Building Community, Calming Fears, and Feeding Each Other: Experiences of the ND-MN April 2019 Delegation to the US-Mexico Border
April 28, 2019
We gathered and learned about each other’s journeys to this place.
Father Bob taught us about the Columban Mission Center and the histories of himself, St. Columban, and what’s happening now. Facts such as people being detained in order to fill beds in for profit detention centers under government contracts were included.
Church was attended at Christo Rey Lutheran where Pastor Rose Marie Sanchez-Guzman led the bi-lingual service followed by lunch with the congregation. We were reminded of our similarities to Thomas in both our doubts and that Christ is with us. Christ does not promise that all will be OK, but that He will always be with us. We should be like Christ who begins with “May peace be with you”. We were reminded that it is hard to trust without reservation as Christ tells us. There is more than one resurrection in today’s story – Christ’s, Thomas’s, and our own. One thing that we may find is that sometimes the people we seem to be helping are the ones helping us. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” La paz sea contigo.
In the afternoon we took a brief time to rest and reflect, then left to visit the border fence. It was interesting to learn that the fence is not the actual border but is inside US soil. The fence has also sometimes bisected people’s property placing their land on both sides of the border. While at the fence Border Patrol vehicles came near, but did not interact with us. We were each given a slip of paper with the name, age and death date or the date their body was found or identified. After reading their names we put them into our hearts and into the heart of God that they will not be forgotten. It was difficult to read that some were young children, and then look to see the young children on the other side of the fence feeling like it could have been them we were reading the names of. Ground into the dirt was the tattered remains of a child’s doll. Who knows who dropped it there, but one has to hope that child’s name will be known as one who has survived and is safe.
We took an interesting tour of the city area, including driving through the UTEP campus. The buildings were designed in the style of Bhutanese architecture due to the whim of the founder’s wife who in its inception saw a photo in a National Geographic and decided that the beauty of the design would fit in beautifully with the surrounding landscape. She was right.
Good tacos for dinner, good conversation. A great deal to think about in such a short time.
Monday, April 29-Summary of our day So Much Learning!
First Word this morning-What gives you energy and what saps your energy? Our songs were Morning Has Broken (also sung with the words of St. Patrick’s breastplate) and When Lord Did We See You Hungry?
We drove for a couple hours through farm fields (pecans, grapes, etc.) and learned how growing pecans (Carya illinoinensis) is depleting the aquifer at a fast rate. Fields are surrounded by small dikes and are watered through flooding using 110 gallons/tree. Pecan farming seems to be lucrative based on the size of some of the homes built within the plantations. The Rio Grande was a dry riverbed when we drove over it in this area.
We briefly stopped outside of a shelter for unaccompanied minors in Canutillo TX run by Southwest Key. This is one of four of these shelters in the El Paso area. Church groups can visit the children in the shelters but are heavily vetted.
At an impressive overlook, we were able to see the border fence that we visited yesterday in Sunland Park NM. A little farther in the distance was a large white factory complex, una maquila (maquiladora), owned by Foxconn. This is one of 400 factories placed in service immediately after NAFTA became effective in 1994. Factory workers often make no more than $50-60/week. The maquilas are assembly line factories that produce parts which are later sent to the US (or country of final sale) for completion of the end products.
As we drove by Fort Briggs, we noticed that there were solar panels on most of the base housing.
Back in El Paso, we met with Anna Hey at the DMRS (Diocesan Migrant Relief Services) which is the largest legal services organization for immigrants in the region. Anna gave the example of how her mother, a Mexican citizen, sought help from DMRS as a widow in the US when she was sent to deportation proceedings due to a technical issue.
DMRS has the following programs:
Anna’s ideas for improving the immigration system include the following:
Here are some other notes from Anna’s presentation:
Afternoon was spent at Cristo Rey cleaning and preparing evening meal for guests at a Hotel. Three Thrivent cards were used at Costco to purchase food for a couple of meals. Forty dollars was added by a grateful customer who was saddened and emotional by this whole situation. After a few incidents (ha ha), mission was accomplished and we headed for the hotel with Erma as our leader. We visited with the guests during the service and learned some of their stories. They had come from Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and probably other places and were here in transit to their sponsors’ homes. We had a chance to share experiences with the volunteers working at the hotel. They do intake upon arrival, make phone calls to the sponsors to arrange travel, distribute clothing, and whatever other needs come up. Sister Margaret from Detroit has been here for five weeks and will be leaving tomorrow. She previously worked here in January for two weeks.
