Migrants making their way towards the US are getting help from the Vatican. Pope Francis has donated $500,000 to help migrant caravans as they make their way towards the US border.
The money comes from the Catholic Church’s Peter’s Pence fund from church collections around the world.
A statement said vital aid for the migrants was falling as global media coverage of the crisis decreased. The coverage, critical of the Trump administration, has almost disappeared from media outlets as individuals outside the administration–including border security agents–began proving a crisis existed. Democrats for months had been saying the crisis was concocted by the administration.
The Pope has previously criticized US President Donald Trump’s aim of building a security barrier to better control immigration and reduce drug trafficking. The Pope has ignored criticism of the seemingly contradictory huge wall surrounding the Vatican that keeps tourists and the homeless out of his compound.
The US has put pressure on Mexico’s government to stem the caravans of people from Central America heading north. The caravans are considered illegal under UN resolutions as refugees are only allowed under international agreement to seek asylum in a bordering country. The migrant caravans are passing through as many as six countries on their journey north to the United States.
“In 2018 six migrant caravans entered Mexico for a total of 75,000 people. The arrival of other groups was announced” the Peter’s Pence office said.
“All these people were stranded unable to enter the United States، without a home or livelihood. The Catholic Church hosts thousands of them in the hotels within dioceses or religious congregations providing basic necessities from housing to clothing.”
Last week officials detained nearly 400 migrants travelling through Mexico’s southern Chiapas state trying to reach the US.
This donated money will be distributed among 27 projects in 16 dioceses and among Mexican religious congregations that have asked for help in order to continue providing housing, food and basic necessities to these our brothers and sisters a press released stated.
The Pope is critical of political leaders who try to erect barriers to keep migrants out. While condemning the US, the Pope has not referred to the wall that Mexico has built on its own southern border.
