El Paso church ready to help Haitian refugees from Del Rio

EL PASO, Texas — An El Paso church is preparing to be an ad hoc shelter for some of the nearly 13,000 Haitians at the border in Del Rio. 

Pastor Jean-Jacob Jeudy, a retired captain in the U.S. Army and a Haitian himself, has been helping refugees from the country get on their feet and find a new home in the United States. 

“What I see under the bridge is very heartbreaking,” Jeudy explained. 

Since this past summer, when Haiti’s president was assassinated and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 people, Jeudy has been helping refugees fleeing the country and ending up in the Sun City. 

His church has helped process and relocate 1,100 refugees from Haiti to other areas in the country with a more established Haitian population. Jeudy provides shelter and education on citizenship and the laws of the United States. 

“Know how to conduct yourself so that you don’t get in trouble,” Jeudy explained. 

Jeudy said he has not yet received any of the 13,000 refugees that have been seen camping under an international bridge in Del Rio last week, but he is still preparing the church for more people to help. 

Right now, Jeudy has not received any word from immigration agencies to get ready to take in any of the Haitian refugees from Del Rio.