It is encouraging to meet so many people that have a heart for service and support for these brave souls that have left all behind, filled with hope. Grace abounds. And it’s humbling to acknowledge our privilege, knowing that we will likely never experience this kind of poverty, violence, fear… and knowing that we will not have to make such a heartbreaking decision.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Frustration and Hope
After morning reflection we headed out again. Our first stop was again at the border where we met with two Border Control agents who gave us their prospective of the crisis. They were quite emotional as they shared that there are not enough resources and that Congress refuses to admit to a humanitarian crisis. Children arrive with adults who are not their parents for kind and not so kind reasons and these must be separated from the adults. People are threatened on the other side of the border and made to pay in order to go on. Right now there are about 70% coming who are families and 15% who are unaccompanied minors. The others are adults. Only 25% are from Mexico as country of origin, which makes the job of the Border control much harder. One agent had 86 people come across illegally at one time. People move from the Border Patrol, to ICE, to a non-government agency. The Border Patrol feels too stretched with antiquated laws and lack of training and other resources, causing the “bad guys” to win.
Meeting Dr. Mendoza at her little clinic in Juarez was a treat. Many who she helps cannot get help due to having no passports having been sent back from the U.S., so she treats up to 60 people per day in her little dispensary with no beds and only two bathrooms. The building is kept looking in need of repair from the outside so that the cartel will not be attracted.
Father Peter who is only 95 years young and a Carmelita Priest, and Sister Betty a nurse from the Sisters of Mercy and a bit younger, were a special treat as they told of their journeys. When younger they enthusiastically worked for God arriving in jeeps and changing the people to whom they were sent according to their own points of view. After some corrected them telling them that they came uninvited and then changed the furniture, they worked on trying to do what God wanted. They talked of poverty, NAFTA, and violence in Juarez. Thousands have been killed. Betty has painted murals outside where she also keeps the names of those lost for various reasons. We ended with prayers for victims before visiting the garden.
Of course, we were well fed both in Mexico (at a bar that served the first Margarita during prohibition) and Texas and while crossing the border from street vendors.
It was an emotional day with frustration showing from all but also hope.
Wednesday May 1, 2019 Lots of Hands-On Experiences
Why are we here? That was the question that opened our morning devotions. The Bible reading led by Sharyl talked about Jehoshaphat’s cry of “I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you, Lord!”
These are the sentiments of our group as a reaction to our immersion into the sights and stories at the border in El Paso and Juarez.
Responding to the story of Sister Betty and Father Peter and their experiences realizing they were not the experts but the guests of the people, we too have to be the guests. We have to accept that shredding chicken is fine, it is service. As Mother Teresa said, help one and then help another. We have been invited in to be the guests and we must act as such.
We talked about how to share our experiences and Vicki said she was told that we are the experts of our own story, that we need to say to those who will listen, “this is what I heard, this is what I saw, this is what I felt!”
We will need to tell others to come and see for themselves.
We are called to act with justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.
After breakfast we went to Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey to prepare meals for immigrants. Because of generous donations we were able to provide more than food. Cristo Rey has been serving immigrants for many years and the church had some immediate needs. Dennis and Vicki went with Pastor Rosemary Sanchez Guzman to Home Depot and bought a new washing machine and refrigerator for the church. The rest of us functioned like a well-oiled machine and churned out eight pans that would serve 30 people each of a TexMex/Minnesota Hot Dish with tortillas and fruit on the side. We were able to take the food to a motel that was a processing center for the migrants. Most of the 100 or so people at the center had recently arrived from Honduras. Most were family units. Many were young, single mothers with children. Mothers, small in stature, with children tied to their backs, watching other children, resilient to their arduous journey, playing and caring for each other. Another three pans of Hot Dish, serving 100 new arrivals, were dropped off at a location that is secret and secure. The food was just handed over from the car, to maintain confidentiality. Upon returning to the church to clean up, two more pans of Hot Dish were placed in the refrigerator for 70 or so people on Thursday.
After lunch and a short rest, we went to University of Texas El Paso Art Museum to see the “Uncaged Art” exhibit. It provided us with a look into the voices of the children who were interned at the largest detention camp for refugee children in the United States. They visually represented their homelands, their parks, churches, landscapes, and birds flying free. The art displayed the resilience and hope of the youth in the midst of their fear and suffering.
We then drove to Chamizal National Memorial which celebrates the peaceful settlement of a dispute over the international boundary at El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The piece of land that was shaped and reshaped by the meandering Rio Grande River was settled by diplomacy and technologically, and permanently channeling of the river in 1963. The treaty also set aside a portion of the land for recreational and cultural use.
Next on the drive around El Paso was the Lincoln Park El Corazon De El Paso Chicano Park under the intersection of Interstate 10 and Highway 54. The heart and arteries is a symbol of the freeways and community of the city. The murals range from tributes to lost lives on 9/11 to Chavez and the National Farm Workers to Frida Kahlo. Lincoln Elementary School, the first integrated school in the city, will be preserved as well as many of the original art murals under the freeway. There are many images of the murals on the internet.
