Central America
See the asylum seekers’ wounds and believe
At the border, survivors of violence present their scarred bodies as testimony.
A visit to the border with the New Sanctuary Coalition
In Tijuana, we witnessed the resilience and humanity of the migrant movement.
The endurance of the Mayan people
Mayan culture and rituals have persisted since their days of ancient glory—but not without major upheavals.
The caravan is an exodus
The migrants have bigger concerns than U.S. policy. They know the terrors they are fleeing.
The U.S.-Mexico border, where migrants are hunted
What does it do to the body and spirit to be preyed upon constantly?
No tolerance for zero tolerance
The Trump administration's treatment of vulnerable migrants—particularly children—is neither fair nor humane.
"Tell the judge he wasn't lying"
After Moises was killed, his brother asked us to write to the American official who denied his asylum claim.
God among the gangs of Central America
Churches in a place where they are the only signs of hope
The other refugee children
It's a humanitarian crisis that has riveted the international community: refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere seeking asylum from civil war and violence. Images of the small, drowned body of Aylan Kurdi ignited our consciences and challenged world leaders to begin addressing the needs of these refugees.
The surge of unaccompanied minors into countries like Sweden mirrors the marked increase of Central American children entering the United States in 2014, fleeing violence at home.
Is family detention about to end?
A federal judge ruled recently that the three U.S. detention centers currently holding more than 2,000 women and children seeking asylum from Central America have three choices:
- Release just the children, leaving their mothers incarcerated.
- Entirely reform the detention center environment so that it’s not longer like a prison.
- Release everyone.
By Amy Frykholm
Truce: Churches engage with gangs in El Salvador
The driver would only take me to Mejicanos once he talked to my contact at St. Francis of Assisi's. The church is neutral territory in a bloody landscape.
Text and photographs by Paul Jeffrey
Credible fears: Central American women seek asylum
Last year, the U.S. took thousands of "family units" into custody at the southern border. Nearly every woman cites violence as the reason she fled.
by Amy Frykholm
Locking up kids
Obama's budget includes more money to detain undocumented children. At the largest family detention center, the average child is age six.
Open to children
What does it mean to "turn to faith"? To gather in the like-minded and bar the door? Or to take a riskier move outward?
Children at the door
Instead of seeking the ability to deport Central American children faster, Obama should treat this situation as the refugee crisis it is.
Welcoming these kids is the least we can do
Taking in refugees, giving asylum—these are things that generous people from a better place do for helpless people from a worse place. But we aren’t actually better.
Missing in Mexico: The search for Central American migrants
In a caravan of 45 people, mostly mothers looking for their disappeared children, Santos del Socorro Rojas was one of the lucky ones.
by Paul Jeffrey