Band of 'angels' leaves food, water for people crossing U.S. border

Published: 2006-10-05

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Rafael Hernandez knows the hardships of trekking across desert and mountains to sneak into the United States from Mexico. He did it with his wife and daughter 21 years ago. Now, as a legal U.S. resident, Hernandez and his band of volunteers patrol both sides of the Mexican-California border near San Diego looking for lost migrants and leaving water, clothing and food at strategic desert locations to help people on their journey. "I know how people suffer. I've lived it in the flesh," Hernandez told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview. Hernandez, a construction equipment mechanic, is the director of Angeles del Desierto, Spanish for "desert angels," which he founded eight years ago. The angels are 60 volunteers, many from San Diego Catholic parishes, who take turns with the 52-year-old Hernandez patrolling the borderland two to three times a week. In groups of 10 to 15 people, they patrol a swatch of desert covering a radius of 60 miles and extending into both countries.

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