Abstract
Sainthood is an unlikely title for a soldier accused of rape and murder and later executed for his alleged misdeeds. But Juan Castillo Morales, affectionately known as Juan Soldado, has become the unofficial patron saint of poor Mexicans trying to cross the U.S. border. Because, as the legend goes, Castillo Morales was unjustly blamed for a crime committed by his superiors, he has become a symbol of those who are treated unfairly and let down by the justice system. “He is very miraculous,” said Luis Jiménez, a 60-year-old Mexican now living in Tijuana. When trying to cross the border from Mexico into California, Jiménez fell into a ditch and broke his ankle. He believed that he would perish in the parched desert all alone. Instead, a pickup truck appearing out of nowhere, drove by and found him. The California family not only rescued him but delivered him back across the border to a hospital in Mexico. “I believe that Juan Soldado sent them to find me,” said Jimenez (Watson 2001, p. 1). Ever since, he visits the soldier’s tomb to thank him every year.
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Levitt, P. (2006). Immigration. In: Ebaugh, H.R. (eds) Handbook of Religion and Social Institutions. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23789-5_20
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