• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Humphrey Hawksley

Author, commentator and broadcaster

  • Home
  • About
  • Journalism
  • Books
  • Humphrey’s
    Diary
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
    & Photos
  • Rake Ozenna Thrillers
  • Future History
  • International Thrillers
  • Non-Fiction
  • All Books

Republican missionaries in New Mexico

26th November 2005

NEW MEXICO November 2005

Soon America’s Hispanic community is expected to make up a quarter of the population with a thousand billion dollars of spending power. But still many millions are living in poverty without citizenship or many of their basic needs met. And there’s where America’s missionaries step in.

A couple of hours before the sun began its afternoon decline, with the huge New Mexican sky already bruised with tints of orange, I looked through a dust cloud thrown up by a passing pick-up truck, hoping that when it cleared, the local activist who’d asked us here would suddenly – as if by magic – appear.

She didn’t, and after forty minutes of waiting, I sensed we’d been stood up.

The name of this place was Parajito Mesa just outside of Alburquerque, a vast desert scrubland stretching towards the foothills of mountains, with no power, electricity, sewage, paved roads – yet it was where hundreds of mainly Mexican immigrant families had ended up living.

We were in New Mexico to look at America’s Hispanic community after a series of surveys predicted that over the next generation it would become the biggest community in the country – and one moving from impoverished migration to that of political and economic powerbroker.

On influential academic, Samuel Huntingdon, had caused a stir by arguing that the persistent flow of Hispanic immigrants threatened to divide the United States into two peoples – because America had been built on Anglo-Protestant values.

A battered van spluttered over the brow of a hill. ‘Can I help you guys at all?’ asked the driver.

I hesitated, not sure if he could. Then he pointed proudly. ‘Down there, see that’s our Church.’

Through the sun haze, there was a stark biblical image. Three crosses made of tree branches bound together, and held upright by mounds of freshly-turned earth. Just back from them was a cream-brownish structure.

‘That’s a church?’ I asked incredulously.

‘Sure. Come and have a look.’

Stupidly, as we drove closer, I was assuming that our new guide Juan Houlguin was a Catholic. But the Protestant church turned out to be two shipping containers with a sheet roof between them and an old wooden table pushed up against the side as an altar.

There was a barren pragmatism about the whole scene.

A few years ago, it might have meant little. But in today’s America, Protestant evangelism tends to be linked to the right, a blending of religion and politics which makes many uneasy.

‘Ah here’s Pastor Larry,’ said Juan looking at dust swirling under the wheels of an approaching saloon car bearing a President Bush bumper sticker on the back.

Pastor Larry Scott was a tall, intelligent, weather-beaten man who was with the Church of the Nazarene, and he took us off to see the Quezada family, about a mile away.

The Quezadas came to America illegally thirteen years ago. They still have no papers and run a scrap metal yard of wrecked cars and live in a couple of trailers. Their electricity comes from a bank of car batteries. Water is trucked in in tanks from the city.

The family income, of about five dollars a day each, is way below the official poverty line – which means that the family matriarch Josephine Quesalda scours local churches for food and supplies.

When asked about her religion, Josephine shrugged. ‘We live how we can,’ she said.

Larry Scott was working out his Thanksgiving gifts. He wanted to abandon turkeys and hand out propane gas cylinders instead.

‘This is missionary work,’ he said. ‘People here are living at subsistence level. I enjoy it.’

‘But they’re mainly Catholic,’ I said awkwardly. ‘And you’re…’

‘We have the same Jesus,’ he said. ‘The difference is that the culture they come from is very authoritative. We aim to change that.’

It wasn’t until later, when we visited a local Hispanic charity, that it became clear just how highly charged this issue was.

‘After 9/11 the government stoked the fire fear,’ said Maria Lopez, who has been helping Hispanics for years. ‘They are trying to make terrorists out of Mexican workers. But we will stop it. Hispanics are now getting into every tier of government. We have Hispanic judges. Hispanic chiefs of police. There’s a feeling that our time has come.’

Not all Hispanics are immigrants. Many millions are descended from the Spanish conquistadors, their bloodlines running back to the Sixteenth Century. Loretta Armenta is one, a multi-millionaire who runs New Mexico’s telecom company.

Talk about US policy towards Hispanic immigration and she bristles.

‘No-one ever complained when immigrants came over from Europe,’ she said. ‘The Irish, the Germans, the Italians. They were applauded. They didn’t have problems with papers. What’s the difference between them and people from Latin America. Tell me that. They’re human beings, too.’

How much is policy driven by the religious right? I asked.