Once back to Columban Mission Center, we were served a delicious meal prepared by a woman originally from Ciudad Juarez. Father Bob shared her story of violence and gunshot injuries and eventually fleeing to El Paso with her husband. Her meal of a ground beef, hot dog, seasoned dish; red rice; red beans; and tortillas was a traditional Mexican meal.
At the end of the day reflections we were asked to share an Image of the Day.
Responses were: very grace, very Eucharist; be there, with them; I felt like a companion; Children playing, running around but watching out for each other; seeing the smiling faces it was hard to imagine what they went through to get to this place; the humane parts of the process; purchasing the washer and refrigerator and Rosemary saying, This is Christmas!; how awesome this group is and how receptive of all comments and directions; the transition of the screaming child from fear, to calm, to running around and calling Cathy, Nana; eye contact and even small physical contact with the people; conversations with a mother and her young son and her sharing their journey of walking 26 days to get to the border, their help along the way, and now their smiles; young mothers, small of stature, with children tied to their backs; the precious children; their priority to get the forms filled out, even before eating; Paula Rose taking care of her assignment and her people; Irma going about the work with a smile on her face; the food we prepared being taken to over 300 people at four different locations.
Vicki shared about an experience taking a Thanksgiving Dinner to a Central American village and the comforting realization that it was not about the food but rather that these people had never been served before and their joy in receiving.
Vicki also shared that on one of her other experiences in El Paso, one of the participants asked Ruben Garcia “I don’t understand why any parent would send their child north?” Garcia, after a long pause, said he was offended by the question. He presented the woman with a scenario of her and her child on the second floor of a burning building and she would have to decide whether to stay in the building and both of them being consumed by the flames or throwing her son out of the window and praying someone would catch him?
The Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee met at the Columban Mission Center. They had just received a national recognition for their work here in El Paso.
The day was physically and emotionally exhausting, but extremely graced filled.
God’s Work, Our Hands, shredding chicken!
Thursday, May 2, 2019 It Was a Memorable Dinner For Sure
Dennis led our First Word this morning with some thoughts about family and community.
After breakfast, we did some planning for the evening meal that we were to prepare and serve here at Columban Mission Center for the guests at Annunciation House. We decided to add to the delicious leftovers from the meal that Elizabeth made for us yesterday. A few of us went shopping to pick up what we needed as well as some items that Dr. Mendoza had mentioned needing for the dispensary in Juarez.
We went to a nearby Chinese restaurant for an early lunch and were surprised when the Honorable Judge Robert S. Hough recognized Father Bob and came over to greet our table. It was great preparation for the next item on our agenda which was to visit the Federal Immigration Court.
After going through security, we made our way to the seventh floor to the Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review. We were able to observe several cases and were impressed with the relaxed, conversational, and yet extremely efficient manner with which Judge Hough handled each one. (We were not surprised to hear him scheduling individual hearings as far out as February and March of 2020.) Also in the room were two government officials juggling files for each case (often as much as four inches thick!), as well as a very competent interpreter for those whose strongest language was Spanish. In one case, we heard the Judge grant Legal Permanent Residency to one man and his family. It was truly remarkable to be in the room for such a victory, and we had to restrain ourselves from bursting into applause. The man’s wife and young daughter were sitting next to Father Bob, and he heard the woman whisper in Spanish, “Oh, my God!” We can only imagine how long they have waited for this.
Our next stop was Annunciation House. We arrived just in time to help bring in a van load of food donations. We soon met Cara, the current year-long volunteer in charge, who invited us into the office (which was overflowing with donations of food) and told us how Annunciation House came to be 41 years ago when Ruben Garcia asked two questions: What does it mean to live out the Gospel? And what does El Paso need? Cara gave us a tour of the house and talked very openly about what they do to welcome refugees and help them after they are released from ICE. (When Cara first arrived last fall, ICE was releasing 200 people per day. Today, they release 600-1000 per day. Thankfully, Annunciation House is not the only building set up to receive them. Ruben Garcia has two other buildings downtown as well, along with the newest addition of a huge warehouse that is housing hundreds of refugees even though its plumbing still needs work. It is currently outfitted with porta potties and a tractor trailer that functions as the kitchen.)
