistic promises that called for restricting immigration from Central and South America. During his campaign, Trump also referred to Mexicans, as rapists, drug smugglers and criminals. These comments were a mere preview of how his administration would eventually deal with immigration issues through the creation of stringent immigration laws.

A mother holds her child while awaiting legal counsel from the Las
Americas staff. (Photo by Paige Censale, Communications Counselor at Las
Americas)

In 2017, Trump enacted several executive orders calling for diminishing the Central American immigration influx to the United States. These included Executive Order 13767, which calls for the construction of a physical border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border; Executive Order 13768, which punishes “Sanctuary Cities” that implemented immigrant protection laws by withholding federal funds; and Executive Order 13769, coloquially referred to as the “the Muslim ban,”  which restricts residents of majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. All three Executive Orders were challenged in court.

However, these new laws didn’t stop waves of Central American migrants, like Jonathan from El Salvador, from seeking asylum at the southern U.S. border. In 2019, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol apprehended 977,000 migrants, the highest apprehension rate since 2009. In May alone, 144,000 migrants were apprehended.  “It was overwhelming. The number of people that we were dealing with was just astonishing,” said Ernesto Mena, a border patrol agent in the El Paso sector.

In spring 2018, controversy erupted when the Trump administration implemented a policy to separate children from their families, culminating in the misplacement of 1,500 children during the temporary detention period. Many migrants came as family units from countries plagued with poverty and violence. During a short time period, mass migration overwhelmed the American immigration system. Migrants entered the country illegally, without inspection, or would arrive at a port of entry seeking asylum. As a result, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol would either detain or release these individuals while they were physically present in the United States to wait for a decision on their cases.

A migrant mother zips her child’s coat while waiting to cross from Mexico to the U.S. in February 2020. (Photo by Paige Censale, Communications Counselor at Las Americas).

During detention, families were not allowed to await their trials together; the Trump administration blamed the policy on laws that prohibit underage children from being kept in adult prisons. This caused government workers to physically separate family members, resulting in an onslaught of civil and human rights lawsuits against the Trump administration. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 4,200 children have been separated from their parents at American immigration detention centers since February 2020. “Child separation started in El Paso and that’s where it was seriously implemented,” Palazzo said.

Las Americas staff attorney Nicholas Palazzo works on a case during a wave of migrant arrivals from Central America. (Photo by Paige Censale, Communications Counselor at Las Americas)

He said he met Jonathan while working with migrants detained at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico. Before ending up in Otero, Jonathan was placed in two other detention centers in the area. Palazzo helped Jonathan win his asylum case in January 2020, resulting in a successful end to his 15-month detention period.

Recently, Palazzo has been working with migrants who have been returned to Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Also referred to as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, this piece of legislation requires that migrants “wait outside the U.S. for the duration of their immigration proceedings.” This has made it difficult for lawyers working with Las Americas to adequately defend their clients. “I represented three of the six cases in El Paso that have actually won asylum from MPP, which just shows you how difficult it is for people,” said Palazzo.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Palazzo said that as an immigration lawyer his work has become even more complicated. On March 21, President Trump invoked Title 42, which suspends the entry of people and imports from Mexico and Canada to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

“Since we are in a pandemic and we do want to protect the U.S. from any health risks, when somebody tries to enter the country illegally, we’re not going to take them to any of our facilities,” said U.S. Border Patrol agent Sara M. Cabrera. “We’re going to fingerprint them to make sure that they’re not felons, that they’re not wanted here in the U.S., then we’re going to take them to the nearest port of entry and expel them from the country.”

Palazzo described what was happening at the border now as “turn-backs,” meaning that migrants are being sent back to Mexico without being processed. “They are essentially closing off all these people from getting any form of relief from the United States. It is frustrating,” he said, adding that lawyers are no longer allowed to travel to Mexico and work with clients who have pending cases.

Migrant children play at a shelter in Juarez while the Las Americas team works on intakes. (Photo by Paige Censale, Communications Counselor at Las Americas)

“I don’t anticipate these policies are going to end soon, even if the pandemic slows down, because what we see is the pretext of the virus weaponizing the border against migrants and it’s effectively closed off the whole border,” he said.

 

Advocate Fears for Environment Amid Border Wall Expansion

Environmental advocates say expanding the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border will harm the area’s delicate desert ecosystem. (Photo courtesy of the Southwest Environmental Center.)

