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Show Saturday, January 1, DAIIY 2005 7 1 ; 4 i $ 1 HE R A L D r F7 I I i ! f :JLf:...-i- l 'I 6 r the evening meal outside a migrant shelter on Sept. 30, in Alter, "Mexico. Vanega said he used his earnings from the family farm in to the United States. cross and to his from father, try help Carlos Enrique Cano Vanega awaits in I! c Faith plays large role in migra to in the United State; journey Anabelle Gray THE ASSOCIATED PRESS perform miracles for migrants Inn r.m :: lie Church. According to legend. Ju,m s..;; soldier who was wrongly accused ':. Similar, scattered religious message migrants that God not only is accoihp.im watching over their loved ones. In Altai Mondragon, 56, frequented the Catholic nephew, who left Mexico bound for tin-Olaf Avila ( months after yet to hear from him. "I went to ask for the miracle t hat (nr.! grant me," said Garcia, a shop owner co. "More than anything, hope that The family still clung to the hope thai one of the hundreds of migrants who !".. same journey. The names of some of tin on crosses nailed or tied to the tops oi it route from Altar to the border toniniiin ' serving as a reminder of the danger A Migrants setting out on foot f r for the tough terrain and t or roads. Often, they don't knov mi i frigid cold in the winter and seantis; Ik the snakes and spiders; and t he ban. ... crews hiding in wait for victims. Faced with such threatening reali: how they get through such a joiii nc .';.. "It's divine protection on an oilii . dangerous journey," Hagan said "It .. ;!l hardship." In the desert, volunteers who man U.S. side of the border for illegal io-- . bibles and rosary beads scattered an.. .; food wrappers, backpacks and clot lies n: At times, they've also discovered ant f tions, a symbol used by one indigenous sj "To the Yaquis that is 'God bless v m ai eage'," said the Rev. Robin Hoover, foiiiv ders, a group that operates some ot t he v profound blessing." Some of the items hold sentimental v.iJi lars sometimes seen hanging on tree hi ..: laces have a prayer and a saint stamped given as a gift to young people for c nt it "Why was it there? Was it for t he nev came through? Was it a person in despan Carney, a Tucson Catholic priest who a .i Migrants that make it deeer into Ana graffiti on interstate supports. Those as people smugglers ai by coyotes leave the messages and drawings. Once they reach their destinations. !!M, a church or shrine to offer thanks f! tic i Mexico Along a northbound dirt road, a young ALTAR, clad in jeans and jumps out of an idling walks toward the path's edge, making for a white concrete box with an ornate wrought iron cross perched on top. Dozens of candles some lit, some melted, some broken makeshift altar, along are crammed inside the with statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and' St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes. - As the couple kneels before the display with bowed heads, a little boy runs out of the van and kisses the ground. ' The humble altar some 60 miles south of the Mexico-Arizon- a border serves as one of the last few places where migrants worship before being shuttled to spots where they will attempt to slip illegally into the United States on foot. On their trek for economic survival, migrants traveling through the treacherous Arizona desert also find themselves embarking on a religious journey. Many rely on faith to sustain them through the trip's perils, stopping to pray at icons or lighting votive candles to remember those who died along the way. Before jumping aboard moving cargo trains during the trip Carnorth, many of the Central American migrants los Enrique Cano Vanega was traveling with would pray by the side of the tracks. "We began to entrust ourselves to God and asked that he would keep us safe," said Cano, a Honduran man who had traveled to this Mexican community recently in preparation for an attempted trip to the United States. Typically, people seek spiritual comfort during troubled times. And culturally, Latin Americans identify themselves as religious, even if they don't attend services regularly, said for the Center for Immigration Jacqueline Hagan, Research at the University of Houston. But in the case of poor immigrants, reliance on faith is even heavier because they have virtually no other resources, Hagan said. "The only recourse they have is to turn to religion and that's all they really have on the road as well," she said. Religious symbols and shrines can be spotted along the paths taken by such migrants, from their hometowns to the border and beyond. Before embarking on a trek into the United States, indigenous residents of the Guatemalan highlands seek counsel about whether to make the trip and when to go from evangelical pasd tors or the Black Christ, a depiction of Jesus common in parts of Latin America, Hagan said. "Religion is their spiritual passport in the absence of authorization," she said. "They get sanctioned by God to do this." While on the road, some turn to biblical passages that mirror their travels, such as those citing how the Israelites wandered dark-skinne- ion.-,-ha- ! ii- 1 i.: '"-- " : i i "if A S4'. " Photo ! ''' t by MATT VORKAssociated Press the back of a Catholic Mass held for migrant travelers tn Sept. 30, in Alter, Mexico. On their trek for economic survival, migrants traveling through treacherous desert also find themselves embarking on a religious journey. A man kneels in through the desert under God's guidance. For Cand and others on the train, reading the New Testament to each other brought comfort. "You feej something, because you feel safer than being out there" without anything to sustain you, he said at a migrant shelter in Altar, a city that serves as a popular staging area for migrants planning to cross the border at Arizona. Closer to the international line in Tijuana, Mexico, migrants pray at a shrine dedicated to Juan Soldado, a folk hero said to -- , Court says interstate agreement doesn't apply to unborn THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A state appeals court has ruled that an interstate agreement meant to protect children taken across state lines for adoption doesn't apply to the unborn. The court, in a ruling handed downThursday, held that the law doesn't apply to unborn children of expectant mothers ' SALT LAKE CITY who travel to Utah to deliver and surrender their babies. Each year, more than 100 expectant mothers from other states travel to Utahfto deliver their babies and surrender them to adoption agencies. Before a child can be placed across state lines, the Interstate Compact on the Place- ment of Children requires an adoption agency to notify the receiving state1 jJf the child's name, date of btrh and birth place. The requirements allow authorities to evaluate the child and make sure that the placement is in his (kjipr best inter- nr est, i But judges ruled that the compact doesn't apply to unborn childrea "If the ICPC were intended to apply to unborn children," its rules would reference "intended name, expected date of birth and planned place of birth," wrote Judge Gregory K. Orme. "If a child is unborn, many of the circumstances surrounding the child are still unknown and cannot be evaluated until after tne birth of the child," Orme wrote. , Utah adoptions require cbn- - t firmation by a state judge. But in 2001, the state Department of Human Services warned aaopiion agencies H was cracKon wno aown in tnose rjeg ing adoption arrangements for outr wnmpn without notice to Utah or their home state. Thr.ee agencies sued, ar- guing the enforcement was " unconstitutional, arguing that applying the law to unborn chil di i v. sta:- - woi ' i n i.iti Ciiv at Ait' oi i cm u . hs-- i sia V . |