Border Immersion Part 2

On Wednesday, I had the great privilege of going to Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center where my new friend Ali (a current Border Servant Corps volunteer) works.  Ali gave an incredible presentation about ways that migrants come to the U.S. legally and where the problems in the immigration system exist.  She also shared a few heart-wrenching stories about people seeking asylum here in El Paso.  I think the hardest stories to swallow are those about people fleeing very obvious threats to their lives, especially from Juárez, but lose their asylum cases (after spending time in a detention center to boot!)  I understand the argument about the U.S. not being able to take everyone who wants to come here (and I kind of disagree with it since I think that a lot of people who have resettled here would prefer temporary work permits...but that's a different topic altogether), but there is something that just seems especially evil about sending people back across the bridge to Juárez from El Paso, knowing that they will likely be killed almost immediately upon return.  The whole system is out-dated and screwed up and complicated.  Here is a picture of the beautiful mural on the side of Las Americas:

 
On Thursday morning, I went with the immersion group to the Anapra fence.  For the first hour, we chatted with two border patrol agents.  It was pretty interesting listening to the discourse that they're trained to use.  For example, they referred to themselves as "paramilitary" but then insisted that the border is not "militarized."  They gave us information on the history of the border and its security, and explained how the various branches of enforcement fit together (e.g. Customs and Border Protection vs. Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  When asked about the building of the fence, they made sure to emphasize that it is not a "wall" before explaining that it only serves to "slow people down."  That's why there is no fence up Mt. Cristo Rey, which serves as a 3-way border between Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua; the mountain slows people down more than any fence would.  My favorite part was when one of the agents explained that tight border security is vital for apprehending "terrorists."  One of the members of the group asked how many terrorists have been apprehended on the U.S.-Mexico border, and the agent's answer was zero.  She could've stopped there, but then continued to mention how the terrorists behind the September 11 attacks entered the U.S. legally.  I couldn't help but chuckle about her very illogical statements, but to be honest I was pleased with the presentation.  The agents were kind, well-spoken, and gave us direct answers to our questions.  And while I've heard stories of brutality among the "migra", I truly believe that it's a minority of agents who use excessive force.  I also have to respect the fact that the agents are doing their jobs so that they can provide for themselves and their families, just like everyone else, even if I couldn't personally do a job that I had moral issues with.  Although I don't agree with the building of the fence or with "Operation Hold the Line", the border patrol agents' jobs are following orders that are set by policy-makers who are usually in Washington.  As the agents themselves said more than once, if I want border patrol to look different, that's something to talk to my Senators and Representatives about, not them.

Right after the border patrol presentation, we moved our plastic chairs over about 50 yards to chat with some people through the fence.  A Salvadoran family who lived in El Paso for several years and belonged to the Lutheran Church around the corner from my house (which serves as the host for groups like the one visiting) was there, along with a Mexican interpreter.  The father of the family was deported back to El Salvador when he tried to board a plane to go work in Colorado.  He made his way back to northern Mexico, where his wife and two little girls met him.  The girls are U.S. citizens, but the family is living in Juárez hoping for an immigration reform in the U.S. that would allow the parents to move back, especially because they would like the girls to go to schools in the U.S.  The family also has two more daughters (ages 10 and 13 I believe) who are living in El Salvador with their grandmother.  Such a mess.  The interpreter lived in the U.S. illegally until she was 12 with older relatives who were U.S. citizens.  She talked about having to hide when social workers came to the house (I think the relatives were on some sort of housing assistance program).  As the relatives got older, they worried what would happen to the girl if something happened to them.  Therefore, she was sent back to Mexico to live with her mother.

I'll admit that the stories have started becoming all too routine to my ears.  However, what really got me was the fact that we had to talk through a fence.  It gave me the impression of bad neighbors or something.  None of the people that we were talking to were criminals, yet they're not allowed in my yard.  And while I'm allowed in theirs with my pretty blue passport, it's illegal for me to cross outside of a port of entry (and the nearest bridge was several miles east of where we were sitting).  The whole thing is just awkward.

Okay, I'll do my third installment of this entry later!