By Christian Lewis

The border between the U.S. and Mexico spans nearly 2,000 miles, running along the southern confines of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, there are about 354 miles of pedestrian barriers and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, for a total of 654 miles of border walls. During his campaign for president, Donald Trump had promised to complete the border wall. So far, his administration has built 110 miles of new barriers, mainly replacing existing structures. Administration officials said earlier this year that the federal government was on track to build more than 450 miles of additional wall along the southern border by the end of 2020.

Kevin Bixby (left) joins a 2018 demonstration calling for a halt to border wall construction. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Yaroch)

Environmental advocates have long voiced concerns about the ways border walls adversely affect the environment of this richly biologically diverse area. According to Kevin Bixby, executive director of the Southwest Environmental Center, the border region is home to more than 1,000 wildlife and 430 plant species. He said the border wall has prevented the interbreeding of Mexican gray wolves and divided its population, as well as cut off access to water for species such as the Sonoran Pronghorn, an ungulate related to goats and antelopes.

Advocates like Bixby, who has led the Las Cruses, N.M-based organization for eight years, are trying to raise awareness of the region’s fragile ecosystem and to halt construction of additional barriers along the border. He talked about the center’s work and mission during interviews in April. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity

How is President Trump’s plan to expand the border wall going to further impact the environment?

The current Trump design is 30 feet of metal steel square rods that are stuck into concrete. Under (President George W.) Bush, he built 650 miles and half of it was these pedestrian fences and the other were what we would call lethal barriers which are generally not too big of an issue for wildlife to crawl through. That was the extent of the problem when Bush left office and that was not too bad for wildlife. And then along came Trump with his signature campaign promise. So, he starts replacing the existing barriers, taking out these vehicle barriers and replacing them with these 30-foot pedestrian fencing which we call the wall. In the beginning of his administration, we had heard that this was nothing to worry about and this was just replacing what was already there but we knew, those of us that were actually down there at the wall, what he was replacing the vehicle barriers with was much worse for wildlife. He is also building where walls were not there.

What do you think about the federal government using loopholes in funding to pay for the wall’s construction?

It makes me angry, but it also makes me feel helpless. We have a couple of lawsuits we are a part of, but we have nothing truly significant. But you touched on the fundamental problem, which is that in 2005, Congress gave the secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive laws to build border barriers. And this was used by Bush and it has been used by Trump in every single border wall project. The list of laws waived vary from project to project. The Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act are always waived. Those are fundamentally important laws but the administration knows that those laws are the ones that need to be waived in order to dodge legal action. Another one that is always disregarded is the Native American Grave Protection Act, which is really important in the southwest. You can find Native American graves and sites all over the place and if you are building a wall like the border wall you are bound to run into them.

I have read about your press release in January 2020 about a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop construction of the border wall. Can you tell me more about that?

We actually placed that back in 2018, and we had challenged the use of the waiver authority, and there is a similar lawsuit challenging that same authority. There was one from a bunch of states like California and New Mexico. We filed it with the Center of Biological Diversity and the Defenders of Wildlife along with the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Those guys filed a lawsuit to stop construction in Arizona and California but I was a plaintiff on the ground in New Mexico.

Under the 2005 Real ID act, Congress gave the waiver authority to the director of Homeland Security and the only avenue to challenging the use of the authority was through federal district court which is the lowest level of federal court. Whatever this decision was can only be appealed to the (U.S.) Supreme Court. This law cut out the middle step which is normally the (U.S.) Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court takes on very, very few cases that are submitted to it so we lost the case in District Court which happened to be in D.C, so then what we did was then appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is probably not going to take it.

However, we do have another case that is a lot more promising…with the Sierra Club and the SBCC, which is a coalition of groups that stands for the Southern Border Coalition of Communities. My organization is a part of that coalition. We are challenging the national emergency declaration and the transfer of money from the Department of Defense to build a wall. We actually won in the first step in the 9th District Court of Northern California. It is now being heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and we asked for a stay on construction. The district court issued the stay but the Supreme Court overturned it (the stay). (The merits of the case are still being decided by the Court of Appeals)

What impact does the border wall have on the flow of clean water on the communities?

It is mostly not too much on the quality of the water but more the quantity of the flooding. For example, because the wall is being constructed without any input on environmental issues, they are ignoring things like drainage. What they have done in the past is build these pedestrian fences right across arroyos or streams. We have a lot of arroyos which are dry, clean beds that normally don’t have water but when it rains they can have a lot of water. Now when the border wall cuts through, this can cause flooding and redirects the water in a way that is destructive. That happened in Nogales, Sorona in 2008. That actually was when they plugged up an arroyo which caused a lot of flooding on the other side of the border and led to some death all to stop people from crossing.