She swallowed hard, thought for a moment, then said softly. ‘It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to our country. I don’t carry my faith as a Catholic into my business. Nor should they. When you have a faith-based organizations, it’s very difficult for the general public to understand what’s behind it and any time there’s a hidden agenda, it’s not safe.’

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Primary Sidebar

For enquiries and further information

To contact Humphrey:
[email protected]

Before sending your email address please read our GDPR Compliance Statement and Privacy Notice to reassure yourself that we are looking after your data responsibly.

More reports

How close are we to a Third World War?

Times Radio discussion with Rod Liddle and Lord Owen. … [Read More...]

Screenshot of Democracy Forum webinar

Climate change: South Asia’s biggest threat?

Imagine waking up to find your home submerged, your crops destroyed, and your community in chaos—all … [Read More...]

‘New norms? The role of the Indo-Pacific in a changing world’

New norms? The role of the Indo-Pacific in a changing world

The Democracy Forum presents a round-table discussion, titled ‘New norms? The role of the … [Read More...]

The Democracy Forum 2024 - Pakistan

Political economy: The genesis of uneven growth in Pakistan

The Democracy Forum presents a round-table discussion, titled: Political economy: The genesis of … [Read More...]

Faultlines in China’s internal economic policies

The Democracy Forum Presents a studio discussion, titled ‘Faultlines in China’s internal economic … [Read More...]

From Our Own Correspondent

The Philippines — How China Plans to Win the Asia-Pacific

3rd March 2017

Taiwan-China – a Flashpoint Once More

19th February 2017

Living on America’s Border with Russia

28th August 2015

World Peace Begins in the Bedroom

5th June 2015

The curse of gold

30th May 2012

The supply chain children

30th January 2012

Experiments in aid

30th January 2011

Joining the club

30th July 2010

Banking nuclear fuel

26th January 2010

The ceremony of port

30th December 2009

Dancing with the devil

30th June 2009

The Contractor’s War

30th March 2009

Sharing your man for Jesus

30th March 2009

A million good workers needed

30th October 2008

Russia’s human weapon

30th September 2008

Cold War bunker

30th August 2008

Smoke-filled rooms and the law

30th June 2008

War scars, a handshake and a beacon

26th June 2008

Make knives not war

30th March 2008

Baghdad banking and real estate boom

30th January 2008

America is our ally

30th November 2007

Russia’s red line over Kosovo

30th October 2007

Big Brother is watching us all

30th September 2007

Small town with a big heart

30th June 2007

The democratic mission

30th May 2007

How Kosovo worked

30th January 2007

Hell escape

30th November 2006

Reporting from Israel

30th August 2006

Peace? With our politicians – never

26th June 2006

Lenin and Mao – One day they’ll get it right

30th May 2006

China in the backyard

30th April 2006

Reporting from Poland

26th February 2006

Addicted to oil

26th February 2006

The boy who lived on a garbage dump

30th December 2005

The American dream

30th July 2005

Why did they fight?

30th April 2005

Haunted by the Ottomans

27th February 2005

Empires and abortion

30th December 2004

The young political elite

30th September 2004

Beer with the Hizbollah

30th July 2004

The patriot act

30th June 2004

An economist in Patagonia

27th April 2004

Someone else in her house

28th February 2004

Big threats, no health care

30th December 2003

Inside India’s nuclear program

30th November 2003

Suicide slum

30th September 2003

The politics of SARS

30th April 2003

The Christian mission

27th February 2003

Blood cocoa

30th May 2002

The war crime pen-pushers

30th January 2002

Triple border terror

30th January 2002

Europe’s apartheid

30th September 2001

The blonde and the dying

30th March 2001

Never to be freed

30th January 2000

One wrong turning

30th May 1999

Footer

Travel & Food Blog

Humphrey’s favourite place in Anchorage, Alaska – Mount Baldy

Taiwan – Old China blends with New Asia

For Winter Sun, Unwind in Dubai

Bhutan – Land of Luxury & Legends

Hong Kong & the Great Outdoors

Search site

Goldster

  • The Goldster Conversations Podcast
  • Goldster Conversations Video Archive

Connect with Humphrey

Join Humphrey’s mailing list

Subscribe

Email Humphrey

For general enquiries and bookings for events:

[email protected] and [email protected]

Copyright © 2008–2025 Humphrey Hawksley · All rights reserved · Site Terms, Cookies and Privacy · GDPR Compliance Statement · Website by LiT Web Studio

  • Contact & Photos
  • Subscribe
Manage Cookie Consent
This site uses cookies and other tracking technologies to assist with navigation and your ability to leave comments, analyse your use of our website, assist with our social media promotional efforts, and provide content from third parties.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Cookie choices
{title} {title} {title}