LifeWay Family Bible Series for Feb. 6: Thankfully, God is the God of second chances_20705

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

But the Martinezes have continued to tell Mirzha about Jesus. And they have started telling her about Baptist University of the Americas.

“BUA has said they can help her because Texas Baptists and other Christians provide funds that aren't limited to American citizens,” explained Carlos Martinez, who graduated from the San Antonio school–then called Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary–in 1984 as the top academic student. “It's a God-sent opportunity, because Mirzha could never afford to pay all of it on her own.”

“She always had it all, even that first time she came to Vacation Bible School,” Martinez explained. “Perfect manners, well-spoken, enjoying each and every activity. She was a joy. And still is.”

Eight-year-old, 9-year-old and 10-year-old Mirzha never missed a VBS and became close friends with the Martinezes' daughter Letty. But that never translated into regular attendance at either Emmanuel Baptist Church in Seguin, where Martinez was pastor from 1990 to 1995, or at Nueva Vida Baptist Church, the new congregation he has been leading the past five years.

Olga Martinez, left, and her husband, Carlos, continue their friendship with Leija, which started a decade ago when the 8 year-old came to Vacation Bible School at their church. (Photo by Craig Bird)

In fact, in 2002, they lost contact completely for almost a year.

“We kept going by to see her, but no one was ever home,” Martinez said. “We didn't know her mom had stomach cancer and that Mirzha was working and going to school.”

But not long after her mother died, Mirzha and Letty wound up working at the same restaurant.

“By then, her mom had died, her father had moved on and she was trying to raise a 14-year-old sister,” Martinez continued. Still she managed to graduate from high school, earning honors as one of the top French students in her class. Recently, her sister moved in with an aunt more capable of dealing with what Mirzha calls her “typical teenage rebellion.” Now she lives by herself, working as a waitress at a Seguin restaurant and in sales at a mall store in San Marcos, 25 miles away.

All this time, the Martinezes have been there, encouraging her, showing they love her and telling her about a God who loves her even more. They have no doubt the seeds are planted and growing.

Mirzha has asked for information to begin the BUA application process for next fall. “I'm confident she will be a great student at BUA,” Martinez predicted. “And she is going to be a great Christian.”

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Pastor helps immigrants gain legal status_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Alex Camacho directs the nonprofit Immigration Services organization and is pastor of Iglesia Bautista Cristiana in McKinney. (Photo by Sarah Farris)

Pastor helps immigrants gain legal status

By Sarah Farris

Special to the Baptist Standard

MCKINNEY–Before Alex Camacho felt God's call to ministry, he planned to become a lawyer. Now he combines his passion for God, law and the Hispanic community as director of Immigration Services–a nonprofit organization accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals–and pastor of Iglesia Bautista Cristiana in McKinney.

Camancho helps guide immigrants through the logistical maze of becoming a documented worker or legal United States citizen.

When he started, he was partially accredited to work with immigration. Partial accreditation allows a person to fill out applications.

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

Accreditation requires taking 70 hours of class on immigration law, exhibiting knowledge of immigration law, being aware of any updates in law, and having knowledge of the Code of Federal Regulations and the Naturalization Act.

Immigrants must put a lot of trust in the person working with their paperwork, Camacho said. “Immigration is very sensitive. If done wrong, the person is removed, … and once gone, there is no coming back.”

Immigration attorneys typically charge anywhere from $2,000 to $8,000 to file the application, so many people try to do it on their own.

After realizing the limits on the help he could provide without being an attorney, Camacho got a degree in immigration law. He also became fully accredited with the Justice Department, now the Homeland Security Department. He not only helps clients navigate through the vast amount of paperwork, he represents clients in immigration court and with the board of immigration appeals.

“I did it because I'm crazy or something,” Camacho quipped.

There are limitations to what Camacho and his team of two secretaries and volunteers can do.

“Even though we practice immigration law, we can't have a bunch of cases, because we do it pro bono (free to clients), and money is limited,” Camacho said. He estimates 1,200 people contact the agency annually, and they are able to take the cases of about 300 people each year.

He does not take cases related to drugs or any other major crimes, but he does help in situations where someone now is being refused citizenship because of a juvenile offense or some misdemeanors.

In one of his recent cases, a man going through the immigration process was about to be deported because of his criminal record. When he was 17, he stole liquor from a store in Mexico. He now is 45, the pastor of a Dallas church and a vital member of his community. Camacho and his team needed two years to help him, but eventually they won the case.