More recently in Arizona, they are drilling these shallow groundwater wells in order to get the water they need to mix cement for these concrete footings. These footings are 3 or 4 feet wide and 6 or 8 feet deep. And you know, 500 miles of that, that is a lot of concrete. They are building these wells and pumping out groundwater and using a lot of water, which is going to cause springs to dry up and wetlands to dry up.

What are your thoughts about the future and whether your efforts to protect the environment from construction of the border wall will be successful?

I’m not optimistic that we will be able to stop the border wall under Trump, but long term I think, or I’m hopeful, that we can take down the border wall, which was a ridiculous waste of resources…It is going to be a fight because even people who don’t like the wall may say it is already there, why bother to take it down.

Kevin Bixby (center) and other protesters call for protections for the jaguar population during a protest in New Mexico in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Yaroch)

There is more awareness of the impacts on wildlife…The pandemic may offer an opportunity to step back and realize our relationship with nature is partly responsible for the coronavirus. The breathtaking quickness that we have been able to shut down the economy and lower carbon emissions. With this horrible cost of the loss of lives and jobs, it does demonstrate how fast we can shift and change. Hopefully people will be willing to do that.

 

Young New Mexico Mayor Governs in the Shadow of the Wall

A wall separating the border of Mexico and the U.S. runs through Sunland Park, a New Mexico city located just west of El Paso, Texas. (Photo by Andrea Gabor)

By Ayse Kelce

Javier Perea was first appointed mayor of Sunland Park, a New Mexico border town of 17,000 people just west of El Paso, in 2012 after a prostitution-payment scandal swept then-mayor Daniel Salinas out of office.

Javier Perea is serving his third term as mayor of Sunland Park. (Photo courtesy of Javier Perea)

Perea was 24 when he filled the position, making him one of the youngest mayors in the country. Now 34, Perea is currently serving his third term.

Sunland Park was the focus of another controversy in the summer of 2019 when a group called We Build the Wall started its project to erect a border wall on private land within the city limits. Perea drew national media coverage when he took the controversial step of issuing a stop-work order because the organization had failed to obtain the required permits to build in Sunland Park.

While the wall controversy became a national conversation, Sunland Park officials and residents have their own unique ideas about what a border wall means to them and the city. Perea spoke about these controversies and his hopes for the city’s future in a Zoom interview on April 20. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.

You were only 24 when you became the mayor of Sunland Park. Describe your journey to that appointment? Would you say that your age was a challenge?

Back in 2012, the city was going through a scandal and we made national news. There were over 17 different arrests within the city, both public officials and public employees, including the then-elected mayor. Under New Mexico law, you have 30 days to take your oath of office. After 30 days, the council decided to take the mayor position vacant.

Seeing everything that was going on, it was embarrassing to say you were from Sunland Park. And I said, if I didn’t do anything to prevent what happened, I’m trying to step up and do something to try and change it, to fix it. I went up to the city council and I submitted a letter of interest and my resume. Fifty-five minutes later, I became the mayor for the city of Sunland Park.

We were the laughing stock across the entire state and in many parts around the nation. Sunland Park was associated with corruption. So we had to work tremendously to get that image fixed.

I was 24 years old. And that in itself, had issues with some individuals. They thought about me as a 24-year-old with no government experience and no political background, telling them what to do. So, I did struggle with a few personalities within the city. But at the end of the day, I realize that it’s not necessarily about me. It’s about being able to organize other people, experts in their fields, to be able to produce a product.

What is it like to be a mayor of a border city? What are its unique challenges?

Although we’re a small municipality, we still have to be able to have the ability to deal with different international borders, but also across state lines. Sometimes it is easy to be forgotten since we are far away from Santa Fe, the New Mexico state capitol.

But we’ve made an effort to get involved across the state. I’m actually now the vice president of the New Mexico Municipal League. I now not only represent the city of Sunland Park, but I represent municipalities across the entire state of New Mexico.

How would you describe the relationship of your city with the other side of the border?

Here in the city of Sunland Park, we don’t have a port of entry. We’re actually working on developing one right now. We do have a very strong relationship with our neighbors in the south. And I think that’s something that people don’t understand that we have a very happy, strong relationship with our neighbors.

Whether it’s medical tourism where people go over there because, you know, medical practice is more affordable over there than it is in the United States. So for those who don’t have insurance, they go to Mexico.

