When OSV News called her Jan. 21, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Rose Patrice Kuhn had already crossed the border from McAllen, Texas, into Reynosa, Mexico — walking, as she does most days, across the pedestrian bridge that connects the two cities in order to serve migrants at several shelters in Reynosa.
The ministry, which she undertakes with women religious from several congregations, can be excruciating. On several occasions, Sister Rose — who works with Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and with ministries in Reynosa — has shared with OSV News that many of those arriving at the border have experienced physical and sexual violence, as well as kidnapping for ransom, on their long and bitter trek.
But the anguish was especially acute the day after President Donald Trump was sworn into office for a second term as U.S. president, said Sister Rose.
Hours after the inauguration, Trump issued several executive orders, one of which declared migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border an emergency.
That same day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that key functionalities of its CBP One app — rolled out under the Biden administration to enable unauthorized migrants to submit information and schedule immigration appointments at eight points of entry in the U.S Southwest — were “no longer available.”
“Existing appointments have been cancelled,” effective Jan. 20, said CBP on its website.
On Jan. 21, Sister Rose joined pastor José Miguel Cristóbal Juárez of Senda de Vida II, a migrant shelter in Reynosa built as a second location for the Senda de Vida ministry established in 2000 by Christian pastor Hector Silva and his wife, Marilu Lira.
News of the Trump executive orders and the cancellation of thousands of CBP appointments devastated those waiting at the border, said Sister Rose and Cristóbal.
“Everyone is crying at Senda de Vida Dos,” Cristóbal, speaking in Spanish, told OSV News. “People are very sad because of the cancellation of their CBP One appointments.”
“We’re going to go there to cry with them, connect with them,” said Sister Rose.
Cristóbal told OSV News that migrants with whom he has spoken are weighing a number of options, although “some don’t know what they’re going to do.
“Some are thinking about going back to their own countries,” he said. “And some are thinking about trying to cross the river (Rio Grande)” into Texas.
Amid the migrants’ suffering, both he and Sister Rose remain committed to their missions — and confident in their faith.
“We have great hope because we pray to the Lord,” said Cristóbal. “We know things will work out well.”
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