Tucson, Arizona Wednesday, 25 December 2002
Renee Sauer / Staff
Children in Agua Prieta line up for Christmas toys and blankets distributed
by immigration officers with the Instituto Nacional de Migración this
week.
By Ignacio Ibarra
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
AGUA PRIETA, Sonora -
Mexican immigration officers brightened the Christmas season for children in one of this border city's shantytown neighborhoods, distributing toys and blankets as a cold front settled over the region.
The pickup truck load of Christmas cheer was just one of several public and private efforts to brighten the holiday this week for some of the poorest of about 150,000 residents. Many families in this town across from Douglas have been affected by layoffs in the border factories known as maquiladoras.
The toys and blankets were purchased with funds raised by the agents and administrative staff at the Instituto Nacional de Migración in Agua Prieta, said Luis Erasmo Teran Balaguer, the regional head of Mexico's immigration service in Hermosillo and a longtime Agua Prieta resident.
"There's a lot of need in this city, and La Ladrillera is one of the poorest neighborhoods," he said of the area called "the brickyard."
"It's not much, but it helps, and it makes the children very happy," he said as children and some adults streamed out of their homes to stand in line Monday.
Luis Beltran Hererra, 32, a construction worker whose five children were among those in line, said he hasn't been working much for months, and the immigration officers' generosity was much appreciated.
"Things are pretty bad here right now, so this is a big help. The children will enjoy the toys, and with this cold, we need the blankets," he said.
Gabriela Felix said she was filled with a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment as she clutched the blanket she'd received and watched her daughter extract a doll from its wrappings.
"Most of us in this neighborhood don't have enough to buy food to feed our families, much less give our children a good Christmas," said the mother of four. "This is so good for the children. We're grateful for the help."
The good feelings went both ways, said Immigration Inspector Juan Amador Durazo Zozaya, as he handed a toy handgun to a smiling boy with wind-burned cheeks.
"You can't help everyone," he said. "But it feels good to help, even if it's just a little."
* Contact reporter Ignacio Ibarra at (520) 432-2766 or at nacho1@mindspring.com.