Camacho works in immigration because he sees it as a priority need among Hispanics.

Rather than going out and finding people to whom he can minister, Camacho has people coming to him. About 50 percent of his congregation came to him looking for help. He took that opportunity to tell them about the church.

But he also receives phone calls from people seeking help from all over Texas and from Arizona, New Mexico and Florida.

Camacho balances his time as pastor and director of Immigration Services by viewing himself as a bivocational pastor.

“The church is the priority,” he said. “I see this as a ministry. I love going to court …, but some pastors don't have the same calling. Maybe they teach or they fix cars. Everyone has their own calling.”

In 1986, the U.S. government asked churches to help with immigration. “Catholic Charities is the leader in immigration in Texas and other states, but there is a lot of space for Baptist charities to get involved. Every (Baptist) association could open a center, and they would all be packed,” Camacho said.

Churches can minister to immigrants by opening an immigration center, hosting a conference where an expert in immigration law can speak to immigrants who are going through the process, or the church can call an attorney.

Whichever route is chosen, Camacho warns immigration must be taken carefully from the beginning to avoid major problems that lead to deportation or incur large attorney's fees.

Economic reality and the opportunities the United States offers draw immigrants from across the Rio Grande, Camacho said.

“There is no future in Mexico,” he said, noting available jobs there offer little more than sustenance for day-to-day survival. “There are no dreams.”

Two former Mexican doctors attend Iglesia Bautista Cristiana in McKinney, he noted. One works at a discount store and says he has more opportunities for his family now than he ever did in Mexico.

Immigration will remain a hot topic in Texas and other border states, Camacho predicted. And the need for ministry to immigrants will continue, he added.

“Once someone becomes a citizen, that is not the end,” Camacho said. Some have to renew documents annually; many people work to bring their families into the United States. But, as he noted, “We are a country of immigrants.”

Camacho can be reached at Immigration Services at (972) 562-4561.

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Carmelita Hernandez, a member of Iglesia Bautista Principe de Paz in Austin, drafted a guestworker pilot program proposal. (Photo by Ken Camp)

Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

AUSTIN–Carmelita Hernandez believes one person can make a difference–even when it comes to big issues like shaping the United States' immigration policy.

Hernandez, a member of Iglesia Bautista Principe de Paz in Austin, started working as a volunteer with undocumented workers during an amnesty program in the mid-1980s.

“I was so excited at the time, because it looked like our government cared enough to try to solve the problem of clearing up the status for people who were here then,” she said. “I thought it might lead to a new system of handling the immigration problem, but nothing happened.”

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

Hernandez said her faith in Christ motivates her each morning to ask, “OK, Lord, what do you want me to do today?”

She believed God opened her eyes to see an immigration system that tears families apart by placing workers in a position of choosing between being with their families or living where they can find jobs to support them.

She saw hard-working laborers who sent most of every paycheck back home to family in Mexico but who lacked the freedom to travel back home themselves because they feared they wouldn't be able to cross back over the border.

And she believed God led her to take action to remedy that perceived injustice.

Her passion for helping foreign-born workers in the United States grew so intense that she went back to school and earned an undergraduate degree in political science at the University of Texas with a concentration in immigration studies.

In 2000, she started writing a proposal for a guestworker pilot program that would allow immigrant workers temporary legal residency in the United States for designated time periods. She worked off-and-on preparing the proposal for more than a year before mailing it to President Bush.

“That was right before 9/11,” she lamented, thinking her proposal not only would get lost in the flurry of activity, but also might not be received as sympathetically by an administration focused on tightening homeland security.

When she received what appeared to be a routine form letter from the Department of Health and Human Services in October 2001, which acknowledged receipt of her proposal, she feared that meant her hard work was being relegated to bureaucratic limbo.

But she was pleasantly surprised when Sen. John Cornyn introduced the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2003.

While Hernandez is unsure whether Cornyn is just “likeminded” or whether her ideas were forwarded to him, the guestworker program recommended by his bill closely tracks her proposal.

As long as employers in the United States offer the allure of higher-paying jobs than workers can find in Mexico, laborers will find a way to cross the border, Hernandez believes.

“The problem is not going to go away,” she said.

