The church follows the example of Jesus Christ, aiming to serve and not to be served. The church sums up its mission and vision in three words, lead to love. It has two locations, Brickell and Westchester. It also said Imelda Maynard was with Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico she is director of legal services at Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services Inc. Miami’s Brave Church calls itself a church that exists to lead people to love people. María traveled more than 2,800 miles from Venezuela to reach the United States in early May. Once crossing the border, however, she made it only four blocks, to a shelter at Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso. Like many asylum seekers released on parole by Customs and Border Protection, she had no money to pay for a plane or bus ticket, she said. She slept in the church shelter, then in the alley outside, for three weeks, until a woman approached and said she would fly María on a private plane to California. “She said I should go, that there were people there to receive us who would give us lodging, that they would help us … get our papers in order,” said María, who asked to be identified only by her first name, out of fear of repercussions from the woman. What María didn’t know was that the woman was a contractor hired by the administration of Florida Gov. María had found herself in the center of a political storm. Migrant flights and the national attention they've drawn are yet another chapter in the political fight over the border, with California officials vowing to investigate whether travelers were misled and the Florida governor doubling down on hard-line policies and a portrayal of himself as a culture warrior. María and other migrants said the contractors did not identify themselves beyond saying they were there to “help the migrants.” The contractor, along with another woman and two men, spent the afternoon walking around the church trying to recruit migrants like María to board a charter flight to California. Migrants stand in the alley outside Sacred Heart Church's shelter Friday. Some choose to sleep outside the El Paso church rather than in its shelter.
Gavin Newsom quickly condemned the flights and said his administration was looking into whether they "violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.” It was a gambit by DeSantis that brought attention to his recently launched presidential bid, focused on denouncing "wokeness" and attacking California and other states over “sanctuary city” policies.Ĭalifornia Gov. In an interview Saturday, he said, “You may not like Biden’s border policies, you may have major criticisms about the asylum system in this country, but how dare you? How dare you treat other human beings this way?”ĭeSantis and his spokespeople have defended the flights, arguing that migrants boarded them voluntarily.
DeSantis organized a similar protest flight in 2022, recruiting migrants in San Antonio to fly to Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Despite widespread condemnation and an ongoing criminal investigation over whether those migrants were misled, the Florida legislature this year allocated $12 million that can be used for such flights. “We are very disappointed, and we don’t know what to do.”Ĭopyright 2023 by WPLG - All rights reserved.DeSantis' office did not respond to a request for comment. The representative of the church did not identify the insurance company or if they had shopped around for insurance, but said the church had provided resources to residents such as a discount with a moving company. In the meantime, many fear they will be homeless and the cost will increase from the current maximum rate of $900 per month. The church plans to tear down the 1970 building and promised to build a new “state-of-the-art” facility for low-income seniors. “I think everything here is running very well,” Munoz said. In a statement, a representative of the facility said the provider chose not to renew the property insurance. Munoz said the letter informed them that the insurance company had deemed the facility was nearing the end of its useful life. “My head is like this, with so many things,” Munoz said adding she has been under stress since she received a letter from the church attributing the evacuation to the insurance company. Munoz said she recently learned she has to evacuate by October 30.
MIAMI – The insurance and affordable housing crises have hit home for more than 50 low-income seniors in Miami’s East Little Havana neighborhood.īelinda Munoz is among the residents of the Episcopalian Church’s Holy Comforter Senior Housing Facility, at 190 SW 13 Ave.
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