When I was a teen (around late 2015 early 2016) we used to assist every Thursday to a small novus ordo "youth group" in a very ugly hotel full of spiders, weeds and uncanny green carpets. We would sit upon the dirt of the creepy playground near the pool, play some "meaningful" games and maybe receive some information on typical mexican novus ordo conservative talking points like the pro-life movement, the divine mercy devotion or the poor.
Mass migration was a talking point as well. In our town we used to receive the visits of this poor souls, coming from central america all sun-baked and hungry, the dried out prey of human traffickers, american groomers and drug dealers. They prowled around the streets asking for money or food, and would bless those who gave them charity. To say that the mexican people would be nice to them is a lie; many of them were rude or just ignored them.
The reason there were so many of them is that the railways passed very near to our town; if the train was going slow, they could leap from it.
Right in front of those railways there was some sort of adobe shed, stuffed with food and other good things. When the train passed in front of them, people would throw food bags or medicines to the migrants, hoping they would benefit from it.
Out not-so-bright "youth group" took us excitedly in a trip to the railways, as if we were to see the zookeeper feeding orcas or monkeys. There was a dude right there and he explained us how he ran his charity organization. They would throw food if the migrants could not stop, and if they managed to descend, they would provide them medicines, a shower, warm clothings and maybe a place to sleep.
All of this is very nice, but of course it is not the whole story. The illegals are victims of the establishment just as everyone else.
The guy told us that instead of giving them money, we should give them food or bottled water. Why? because giving them money would make them wish to stay in Mexico.
Yes, I am not lying. This dude didn't wanted illegals on his land. Also, I realize now he said something very stupid, because if we gave them money, they would probably start buying food first. He told us some migrants would express their desire to stay in Mexico and he would tell them no. "They should go to the United States" "Such was their intention, that's their final destination".
And all of this was very surprising to me, because in Mexico they would have it easier in some ways. There would be less language barriers and their culture, while different, is probably very similar to ours. Not all mexican towns are ridden with rampant insecurity and mass shootings; in fact our state is pretty safe.
If they continued their long travel to the US, they would face the difficulties that arise from travelling illegally: human traffickers, angry locals, unscrupulous coyotes and of course the dangers of the desert, diseases and starvation. Do they not travel to help their families back in their countries? Months of travelling to America would mean their children would be going on without help for longer. But this guy didn't care. "Such was their intention, that's their final destination".
And nobody objected to his sayings. After seeing the "feed the migrant" show, we left the place and went back home.
This was around the last months we remained in the novus ordo. First, we stopped going to the liturgy of encounter with the bread. This started around November 2015. Then we dropped the youth group. I think the final straw came in March 2016, when my father and my brother went to the celebration in Ash Wednesday and there was a nun consecrating hosts.
The last novus ordo liturgy I attended to was a depressing "sunday mass" accompanied with some sort of band, celebrated on the street under a white plastic canopy, all the picnic chairs looking at a square house garage full of religious images.
I have never gone to a novus ordo mass since then, and I don't miss it.
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