NBC7’s Liberty Zabala explains how a priest from Chicago turned this into a day of love.
Shaky hands, butterflies, looking deeply into one another’s eyes: these are all normal wedding day feelings, but for four couples in Tijuana, Sunday’s ceremony had an even deeper meaning. After they're married, they will try to cross into the United States together to seek political asylum.
The couples are part of a caravan of some 300, mostly Central American migrants trying to escape unrest in their countries.
Before crossing the border into San Diego, the couples were married in a joint wedding ceremony in Tijuana Sunday morning.
Pastor Emma Lozano of Chicago’s Lincoln United Methodist Church wore symbolic butterfly wings as she sought to transform the lives of the brides and grooms before her.
After the ceremony, the festive group was serenaded by love songs like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” while a crowd of journalists and supporters congregated around them.
And while for many Sunday’s event may be engulfed by politics, these newlyweds now have the comfort of a hand to hold for whatever life brings on the other side of the border.
Customs and Border Protection officials told NBC 7 the San Ysidro border had reached capacity for those without appropriate entry documentation by Sunday afternoon, so for now, the newlyweds will have to wait in Tijuana.
