Embracing the spirit of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, Ivonne Moreno-Rodriguez, Social Work Supervisor from Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC (CIS-NYC), joined the 22nd Annual Migrant Trail Walk that ended on June 1st. Ivonne and 43 humanitarian workers completed the 75-mile, seven-day pilgrimage from Sasabe, Mexico to Tucson Arizona to honor the over 8,000 migrants who have died at the border since the 1990s, to denounce decades of inhumane border polices, and this year with the current administration, to oppose the weaponization of the immigration laws.

With temperatures up to 100 degrees during the day, the group walked through the Sonora Desert carrying crosses, some bearing the names of migrants who died in the desert and others bearing the word “desconocido/a” — Spanish for “unknown”. Ivonne carried the crosses of two migrants that were found in 2009 and were not identified. For her, “It was such a humbling experience because I was thinking about the dreams that these migrants had coming to the US, their horrible death, and the pain of their families that are probably still looking for them.”

Every few miles during the walk, an organizer would conduct a roll call. Each walker would read the name of the person in their cross and when a name was called out, the group would respond with a loud “present” symbolizing that these deaths are not forgotten. The group also carried the indigenous prayer ties with 154 satchels containing tobacco that represents each of the remains found in the Arizona desert since June 2024 (according to figures from Humane Borders).

As part of a community of faith and having Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini as the Patron Saint of Immigrants, Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC deepens its
commitment to migrants in the NYC area and continues opposing the inhumane immigration “deterrence” polices that intentionally divert migrants fleeing violence and uncertainty in their countries into the most remote and deadly terrain.