SAN ANTONIO – Churches across the Southwest are leading the fight to help migrant families reunite.

Church leaders at San Fernando Cathedral are planning to travel to the border as they say the urgency for help is increasing.

San Antonio Mennonite Church Pastor John Garland couldn't wait to leave and sprinted down to the U.S. Mexico border on Sunday shortly after morning church services.

According to Garland, Mexican churches on the other side of the border in Nuevo Laredo are flooded with 200 to 300 deportees a day. Many of them are without their children.

Garland said he and many other church leaders are on a mission.

“Reunification is not going to be easy but it must happen. It must happen. We have the resources to divide families, which means we have the resources to bring families together," said Garland.

Garland is not alone demanding action. Sunday night in Tornillo, near El Paso, where the federal government is housing immigrants in tents, thousands of protestors gathered in support of the detainees.

That scene was repeated at San Fernando, where hundreds called for immediate reunification of families. Inside the King William church Garland leads, church members studied their budget on how best to spend to money to help the immigrant cause.

Former State Rep and congregant Mike Villareal shared his story as the son of an immigrant. Villareal said his father brought his family to the U.S., and worked hard through the immigration policies at the time to become a citizen.

"Why can't we continue to have those kind of policies for today's people who seek a better life? We can. We need to choose to do so," Villareal said. 

Garland's plan is to cross into Mexico on Monday or Tuesday and work with churches to help identify deported families who want to know where their children could be in the U.S.

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