Another bus full of people seeking asylum arrived in North Texas. Workers and volunteers at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas welcomed the group with one goal in mind; quickly unite them with family this holiday week.
30 people arrived by around 6:00 a.m. Monday. Isabel Marquez is associate pastor and said it took several hours to get every person on their way to unite with family members by bus, train, or air. The journey before their arrival, though, was much longer.
“I was talking to them, and they were in detention centers since August, a few of them,” said Marquez.
The arrivals were migrants from various countries who’d spent time at the border seeking asylum in the United States. She said they received people from Russia, Vietnam, Turkey, India, and Morocco.
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Marquez said Oak Lawn United Methodist is not a shelter for migrants. Rather, it’s a short layover to their destinations.
“Whenever they arrive here, we need to be taking care of their clothing, make sure they have shoes, make sure that they have everything that they need to first feel human again,” she said.
Ultimately, she said the goal is to connect the arrivals with family members in different cities and states across the country. She said every person was on their way to meet family members within twelve hours.
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Mehdi Najah, from Morocco, is now on his way to meet a family member in North Carolina.
“I feel great, ready, good, happy because I’m coming here,” he said.
Marquez said it’s family members who serve as sponsors and bear the financial responsibility for airline and bus tickets for the people who arrive at the church.
“We just make the travel arrangements, but the families are the ones supporting these people and that’s one of the requirements when they get here,” she said. “They need to have a sponsor. They need to have a family connection.”
Oak Lawn United Methodist answered the call for help in 2018 when thousands of unaccompanied children arrived at the border. Marquez said, since then, they’ve decided to continue receiving migrants.
