Pope blesses immigrants, others watching from the U.S. side

Immigrants and residents gathered along the U.S.-Mexico border to watch as Pope Francis offered a silent prayer for migrants say they were overcome with emotion by the pontiff’s gesture.

Before the start of his Mass across the border in Ciudad Juarez on Wednesday, Francis walked up a platform next to the Rio Grande and blessed people gathered a few yards away on the U.S. side.

Angelica Ortiz is one of about 500 people who were invited to be on the U.S. side. She could barely speak after the pope’s prayer, saying in Spanish, “I’m overcome by emotion, a lot of emotion.”

Ortiz says she left Juarez because drug traffickers threatened her son’s life. She now lives in El Paso after being granted asylum with the help of a local migrant assistance group.