With a kiss and a bear hug, Neibe Cordero and Luis Alberto Martinez were married with other Venezuelan couples who recently arrived in New York seeking asylum.
 
While it might not have been the initial wedding of their dreams, their marriage had a much more important meaning than a simple commitment, said Father Fabian Arias, who performed the ceremonies at St. Peters Church in Midtown Manhattan. 
 
“What is happening in New York City is that in the shelters they don’t consider them as a family legally, so they separate them, the mother with her children, and the dad by itself somewhere else,” said Father Fabian Arias from Saint Peter’s Church.

Martinez and his bride came to New York City from Texas two weeks ago seeking asylum. They remember the nightmare trekking through South and Central America for four months until they arrived here.
 
“We slept on the streets, in parking lots and, when we arrived in Piedras Negras, it was another Odyssey, we almost got killed and kidnapped, we had no money,” Martinez said.
 
“We were lucky, God was always with us, he never left us, and that is why the people who are now in the Darien, and want to come here even though the border is closed, may God protect them,” Cordero said.

What usually takes months of planning a wedding, for these couples, it took a couple of minutes. They came to the church to look for other resources and when they were told that the ceremonies would be held to prevent couples or families from being separated in shelters; they did not doubt for a second to do it. 

Currently, the couple is in a shelter waiting to get their immigration status settled, and hoping to work soon.

According to the mayor’s office, nearly 20,000 asylum seekers have been through the city’s shelter system over the past few months.

Father Arias will continue officiating weddings next Sunday and hopes to continue supporting immigrants with the help that they need.