Hernandez believes that if the United States and Mexico worked together to facilitate the legal border-crossing of guestworkers rather than trying to prohibit undocumented laborers, it would strengthen security by providing both nations a mechanism for regulation.

From contacts within her own church, she concluded the current system forces desperate workers to live in constant terror of discovery and deportation, and it disrupts families.

A guestworker program would allow a laborer to work legally in the United States, return to his native country to spend time with family, and then return to his job without fear, she believes.

“Most people (from Mexico) who are working here don't really want to stay here,” she said. “They want to be where their parents and grandparents are–where they have roots. They just want a job to provide for their families.”

For more information about the Border Security and Immigration Act, contact Suzii Paynter with the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission in Austin at (512) 473-2288 or suzii.painter@bgct.org.

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Immigration and churches_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Immigration and churches

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

AUSTIN–Immigration is not just a political issue to Texas Baptists; it's about churches and ministry, said Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy for the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission.

"So many of our Baptist churches have members who are in need of some kind of adjustment status" in regard to their residency in the United States, Paynter said. "It's a very large issue in our churches, and it's been brought to us by pastors."

People coming to the United States from Central American countries, where the Catholic Church is dominant, are used to turning to the church for help.

"Traditionally, the point of contact for an immigrant seeking information in a safe environment is the church," Paynter said. "They have a tradition of going to the priest."

In Central America, people consider the church a "point of sanctuary," and the church sees its efforts to help people as a "redemptive mission–the mission of helping people find their way to solve their problems," she said.

The Catholic Church in the United States has established immigration centers in their churches and invested more than $300 million is providing immigration services, Paynter said. “The Catholic Church was ready to help its members.”

Hispanic Baptist churches minister in that same cultural environment, but efforts to provide immigration services have been limited.

These Baptist churches want to respond to their members, their families and their communities, Paynter said. "They are asking for the BGCT to help support citizen training classes" and other efforts to assist immigrants with residency issues.

"If (immigrants) can't turn to us, they will turn to other churches and other traditions that will help them," she said.

In other words, immigration ministries are related to evangelism and church-starting efforts among this ever-growing segment of the Texas population, Paynter said.

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Congress expected to address immigration issues_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Congress expected to address immigration issues

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

AUSTIN–Expect to see change in United States immigration policy during this congressional session, said Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy for the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission.

“Our system is very broken, and the president has made it a priority” to fix the situation, Paynter said.

Three types of legislation are being considered in Congress–an agriculture jobs bill, new guestworker legislation and the Dream Act that would help non-citizen students fund a college education.

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

The Ag Jobs Act is the “most likely to be acted upon,” Paynter said. It would provide short-term relief for undocumented agricultural workers, granting them legal status when there is a shortage of legal, documented workers.

The act also would provide long-term relief through a change in visa status.

New guestworker legislation would change the rules by which non-citizens are allowed to work legally in the United States.

Several bills have been introduced, including one by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The Cornyn bill basically is a “shell” that supports President Bush's immigration priorities, but which still is far from being in final form.

The Dream Act would adjust the legal status of previously undocumented students who graduate from high school in the United States. This would enable them to attend a state university without paying out-of-country tuition.

Immigration is on the political agenda now, because “frankly, our economy depends on the work of guestworkers in our country,” Paynter said. But current law does not provide an adequate framework for legal

participation by those workers.

Non-citizen workers must wait an “inordinately” long period for legal documents, and “immigration law changes almost daily because of the policies and procedures,” Paynter said.

There also are inequities. Federal and state governments are spending a large amount of time and money in dealing with illegal immigrants, but they are “not holding employers accountable for illegalities” in regard to hiring those workers.

Also, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed everything. “All of our remedies were created before we had a security need,” she said.

Today, there is a “common perception that we're not defending our borders,” Paynter said.

That leads to the “assumption that we need to put a wall up and completely defend our borders.”

As a result of the varied issues, “there is a convergence of concern, … need … and the human reality,” she said. “Other countries all over the world live in cooperation with their neighbors,” but in the United States “a set of beliefs has developed based on prejudice.”

That prejudice is against immigrants from Central and South America, Paynter said. “If you talk about immigration from any other group, you don't get the same level of resistance.”

That resistance is, in part, based on fear that millions of people from south of the border will overwhelm the United States with huge numbers of immigrants, she said.

Rather than letting such fears determine the legal remedies, immigration policy should be based on good economics and accurate information, Paynter said. “We have to base our solutions on reality and not on perception or myth.”

