Experiencing the Border

In my last post I promised to write about my experience on the Mexican side of the border from a trip with an organization called BorderLinks. BorderLinks takes delegation groups (college groups, youth groups, law school students, various interest groups, etc...) on trips across the border to educate them about border issues on the Mexican side. We were only gone for three days and two nights, but it seemed like at least a week because it was so packed with intense information. Our group (the Tucson YAVs and the four YAVs from Hollywood, CA) started in Tucson with an introduction to the border by Rev. John Fife. This extraordinary man started the Sanctuary Movement in the 1980's for central American refugees fleeing from their homelands during periods of military violence. He organized an underground railroad of sorts to host refugees from these countries who were being recognized by the US as illegal immigrants instead of refugees. When deported many of these people would have to face the death squads in their home countries who they were fleeing from in the first place. He was taken to court and eventually got the national policy changed, to make a long story short. He brought up the point that the Church has historically been strong in taking care of marginalized peoples' temporary needs by providing charity (soup kitchens, clothing drives etc.), but has not been strong historically in fighting the root causes of marginalization. The charity aspect is absolutely critical, because people do have daily needs, but it is really like treating the burns without lifting your hand from the flames. This brings about another huge question:
is it morally right to go against a law that one knows is inhumane? Also, what should be the government's role in eradicating the causes of marginalization in our country? These are of course questions that our country has been wrestling with for many decades, but it is interesting to attack these questions from the perspective of a border town.

Our first stop in Mexico was Nogales. Immediately after crossing the border we were in a third world country. The streets were awful (not to mention the drivers!) and most of the buildings, especially houses, did not seem to be structurally sound. I won't be able to say every stop we made, since it would take forever, but I'll go over some highlights. We hung out at the Wall and admired some pieces of art that had been painted and sculpted on the Mexican side of the Wall. We met up with the artists, who were able to explain their intentions with the art. That night a couple trip mates and I stayed in a Mexican family's house... well it was on its way to becoming a house anyway. The mother's name was Blanca and the hospitality given to us was incredible. Their house had cinder block walls and a roof made from a piece of tin with holes in it. There was no door and the family was exposed to more weather than people in a house should be. Despite this they cooked us two wonderful meals and their two boys gave up their room so that we could have beds to sleep in. The next day we visited the Center for Repatriated Minors, which was especially sad to see. These were minors who were caught trying to cross the border, who had been sent back to this center to be sent back to their home towns.

One of the most striking points of the trip came when we visited Altar (pronounced All-tar). This is the main jump off point for migrants who are planning to cross the border. There are crowds of people, who are from all over, waiting in the town square, and there are backpack vendors and water vendors lining the streets, obviously selling supplies to migrants planning on making the journey. We also visited a "guest house" for migrants, which was a run down room full of bunk beds that had pieces of plywood instead of mattresses. The floor was covered in flies that were feeding on dried bodily fluids and each migrants was charged 50 pesos per night, which is a night ($5), which does not seem like much until you realized that these people are making an average of $3 per day. In order to eat they are charged another 35 pesos. Along one side of the town square there are large white vans lined up, which are driven by Coyotes (people who charge huge fees to smuggle migrants into the US), just waiting to pick up a van full of migrants to take them to a remote part of the desert where they can walk for 3 days to make it into the US. One man who we talked with asked if it was hard to cross the desert and after getting over my shock I told him, through and interpreter, that yes it is extremely difficult and many people die in the process. Coyotes tend to lie to migrants to make the trip seem like it will be a piece of cake. We obviously stuck out like sore thumbs in this crowd and I felt a little guilty for taking a trip to observe these struggling people. But I have to remind myself that being educated about this process is not mere tourism.

That night we slept on the floor of a migrant shelter (different than the barf-covered floors of the guest house) run by the Catholic church in the area. Here we got the chance to share a meal with some migrants planning to cross the desert. When we got back to Tucson we spent some time in the federal court and got the chance to talk with a judge about immigration law. That was a real treat and we had a great discussion. I made a promise with myself before leaving for Tucson that I would stay open minded to all perspectives of the issues on the border and I will continue to keep that promise. I have found it important, however, to learn more about a few things that will be crucial when one is forming an opinion about undocumented workers and immigration policy. First, I strongly recommend learning more about the history of the US-Mexico border. It is important to learn about the trends of the past and the history of immigration policy along this border. Another important piece in learning the motivation for migrants to come to the US is to look at economic policies and partnerships between our countries. One of the main policies that is important is called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). One term in this agreement was that Mexico would stop agricultural subsidies to its farmers, which drove the prices of their crops way up and allowed US crops to be sold much cheaper in Mexico. Thousands of farmers were driven out of business in this way. I said earlier in this post that the average person in Nogales is making around $3 per day, which does not cut it. These are a couple initial factors to take into consideration when making up one's mind about comprehensive immigration policy reform. I would love to hear anyone's opinion on anything written in this post or anyone's opinion about border policy in general. Salud!

