30,000 March in Solidarity With Migrants at US-Mexico Border

A woman carries her son while talking to her husband across the fence separating Mexico and U.S, as photographed from Tijuana, Mexico. | Photo: Reuters

20 March 2017
Telesur

The events took place near the area where cross-border families gather every Sunday to see and touch their loved ones through the steel wall.

Metropolitan Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barron led a Catholic mass Sunday next to the border wall between the United States and Mexico in the border city of Tijuana before 30,000 joined in a march in solidarity with migrants worldwide.

The march for “Life, Peace and Migrants” has been organized by the Catholic Church in Tijuana for 17 consecutive years with the goal of uniting the society of Tijuana. However, this year's march has the added goal of solidarity and prayers for migrants worldwide.

"Every year we proclaim peace and life. Now this year, we add to these values, solidarity with migrants," stated the Archbishop, adding that "we begin with this simple gesture on the wall that makes us aware of so many brothers who need us through these lands of the Californians and Tijuana."

This year’s march comes amid the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe as migrants continue to embark on perilous journeys to flee countries in Africa and the Middle East, while migrants living in the United States in general, but especially from Latin America and Muslim-majority nations, face a heightened security crackdown under U.S. President Donald Trump.