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Immigration
The following article originally appeared in Salt of the Earth. It is posted here for private use only. It may not be reprinted in whole or in part without the permission of Salt of the Earth magazine.
Michael Akong
Joyce Carr interviews Michael Akong
MICHAEL AKONG HAS FOUGHT POVERTY AND DISEASE in Mexico and his own San Diego backyard, where the Third World living conditions of migrant workers mirror scenes south of the border. Working with a group from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, he has organized outreach ministries in squalid colonias on both sides of the border.
For the past eight years Akong's parish group has sought out Mexican and Central American migrants who build their shacks in canyons near the parish. On Saturday mornings priests and parishioners celebrate Mass with them. They also distribute food and provide medical, legal, and other services.
Undeterred by the recent backlash against immigrants in his state, Akong says, "Migrants deserve decent living conditions for their backbreaking labor."
AS A CHILD, I WAS FASCINATED BY STORIES of foreign missionaries. They kindled a desire in me to live my life for Christ. I grew up in a middle-class family and interacted easily with people of different races and cultures. But because of my Chinese American identity I sometimes heard insults like "Chink" and "acorn"—ridicule that has enabled me to empathize with other minorities.
On my first trip to Tijuana, Mexico as a child, I realized that not everyone has the conveniences of electricity, running water, and garbage collection. I began to wonder why life was so easy for me and such a struggle for others.
In college, I considered becoming a physician and doing missionary work, but instead I got a degree in public health. After I graduated, I felt it was time to use my God-given talents to return the investment God had made in me. I felt a calling to help the needy, so in 1986 I became active in our parish's Tijuana Outreach, at times directing the program.
Together with local Tijuanans, our parish set up a medical clinic staffed by volunteer physicians from Tijuana, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Several carloads of parishioners drive monthly to a home in Tijuana's Colonia Chula Vista to distribute donated clothes, beans, rice, and meat. We also buy school supplies for the children and bring gifts on Epiphany and Easter.
Later I became involved in our parish's ministry with migrants in McGonigle Canyon, which is only five miles from our church.
IN THIS CANYON I HAVE MET THE HAPPIEST, most generous people. They live in small, plastic-covered, scrap-wood shacks with pieces of carpet on dirt floors. Lacking adequate police protection, they frequently become victims of theft and assault.
Until our parish had them installed, people had no running water, sanitation, or electricity. We put up showers, a washroom, and portable toilets. We also provide legal and medical services, English-language instruction, and a post office box for the migrants' mail.
It isn't always easy to get out of bed early on Saturdays to drive with our group to the canyon. But it's rewarding to see the simple, strong faith of these laborers, trusting the Lord to help them find work.
During the Spanish-language liturgies, the migrants do the readings and lead the music. They also plan special celebrations for the feasts of Easter and Our Lady of Guadalupe, which always draw big crowds of Hispanic worshipers. At times, we've had 80 migrants attend the Saturday Masses, and catechists have prepared some for Baptism and the Eucharist.
Interacting with these workers I come face to face with the poverty of the majority of the world's population. When I play basketball with them, I feel that we have much in common. I also share their love of Mexico's natural beauty and memories of pilgrimages to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico City.
AS WE SHARE OUR MEALS WITH THE RESIDENTS, they sometimes tell us about employers who withhold their wages or pay less than the minimum wage. In such cases, Steve Yunker, an attorney in our parish, volunteers to contact the employers. He sends them a letter demanding payment and advises the workers on settling the matters in small-claims court. Most of the judgments in these courts have been successful, but few are able to collect their back pay.
A half-dozen parish leaders and our pastor, Msgr. Henry Fawcett, have been the driving force behind the Migrant Outreach group. We also have an annual retreat that encourages us in this work. I currently coordinate the effort, and since a recent recruiting drive, we now have about 50 parishioners involved in various migrant outreach ministries.
We try to respond to the migrants' ever-changing needs rather than to direct situations beyond our control. We had such a situation last summer when the city demolished the McGonigle Canyon camp.
That demolition came about when the landowner and nearby citizens complained to the City Planning Board about health hazards and outdoor fires in the camp. Over the years the camp had grown bigger and bigger until it had more than 1,000 residents. That also meant that it was more visible.
There was a lot of hostility in the air, especially from certain residents in Rancho Penasquitas and Del Mar. Some had built million-dollar mansions overlooking the canyon and didn't like it that now when the fog cleared they were overlooking a teeming migrant camp. So they brought a lot of political pressure to bear on the City of San Diego to destroy the shacks.
Most North County citizens stereotype Mexican migrants because of a few who cause problems. They don't want them in their area except, of course, when they need their cheap labor.
WHILE WE DECIDED WE COULDN'T STOP the camp's demolition, it was important for us to make it clear that the city couldn't just displace poor people with-out providing alternative housing, especially for the families. So our outreach group began working with Esperanza, a nonprofit housing and community-development organization. Esperanza got a community-development block grant to help relocate and provide case management for migrants.
We helped find apartments for those who were eligible for Esperanza's rent subsidies—they had to be employed and their school-age children had to be enrolled. The 40 relocated families are now receiving a year's rental assistance and are gradually contributing a larger portion of their income toward the rent.
It has made a big difference for some families. I think, for example, of Angelita and Chendo Diaz's family of six. They used to sleep on the dirt floor in an incredibly small and dirty shack near the entrance of the canyon's camp—one of the worst spots there.
SINCE WE HAVE HELPED THEM GET AN APARTMENT, their whole living situation has improved greatly. Now they have a clean and decent place to live in—we also helped them get furniture and household items—the kids are in school, and the father seems to be taking care of the family much better.
They are very happy about this development, but their situation is still tenuous. They don't know if, once the subsidy expires, they will be able to pay the rent. Although Chendo has been legal for years, his backbreaking, hard labor in the tomato and pepper fields and in gardening is never sure. "We'll do as best as we can," Angelita tells me. "But if things don't work out, we may just go back to Mexico."
The children who are in school are frequently confronted with racism. They look different and dress different—none of them can afford the trendy clothes the others are wearing—and some children are openly hostile and cruel. In one instance we heard about, an Anglo student pretended to pass out from the bad smell of a migrant student.
AFTER THE SHELTERS IN MCGONIGLE CANYON were razed, a few migrants returned to Mexico and about 60 men moved to more remote canyons in the county, where they again built huts.
We continue to take them clothes and food and drive them to the Masses we now celebrate at a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe the migrants built about a mile from their original camp.
Several parish families have become friends with migrants. One family has been supporting a 12-year-old Guatemalan girl. They sponsored her for First Communion and take her shopping and to movies with other kids.
MINISTRY WITH MIGRANTS IS ALWAYS UNPREDICTABLE. They're a transient population with uncertain employment and a precarious existence. All that has worsened with the passage last year of Proposition 187 in California.
The initiative—now challenged in court by immigrant advocate groups—would deny non-emergency health services, public social services, and access to public education to people suspected of being undocumented.
Many of the migrants we talk to are very worried about it. But since it's probably going to be in court for years and, we believe, will eventually be declared unconstitutional, we are advising them not to worry too much—certainly to keep their children in school and to continue to take care of their medical needs.
I worked with an anti-Proposition 187 coalition, which most in our parish supported. Other parishioners have said after the election that they regretted voting for it and had not understood all of its provisions.
No doubt the outcome of Proposition 187 will determine the future of many migrants, but as long as they reside in our parish, we will continue to minister with these victims of poverty and prejudice.—END
© 1997 by Claretian Publications