Another thing we have, for example, my administrative assistant, he actually lives in Juarez. But he comes over here every single day. One of my city councilors lives here, but he’s a plant manager in Juarez. So there’s a dynamic of cross-border living that exists.

And we depend on each other and for our economic success. If Juarez struggles, we’re going to struggle as well because of that cross-city exchange that happens between both. Also we’re a logistics hub. In this area, there’s a lot of merchandise, a lot of goods that cross through our area.

Why is building a port of entry here important?

One thing is going to be an economic vitality of our community. Right now we’re a bedroom community (of El Paso). And what we need in our community to continue to thrive as a municipality is the development of commercial areas within the city.

Another important thing to realize is that in Mexico, in Juarez, there are 1.5 million people, probably even more. And they are a large part of our economy. There’s a huge space that has the opportunity for a new port of entry. And that’s what we’re trying to capitalize at this moment.

How do you think that the border policies are affecting politics in the city?

Actually, not as much within the city of Sunland Park. When people who do not know our area try to present solutions to the issues here, it can get a little frustrating. I wish people would come down here to have the opportunity to actually see how we engage with each other. I realize that most people do not know how things work here on the border.

When there is an issue about the border wall here, you see the entire nation divided about it, but actually the people here are very normal about it in the sense that there’s no major arguments between people.

We’ve had a border wall here since the second Bush administration; I think it was in 2002 they implemented a wall, a fence there. And then under the Obama administration, they allocated more funding, and then it was redone under the Trump administration. People go on about their daily lives. Every day you come to work, you see that wall. Or when you go home, you can’t miss it. So people are not necessarily divided here, but I think that people outside misinterpret what the wall does. For us, it has helped curb some petty crimes, for example, thefts and vandalism. But it doesn’t necessarily deal with the issue of immigration. It doesn’t change that issue that we have to deal with at a much bigger level at the federal level.

Can you talk a little bit about what it was like when We Build a Wall started its project? The city got national attention, how did you deal with that?

I think one of the biggest reactions was not necessarily about the wall being built, it was that the wall was being built without the proper clearances, without the proper permission from the city. They did this behind our backs. They intentionally did it, starting to work without notifying anybody. And of course, our role as a local government is to enforce local ordinances, local law. And that’s when we got wind of what was happening there; we took the necessary steps to stop it. And then that’s when this became a national issue.

There was actually nothing that we could do to stop it, whether we were neither for it or against. If they followed all the rules from the very beginning, I don’t think this would have become a scandal or a big issue.

What is the perspective of local residents toward immigration policies?

From within the city of Sunland Park, I did not hear major reactions. I know there’s groups within the El Paso region here in our area who are getting into the national discussion of it. It’s been pretty quiet here within the city, so I think that’s what people like or are drawn to our community. It’s pretty peaceful.

Being on the border, there’s a large immigrant population within our communities. Like I mentioned, some of the people don’t understand the dynamics of people who live in our area. I think we work towards being inclusive and making sure that everyone is an active member in our community. It’s an interesting dynamic, but, my hope is that others can get to see that dynamic and realize that these immigrants are people who just want to create a better environment for themselves for their kids and a better future. I mean, we’re one of the safest communities in the state of New Mexico. I think that says a lot about who we are.

Is there an effort to get an accurate census count in Sunland Park?

The undercount had been a big problem. [The debate about including a citizenship question, which has since been excluded] scared some people from participating. But, we are working with Donana County and all the state agencies we can to make sure that the publicity gets out there for people to get counted and get the census forms done.

The coronavirus doesn’t help very much, but I understand that there is going to be another push probably in June to get people counted. But I think it’s important that we realize that there’s a lot of people who need the services from the federal government, and we need to make sure that they get counted so that the proper allocations are made.

 

 

 

Pandemic Sparks Entrepreneurship at the Border: Small Non-Profits Make Protective Gear for Healthcare Workers in Both Juarez and El Paso

At Fab Lab, skeleton crews of two-to-three people produce face masks, working six-hour shifts to maintain social distancing. (Photo courtesy of Fab Lab)

By Aurora Ferrer

Small, non-profit, “makerspaces” in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico are helping to combat the personal protective equipment shortage for medical workers on the border.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, El Paso-based Fab Lab (short for Fabrication Laboratory), has put its technological resources, including 3D printers, towards making face masks and face shields for front line workers, as well as parts for respirators. An open-source, design-and-manufacturing organization, Fab Lab El Paso is a non-profit that also provides STEM training for students and entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, its sister labs, Fab Lab Juarez and Fab Lab Paso del Norte in Mexico have also started to make protective equipment, using funds recently raised through donations.