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

How can churches help
undocumented immigrants?

Based on information provided by the Baptist General Convention of Texas immigration task force. For more information, contact Jim Young, director of the BGCT Missions Equipping Center, at (888) 311-3900.

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

Q. Can a church get in trouble for helping an undocumented immigrant?

A. It depends on the kind of help offered.

Q. What kind of assistance is permitted?

A. A church is free to provide basic benevolence services–food, clothing, shelter and medical help–to anyone.

Q. Is a church obligated to ask about anyone's immigration status?

A. Normally, the only time a church needs to ask is before hiring someone.

Q. Is there ever a time when a church would be required to determine someone's immigration status before providing basic benevolence?

A. If a church receives government funds for its community benevolence program, the government might require recipients to present legal identification.

Q. Is a pastor or church leader under any legal obligation to report an undocumented immigrant?

A. No.

Q. Can a church get in trouble for employing an undocumented immigrant?

A. Yes. And employment extends beyond church staff positions. If a church provides benevolence ministry to an undocumented immigrant and he or she offers to mow the yard, paint a room or perform some other service for the church in gratitude, that can present a legal problem.

Q. Can a church help people fill out forms and help them with immigration issues?

A. Yes, but it is advisable to obtain expert advice from an attorney who specializes in immigration law.

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Hispanic but multi-ethnic_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Hispanic but multi-ethnic

By Sarah Farris

Special to the Baptist Standard

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

Just because a Texas Baptist church calls itself “Hispanic” doesn't mean its members are all Mexican-American. Just ask Rolando Lopez, pastor of Northwest Hispanic Baptist Church in San Antonio, who says his congregation has anywhere from seven to nine nationalities represented.

“Each country has a different way of doing church–different idiosyncrasies, but we can all worship together,” he said.

Fredy Pavez, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Fuenta Viva in Amarillo, leads a church made up of people from Chile, Mexico, Cuba and Honduras.

Pavez explained that in each nationality, subtle variations in the Spanish language can at first make communication tense. Differences in each culture also can cause well-intentioned communication to be taken the wrong way.

“It took years for (church members) to understand each other,” he said. Now that they do, they have a strong community where they know each other and spend time together.

Because an individual's immigration status and documentation is considered private, it is not a point of separation within the church, the pastors said.

“We don't ask anyone if they are documented,” Lopez commented. “That is not what we're here for. We minister to people, no matter who they might be.”

A ministry at Iglesia Bautista Fuenta Viva that provides free advice from immigration lawyers to church members and the community halts tension before it starts by offering help to anyone who wants it, Pavez said.

He cautions Hispanic churches to not measure growth by the number of people who come for aid, but by the number of people who become active members of the church.

“People will be there for the programs, but maybe only one family will join the church,” Pavez said.

He advises pastors who are new to working with immigrants to attend a BGCT immigration seminar and to use multimedia to advertise the church and its programs.

“We have people who live near the church that have no idea about our services because they are scared to leave their house,” he said. “But they do watch TV and listen to the radio.”

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

By The Numbers: Ministering to Immigrants_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Texas has 1.1 million legal resident immigrants.

(2002 estimate from the U.S. Homeland Security Department)

Texas has close to 1.1 million undocumented immigrants.

(Urban Institute estimate, based on the 2000 census and March 2002 current population survey)

An additional 914,000 foreign-born Texas
residents are naturalized citizens.

(2000 census)

Number and percentage
of Texas population

Based on total Texas population of 20,851,820 (2000 census)

One out of every
seven Texans was
not born in
the United States.

—Clay Price, manager of Baptist General Convention of Texas Research & Information Services

All Foreign Born
2, 899,642
13. 9%

Mexico
1, 879,369
9. 0%

Vietnam
107, 027
0. 5%

El Salvador
101, 259
0. 5%

India
78, 388
0. 4%

China
69, 654
0. 3%

Philippines
45, 907
0. 2%

Caribbean
41, 777
0. 2%

Germany
39, 249
0. 2%

Canada
36, 802
0. 2%

United Kingdom
36, 176
0. 2%

Korea
35, 986
0. 2%

Honduras
33, 655
0. 2%

Pakistan
26, 981
0. 1%

Guatemala
26, 130
0. 1%

Colombia
22, 073
0. 1%

Nigeria
20, 927
0. 1%

Cuba
16, 011
0. 1%

Iran
15, 581
0. 1%

Japan
13, 070
0. 1%

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?

