{"id":673331,"date":"2019-01-31T05:41:36","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T12:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=673331"},"modified":"2019-01-31T05:43:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T12:43:00","slug":"answering-the-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2019\/01\/answering-the-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Answering the call"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lonnie

Don Usner \/ Searchlight New Mexico<\/p>

Lonnie Brise\u00f1o and immigrants praying for safe journeys when they leave the shelter.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nearly every day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement releases asylum-seeking migrants \u201con their own recognizance,\u201d strapped with GPS ankle monitors and a notice to appear at an ICE facility while their claims are processed. <\/b>The migrants \u2013 mostly parents with children \u2013 have often made arduous journeys from Central America and spent days or weeks in detention. They are tired, hungry and disoriented and need shelter before they head to their next destination.<\/p>\n

Lonnie Brise\u00f1o is a deacon in the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces and organizer of Project Oak Tree, a three-year-old effort that unites faith-based organizations to provide food, clothing and shelter to migrants in southern New Mexico. He spoke with Searchlight New Mexico about the project.<\/p>\n

What are the origins of Project Oak Tree?<\/b><\/p>\n

Ruben [Garcia, of El Paso\u2019s immigrant shelter Annunciation House] reached out to [the former Las Cruces] Bishop Oscar Cantu. Annunciation House was overwhelmed. We called it \u201cProject Oak Tree\u201d because the bishop didn\u2019t want to offend any faith-based group. So we went to the Old Testament and found the story of the oak tree.<\/p>\n