Governments in both the United States and Mexico have widely faced criticism over severe shortages of protective equipment in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, which have been shown to place healthcare workers in greater danger of contracting the highly contagious and often deadly virus. According to the World Health Organization, the U.S. has the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in the world, while Mexico has the third-highest rate among Latin American countries.

As of mid-May, the El Paso County Health Department reported 1,234 cases and 82 deaths. The state of Chihuahua in Mexico reported 943 cases and 169 deaths.

The Fab Labs on both sides of the border decided to answer the call for protective equipment before they had received funding. Samuel Badillo, operations director at Fundación Axcel, which runs the Juarez Fab Labs, said, “We just started doing it” and decided to figure out how to pay for it later.

Fab Lab El Paso has struggled to obtain funds from the Payroll Protection Program, a problem plaguing many small American businesses and non-profits. (Photo courtesy of Fab Lab)

With skeleton crews of two-to-three people working short shifts (about six hours) because of social distancing efforts, the organization was able to turn out 3,000 masks in about three weeks.

Fundación Axcel, founded in 2013, provides training, consulting and education for high school students, entrepreneurs and anyone else who wants to learn about technology. Through its Fab Labs it also focuses on digital fabrications and rapid prototyping. It is the non-profit arm of the Technology Hub, which according to its website, “is a binational business incubator built to stimulate regional innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry.”

Originally founded in 2014, Fab Lab El Paso recently received a $1,500 grant from the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation (PDNHF) for the protective-equipment project. Additional funding has been provided by United Healthcare, as well as other companies, organizations and individual supporters.

Cathy Chen, executive director of Fab Lab, says the organization has sent protective equipment to as many as 10 clinics in low-income El Paso communities, as well as several senior centers. (Handout photo from Fab Lab)

Cathy Chen, executive director at Fab Lab El Paso said the organization has sent out “hundreds of PPE to Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, which has 10 clinics in El Paso and serves low-income community needs.” She also notes that United Healthcare and “affiliate senior care centers” have received hundreds of protective devices, as well as sending “1,500 pieces of N100 mask frames and face shields to [nonprofits] in Mexico for community distribution.”

Fab Lab El Paso is also fulfilling daily smaller orders for protective equipment. “All in all, we have sent out almost 3,000 pieces of PPE and are in the process of prototyping custom PPE for specific medical needs, such as dentists and surgeons,” said Chen.

The Mexican organizations have had more success attracting government support than Fab Lab El Paso. In addition to private donations, which included an SLA printer (used for respirator parts,) the Juarez Fab Labs have received some support from their local government.

Meanwhile, Fab Lab El Paso has struggled to obtain funds from the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), a problem that has persisted among many small American businesses and non-profits. “We did qualify for a small advance from the SBA (Small Business Administration) under the Economic Injury and Disaster Loan program,” said Chen, noting that the organization has not yet received a response to its application for a PPP loan.

The El Paso border has been hit especially hard, economically. With the U.S./ Mexico border closed to non-essential travel, and the quarantine shutting down all non-essential businesses, trade between El Paso and Juarez has come to a standstill. According to Workforce Solutions Borderplex, 38,104 unemployment insurance claims were filed on the U.S. side of the border between March 29th and April 30th.

 

The Pandemic Stymies Efforts to Help the Poorest Communities: Local Organizations that Provide Vital Social Supports Are Impeded by Social Distancing

Church volunteers sort donations and put together bags of groceries for Sacred Heart’s food pantry, one of the few in-person programs the church is maintaining during the pandemic. (Photo by the Rev. Stephen Pitts)

By Anacaona Martinez Rodriguez and Amanda Salazar

At the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in El Paso’s “El Segundo” neighborhood, just blocks from the city’s main border crossing to Juarez, Mexico, the Rev. Stephen Pitts worries how parishioners are faring without the many outreach services the church has had to stop, or scale back, under the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home order.

But he is most worried about the emotional toll that the lockdown is having on members.

“These people have survived the violence in Juarez; the fact that they can’t be together now is worse,” Pitts said during a video interview after the state went into lockdown to curb the spread of the virus on April 13. “That’s how they survive everything. I think there’s a lot of loneliness.”

For families at the border who depend on religious institutions and community activities in times of hardship, not being able to congregate and ride out the challenges created by the pandemic together has been particularly difficult, he said.

