32nd annual Posada Sin Fronteras calls for welcoming migrants with compassion and kindness

On December 13, 2025, religious, human rights, and civil society groups celebrated the 32nd annual Posada Sin Fronteras event at the border in San Diego while partners in Tijuana did the same at Playas de Tijuana. The event commemorated the nativity story of Jesus’ birth, with Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter on Christmas Eve.

Their journey in search of safe haven is reflected in the experiences of thousands of families migrating to the United States and around the world who face unimaginable circumstances. These include an ever-increasing denial of basic rights and protections by governments.

In the face of such cruel violence, the attendees of La Posada Sin Fronteras called for collective worship and mutual support to welcoming migrating people with compassion and kindness.

People remembered those who died crossing into the United States or are under custody. They heard testimonies by people experiencing displacement. They sang Christmas carols and broke bread, giving each other signs of peace while the border wall's shadow cast over them.

This year’s theme, “Together as one people of God,” underscores how collective worship and mutual support are essential to welcoming migrating people with kindness and open arms, since everyone reflects the Divine Spirit. The keynote speaker in San Diego was the Most Reverand Michael Pham, Roman Catholic Bishop of San Diego, who is the nation’s first Vietnamese American diocesan bishop.

Organizations involved in the coordination of the event included the AFSC US-Mexico Border Program, Point Loma Nazarene University’s Center for Justice and Reconciliation, Office for Life, Peace, and Justice of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, San Diego First Church of the Nazarene, Journey Home, First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, USD’s San Diego Mulvaney Center and the Program in Latin American Studies, and numerous faith-based and human rights groups in Tijuana.