I'm growing a "beard"

Since arriving in Tucson I've decided to grow a "beard," or my version of one. This is something that I've never done before and the experiment brings about some interesting findings. The most shocking being that I am almost fully Amish. This is to be taken as a high compliment, as Amish living is extremely awesome. Actually Sean and Kirk, the other two guys in the Tucson house, are growing beards as well. Is there something about moving to the desert and doing service mission work that compels men to grow wild facial hair? We'll see how long this keeps up, but for the time being, I like it...

Yesterday I arrived back in Tucson after a two week period of traveling in Mexico and New Mexico. We learned about border issues first hand in Mexico and had time to meet other national YAVs and set our minds and spirits in the right direction at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. I will be posting stories from these experiences shortly.

Pain in the City

It has become more apparent to me how much pain and struggle there is in the city of Tucson. This is best illustrated by an experience I had while running an errand one afternoon about a week ago. There is a bike path behind our house that runs along the Santa Cruz River, which only has water in it when there is a storm. I was riding along this path to get into town and saw some police lights and an area that was taped off, which is not too unusual a site anywhere, so I thought nothing of it. On the way home the police and their tape were gone, but I saw a man in the same spot who had a woman by the hair. He was jerking her around and punching her. I rode by and then turned back a couple seconds later to call the cops, but they had started running off. There was a homeless man, who was extremely worked up, named Leo, sitting where I turned around on my bike that told me that the police from before were there because a man had been shot. Leo heard the gun shots and saw the victim laying on the ground groaning. I had some phone numbers for shelters in Tucson where Leo could stay the night back at the house, so I left to grab them and rode back to Leo, where we had a long conversation about what had happened and about his experiences that led to his homelessness. While we were talking a woman approached us and asked if either of us wanted to go behind the bushes and "mess around." When we weren't interested she turned and ran off. Our house has a car at the moment, until it gets sold, so I went back to the house and got Kirk to come with me in the car to give Leo a ride to the shelter. Leo was extremely grateful and kept saying that he knew that God had sent Kirk and I to help him out on that particular day; and maybe he was right. Maybe I was supposed to meet Leo. Getting him to a shelter for one night is such a tiny piece of what a person needs, but the experience has begun to shape my view of the problems and pain in Tucson in a much more profound way. Within thirty minutes I witnessed an abundance of suffering and brokenness on one street corner. I felt helpless in a way, because the only thing I could do was help one person in a miniscule way. Is there something about the way our system works that forces people into these horrible situations? It's necessary for me to remind myself constantly that it will take something much bigger than myself to serve this community and that I'm just as broken as these people, be it in much different ways.

Hello, Tucson!

I have finally made it to Tucson! This morning is the first time that we have had internet access at the house, which has actually been nice in a way. Not having internet or TV in the house for the first week has allowed the group in our house to get to know each other and bond in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. There are 7.5 of us in the house... Leisha lives in Mexico during the week, but spends her weekends in Tucson. We have gotten our bikes and have been biking around town to get things we need for the house and to make runs to the grocery store. It's amazing how much food 8 young adults can go through in a day! I have a roommate from Springfield, IL named Sean. The house we have inherited is... querky. We are committed to using as few resources as possible during the year. There is a solar heated shower, a swamp cooler (instead of a traditional AC unit), no heating system, a plumbing system known as gray water in which water that is not used for drinking or in the toilet is used several times before going to the sewer, and almost everything is either recycled. Our living room is painted in several southwestern desertish colors and there is a woman named Terry who lives in a small house in our backyard who shares our kitchen every so often. I will write later about my volunteer placement at Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA). Even as I sit here my housemates are hanging out in the common area discussing the exciting and anxiety-inducing parts of their days and placements. Already this week I have met some really amazing people and have seen genuine pain and need in the city. I feel like those experiences over the past week will be another post in themselves. I'm still adjusting to the city, the HEAT (though it's a dry heat...) and finding my way around town on the bike. There will be more to come soon enough, and I'll be posting pictures soon as well. Buenas noches, amigos!