High school players from El Segundo Barrio Soccer Club compete in El Paso. (Photo courtesy of El Segundo Barrio Soccer Club’s Facebook page)

Organizers of El Segundo Soccer Club, which engages children in league sports and supports the families of its players, also have ceased all games and activities, including plans to take one of its teams to participate in the state championship.

“All of that just canceled right now,” said Juan Adame, one of the coaches of the soccer club, which started in 2011 and has grown to serve about 150 children, ages eight to 18.

“We never thought nine years ago something like this was going to stop all that,” Adame said. “The state tournament is very important for all these kids because it’s been the way that we’ve been kind of selling it to this team, to everybody. ‘If you win state, you’re going to be recognized.’”

Without being able to go to states, he said, the players have lost the possibility of realizing a high-profile win, possibly playing in college and then, just maybe, playing professionally.

Sacred Heart and El Segundo Soccer club serve one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in the country. According to U.S. Census data from El Segundo’s 79901 zip code, the average annual income of residents is $21,000, with 60 percent of the neighborhood living below the poverty line.

Pitts said a strong sense of community, ingrained in the parish and among most El Pasoans, has meant that people were willing to stay home during the pandemic and self-isolate to protect each other, especially the older or sick members of their neighborhood. But the lockdown has kept them from worship and other services the church offers.

Volunteers from the church’s food pantry distribute groceries. (Photo by the Rev. Stephen Pitts)

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the church also has had to stop most of its outreach programs, which included citizenship and adult-education classes, except for the food pantry, which it continues to run.

Because many parishioners do not have internet connections, Sacred Heart has not been able to reach many people through its virtual services and masses. The church’s messages of hope are not reaching enough people, Pitts said.

Additionally, Efren Loya Gomez, an assistant religious director at the Sacred Heart, said many parishioners have reported having problems with landlords and employers during the pandemic.

“There was a lady that stopped me the other day to help her fill out a money order,” he said. “She told me her landlord told her she has to pay $25 dollars a day every day she was late with her rent. If not, he was going to evict her.”

Gomez said some parishioners were suffering economically because they face job losses and were not eligible for federal stimulus money because they were undocumented.  “With the pandemic, they’re suffering and they’re stressing out,” he said.

A mural depicting the rich history of Sacred Heart Catholic Church adorns side buildings along E. Father Rahm Avenue where many of the parish’s outreach programs are housed. (Photo by Vera Haller)​

El Segundo Soccer Club executive director Simon Chandler, who founded the league after coaching his own son on a community team, said his players also were experiencing anxiety during the pandemic.

“Their fears are very kid-like fears,” he said. “They’re worried about whether they’re going to pass sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, what happens if they don’t do the work, that their computer doesn’t work. They have problems with the software and all that stuff.”

Chandler, who also works as the Community Schools Coordinator in the El Paso public school system, was a school teacher when he started the club, figuring it would be a good way to engage the kids in the low-income neighborhood where he taught and lived.

“As an educator, you’re always finding ways to kind of motivate your kids, to hook them into whatever you are doing and so soccer made perfect sense,” he said.

El Segundo is a predominantly Latino area; Chandler estimated that 90 percent or more of the people living in El Paso speak Spanish. Soccer, or fútbol as it is known to much of the world, is one of the most popular sports in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

The soccer club has multiple teams for kids of all ages. The club also offers services for the members of the players’ families.

While their child or sibling is at practice, relatives can participate in one of the soccer club’s English language courses or citizenship classes. Those programs also have been cancelled due to the coronavirus and stay-at-home order.

Adame, whose younger brother Marcos, 18, has been playing with the Segundo soccer club since it began, said the club plays an important role in the players’ development.

Students from El Segundo Barrio Soccer Club, on their way to compete in last year’s state championships, pose on an Austin street. This year’s championship was cancelled due to the pandemic. (Photo courtesy of El Segundo Barrio Soccer Club’s Facebook page)

“It exposes the kids here to the outside world, not just in this community,” Adame said. “Even just taking them out to play on the East side of the city, just to take them [to] play every weekend, that’s sort of something big because a lot of parents don’t have a car here.”

Soccer was the way that the club drew the kids in, but it was never the ultimate goal.

“I’m thinking if there’s another word other than ‘family,’ but I can’t think of one,” Adame said. “That’s what it is. I arrived in this community at about 10 years old.  My mind is here, my heart is here. Now with this club, it’s my passion.”