The following stories are part of an audio interview that was done with Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries director Fr. Brian Strassburger, SJ.  

Father Brian Strassburger, SJ, is a Jesuit priest who serves in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas. He resides near the US-Mexico border, where he responds to the pastoral needs in the area, with a particular focus on the migrant community on both sides of the border. 

JRS Canada asked Fr. Strassburger to share a few inspiring migrant stories from the Mexico-US border that could open the eyes of the public to the reality of the border. The following accounts are the ones that stood out to us.  

Fr. Brian Strassburger, SJ:  

The story of Sandra. 

Sandra arrived at a shelter in Reynosa, Mexico in June 2024. This was in the summertime, months before the elections, when Joe Biden was still running for president. Sandra, like all the other asylum seekers at the border, was asking for an appointment on a smartphone app to legally enter the U.S. Finally, after months of waiting, she got an appointment with the app in early January 2025. She was going to be able to enter legally into the United States. But the appointment was for January 21st.  

On January 20th, a new president was sworn in. Moments later, an announcement went out saying that the smartphone app would no longer be used to schedule appointments, and that all scheduled appointments had been cancelled, including Sandra’s appointment the next day.  

On the 21st we went into the shelter where she was staying and celebrated a mass. We opened up the floor afterwards for people to share how they were feeling, and people were saying different things. “I feel devastated”, “I feel shocked”, “I feel terrified of what could happen to me now.” Sandra raised her hand from the back of the room, and she stood up and said:

“Lo último que se pierde es la esperanza”

“The last thing we lose is hope”

I don’t know how she could say that after hearing that devastating news that her appointment had been canceled after months and months of waiting. But I think part of the reason she could say that is because she doesn’t place her hope in a smartphone app, the president of some country or some border policy. She places her hope in the Lord.  And so that’s where I think she finds her hope and her strength. And if she can find that in the midst of the situation, she’s walking through, how can I lose hope? Despite the despair that we encounter every day in our work and in our ministry, we cannot lose hope. 

Donations of hygiene products and warm clothing are distributed to migrants 
at the Pumarejo shetler in Matamoros, Mexico.(Courtesy of Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries)

The story of Alejandra.

Alejandra is a single mom from Colombia, who fled the country after her mother was murdered. She made a report of the crime to the district attorney and began to receive death threats that she would be next. She decided to flee the country with her four children and traveled to Mexico with the hope of reaching the U.S. and seeking asylum. After months of waiting in southern Mexico, Alejandra got an appointment with the smartphone app for January 15th, a few days before the inauguration. She came up to the border with her four kids to present at the bridge at the scheduled day and time.  Tragically, when she arrived at the border, she was kidnapped with her kids. They were held for a few days and had to pay a ransom. They had to pay $2000 per person for the five of them. That is $10,000 that they had to raise to pay for their kidnapping.They got released from their kidnapping on the 18^th of January. They had missed their appointment because of their kidnapping, so what were they going to do? In the past, we had been able to help through advocacy efforts to get people who had missed their appointments because they were kidnapped to present to US border agents after their release and be permitted to enter the United States.

Some fellow collaborators brought Alejandra and her family to the bridge on the 19^th of January for exactly that reason, showing that they had had an appointment that had been missed because they’d been kidnapped. Unfortunately, with the inauguration looming the next day, and upcoming changing to border dynamics, the U.S. border agents told the family that they were unable to accommodate them that day.

Of course, the next day the announcement came out that the smartphone app had been closed and there was no more legal entry into the US for asylum seekers. The door had been closed to people like Alejandra and her kids.

Alejandra and her kids had done the right thing. They waited for the appointment; they got the appointment. The appointment was before the inauguration. But they got kidnapped and extorted for $10,000- tragic circumstances that were no fault of their own. Then they got released before the inauguration but could not be processed and accommodated beforehand.

 Migrants in Senda 2 shelter in Reynosa, Mexico live in tents surrounded by a security wall.
(Courtesy of Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries)

Fast forward to today, months later, and they are still in a shelter in northern Mexico. It is a devastating reality. But Alejandra’s taking advantage of this moment because she’s a person of faith, and she puts her hope and trust in the Lord. She put all four of her kids in our catechism classes at the shelter, and we baptized them on the Easter Vigil.

Their story shows the way that God is still at work, even amid the horrific events of someone’s life and the experiences that they’re undergoing.

Alejandra has taken advantage of the situation. I was sitting with her at the first catechism class when she was with her kids, and she was sitting at the edge of her seat. She leaned over to me and she said, “I’m here to learn too!”

Fr. Brian Strassburger, SJ, presides at Mass at Casa del Migrante in Reynosa, Mexico. 
(Courtesy of Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries)

Even Alejandra has that deep desire of wanting to know more about her faith. “I’m excited to have my kids baptized and I’m here to learn too” she said. As we were talking about the sacrament of baptism and the different signs and symbols involved in it, she kept raising her hand and actively engaging in the class. If she can look for grace in the midst of this situation, if she can take advantage of these circumstances as a way to draw her and her family closer to God, what does that mean for us?

I think Alejandra’s story is a beautiful reminder to all of us. God accompanies us in our life, even through the hardest moments. And God’s grace can break through even when we least expect it.