• Student develops resource to help churches grasp immigration issues

Additional Resources on Immigration:
• Proposed federal Legislation to Legalize Undocumented Farm Workers: The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003

• Undocumented Immigrants: Fact and Figures from the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program, 2004

• The Border Security and immigration Reform Act of 2003, section by section summary

(PDF files will open with the free Adobe Reader available here.)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

‘We are here illegally’: Texas Baptist family describes life as undocumented aliens_12405

February 1, 2005

Posted: 1/21/05

Texas Baptist family describes life as undocumented aliens

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

AUSTIN–Ernesto serves as a deacon at a Hispanic Baptist church in Austin. His wife, Maria, works in various ministries at the church. And like 1.1 million other people in Texas and more than 9.3 million in the United States, they are in this country illegally.

U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ricardo Marin looks along the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. Marin and his partner, U.S. Border Patrol agent Jesse Arellano, a 20-year veteran, patrol the river at different times of the day looking for illegals and drug smugglers. (Photo by Brad Doherty/Brownsville Herald)

Ernesto–who asked that his last name not be revealed–first left his home in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas more than seven years ago.

He and Maria could have scraped by on his 1,800-pesos-a-month pension, but their daughter dreamed of attending university in Monterrey and studying to become an orthodontist.

To make that dream a reality, he entered the United States on a tourist visa and started working in construction, lawn service–any job he could find where an employer demanded hard manual labor but didn't ask questions about legal residency.

"I needed to work," he said through an interpreter. "I thank the Lord he has given me the strength to do any kind of work."

Initially, he was able to travel readily back and forth between Texas and Mexico. But in 2000, his tourist visa was cancelled when authorities discovered he had a Texas driver's license.

To cross back into Texas, he enlisted the service of "coyotes"–smugglers who illegally transport undocumented aliens into the United States.

After paying a fee, the smuggler gave Ernesto the phone number of a contact whom he called when he reached Diaz Ordaz, across the border from Mission. That person helped him and several other people cross the Rio Grande in a large rubber raft.

Once they crossed the river, Ernesto and seven other Mexicans were led through a wooded area to a designated spot where they met their driver. He transported them an agreed-upon distance in the back of an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig, and then they were transferred to smaller trucks for their journey to various upstate destinations.

Migrants loaded into Groupo Beta pickups that were to transport them to bus stations after walking across the Gateway International Bridge, from Brownsville to Matamoros, Mexico.Photo by Brad Doherty

That arduous trek in 2000 marked the first of several times Ernesto entered the United States as coyotes' human cargo.

"The problem is that it's important to have money, so when you want to move, you have the money to pay someone," he said. "If you have good money, you get good coyotes."

By the same token, he added, immigrants know if they use some less-expensive coyotes, they risk being treated less humanely.

Ernesto began a regular routine–sending part of each paycheck back to Mexico to support his family and saving part to pay a smuggler so he could re-enter the United States after his next visit home.

Sometimes, the high cost of coyotes and increased security along the border after the 9/11 terrorist attacks combined to make those visits infrequent. On one occasion, Ernesto and Maria did not see each other for two years.

"You miss your partner," he said. "When I did go home, I would use the money I had saved here, and we would take a vacation at the beach."

Finally, in February last year, Maria joined Ernesto in Austin. For the last four years, he has worked with the same company on a drywall construction crew.

Many undocumented workers in Texas enter the United States from Mexico legally, but they overstay their visas. Nationally, 25 to 40 percent of illegal aliens are believed to fit that category.Photo by Brad Doherty

Ernesto said it would be "wonderful" to have papers where he could travel freely back to Mexico. He lost his pension from his former employer in Mexico because he was not there to fill out the necessary paperwork. Ernesto and Maria see their daughter only when she can afford to come visit them.

"She can come to us, but we cannot go to her," he said. But for now, he said: "I feel calm about it. We're trusting in the Lord, and we're not afraid."

When asked what he would want Texas Baptists to know about him and his family, he responded simply: "We are here illegally. If we could obtain legal residency, it would be so much better. But
we are here. And we are Texas Baptists, too."

• Pastor sees BUA as 'God-sent' opportunity for undocumented student

• Austin woman believes citizens can shape immigration policy

• FAQs: How can churches help undocumented immigrants?