I knew Lupe and her husband, Beto when they worked for Pastor Galván at the mental asylum, Vision in Action in Juárez but then they had a falling out with him and disappeared only to reappear running another facility called Punto Zero about eight miles away.
We first visited in March 2018 and the conditions were grim. Things got worse with the death of Beto yet Lupe has persevered. Missions Ministries, a powerful non-profit from Colorado that has a headquarters nearby in Juárez has built a bathing and shower facility plus a dining area for Lupe, and the Morenos, a father-son team from El Pasoare constructing a website to enable Lupe to raise money. This solid, persistent woman will survive, and she has about 35 patients who are grateful for that.
At the nearby but larger mental facility, Vision in Action, Viridiana “Viri” Torres has transformed herself from a mental patient with bi-polar issues to the manager of this facility with its roughly 120 patients. In her spare time, of which there is little, she is also studying medicine. Finding and retaining good medical care is difficult in this area far from the center of Juárez.
Viri’s key accomplishment has been her focus on the condition of the women patents because they not only have mental issues, but they also have histories of abuse. As a result, she led the effort to construct a new living area for the women with dementia that includes a small dining area, and a larger dormitory where 20-24 women can live free from the often-aggressive male patients.
In November 2018, Grecia Herrera founded Respettrans, a shelter for transgender migrants located in a rickety looking, multi-story building near the international bridge in the center of Juárez. Her original plan didn’t work out, so the shelter now houses mostly women and children but also a number of men. When we were last there on February 24, she had eighty but there were times several years ago when she would have more than two hundred.
What is unique about Respettrans is that it is run by the migrants. Grecia is a nurse and has a day job so she can’t be in attendance much of the time. The migrants select leaders who are in charge of the cooking, cleanliness, security and discipline. The cost per day is about one tenth of what the Trump administration is going to pay CoreCivic to reopen a 2,400 person shelter in Dilley, Texas.
Grecia would be hard put to survive without the assistance of Professor Eva Moya of UTEP who acts as the “linch pin” between Respettrans and a non-profit in Placitas, New Mexico called Dignity Mission which was started by Jack and Cheryl Ferrell several years ago. The Ferrells and their many volunteers put together large truckloads of supplies for Respettrans – food, clothing, shoes, and dignity kits which contain hygienic items - and take a truck load to Moya’s home about once a month. They fill her garage with goods and local volunteers then ferry them across the border to shelters like Respettrans. Moya is also on the Board of Directors of the Opportunity Center, a program for the homeless which cares for roughly 160 men and 60 women.
Sandra Magallanes has been a continuing force for migrants in both Palomas, Mexico and Deming, New Mexico. She crossed the border illegally as a teenager and didn’t get her citizenship until June, 2021 and says that, I am an immigrant like many are but the United States is truly my home”. She has been a savior for migrants from all over the world, even distant countries like Turkey.
This is a short tribute to five special international women who persevere in the most difficult conditions. It has been an honor to work with them.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Morgan Smith, a writer who travels to the border at least once a month to document conditions there and to work with the programs he has described above. The column appears in the Rio Grande Guardian with the permission of the author. Smith can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.