In addition to providing food and shelter to guests, the volunteers at Annunciation House make phone calls to each guest’s family members or friends to help arrange transportation to their final destination. Most guests stay only a day or two, though some end up staying longer. Annunciation House is 100% supported through donations and volunteers; they receive no help from the government. We admired Cara’s animated passion. She admitted that it was hard work, and when there aren’t enough volunteers, it is often up to her to figure out how to make things work, but a willingness to be inconvenienced was part of the job description. In the chapel at Annunciation House, there is a 3-D cross made of wire boxes with shoes inside symbolizing the grueling journey made by guests to get to this place. On the opposite wall is a photo of Juan Patricio Peraza Quijada, a guest from 2003, who was shot and killed by Border Patrol when he was out one evening. He was twenty years old.
After our tour, we walked back to Columban Mission Center, which has become home to us, to prepare the evening meal for our guests. We were ready to serve them when they walked over from Annunciation House at 6:00. They seemed to enjoy the meal together, especially when ice cream sandwiches were announced! A couple of us got to snuggle the brand new baby who was born at Annunciation house just over a month ago. Others of us were delighted to receive hugs from some of the children when they left. It was a memorable dinner for sure.
Friday, May 3, 2019 Last day of the week Sharing the Peace
This was a climax of the trip, with two very big events. First, we went to the CDR, Centro de Refugiadios, and in the early afternoon, we assisted with two masses for inmates at the Detention Center, first for males and then for females.
The CDR is huge, eventually big enough for 1500 refugees, necessary since new “migrantes” are arriving up to 1000 a day. It’s a huge warehouse that is replacing about a half-dozen rented hotels, which cost $200,000 a month to rent, with a single facility that costs $30,000 a month to rent. Some upsides and downsides to that. It was very inefficient to have to staff all those smaller facilities. This large one, just opened in the last weeks and consolidates the dining, the clothes distribution, the handling of papers and transportation to bus station and airport.
It’s also a warehouse for people, big open spaces, hundreds of people in a room, and because of years of being unused, the indoor plumbing doesn’t work. But I was deeply moved by the huge murals they have had painted on many of the walls, with traditional and modern scenes that speak to the residents. Many of us noticed we could almost always hear crying children. Most will be here only a day or two until they can connect to their transportation to their sponsors.
Our group split in half for work- with some packing hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, probably thousands. Just imagine, all these people have had all but the clothes they are wearing taken away, even their belts and shoelaces. Their family or sponsors will receive them when they arrive there, but for now, they have no money or food. So we packed sandwiches for them to carry, depending on the length of their trip. Our packers smelled of their pb and j.
My group worked with clothing. Some sorted, others of us helped a few families at a time pick out a set of shirt, pant, underwear and socks. If their shoes were totally destroyed, they got to pick out shoes, or if they were going to colder states, they got a jacket. We got lots of smiles, tried to go out of our way to find things that fit and pleased. It was my best chance so far to see families and children, and I was moved by it. We were grateful for enough clothes for the day, at least, and that families could feel the support of American strangers.
After lunch, we drove to the Detention Center, housing up to 1000 men and women, and joined Father Jose Luis for mass with the inmates. We had applied weeks before to be able to join the mass and it was so worth it. We went through many locked doors and gates and then had mass with 40 men and later, 80 women. Father Jose was very engaging, teasing out great participation in singing and in the service. And his words were great, about forgiveness, all of us being brothers. At one point in each service, he called a young inmate forward and then one of our group and introduced each other as brothers and sisters, and then we prayed the Lord’s Prayer in many languages.
High points were the sharing of the peace, with many smiles and hugs, singing a song for them during communion, and the closing goodbyes. Just before the end, a young woman with a birthday was celebrated by all, then two songs touched on mothers and forever love and the flood gates opened. We found that many of these mothers had been separated from their children and didn’t know where they were. They cried, kissed our faces, and hugged us so tightly. I could only think of my little grandchildren and what it would be like to have them taken away. It feels so wrong for their requests for protection from dangerous situations in their home country to put them in prison, to criminalize their poverty and vulnerability.
I am grateful we have met so many wonderful helpers, volunteers who sacrificially give of their time and energy to make the best of a bad situation. But it’s a band-aid to a terrible situation in their home countries, mainly in Central America, and at our border. We must find a better way for this is intolerable, especially the separating of children from parents and imprisoning asylum seekers.
We closed the day with a celebratory meal at a great Mexican restaurant. We have grown to love and trust each other and it has greatly supported our learning.
Tonight at our evening reflection, our thoughts turned toward home and we shared our learnings and how we could carry this story home. Vicki’s wise advice was that we need not argue, but only tell our own story, our own experience. No one can argue with that.
What a week it has been!
Saturday, May 4 – Airport Experiences
Michelle- Before our later flight, Dennis and I spent a few hours at one of the hospitality sites close to the airport putting together toiletry packs and helping out in the clinic. When the time came to call a taxi to head out, a volunteer said that she was taking 3 people to the airport and that we could ride with them in the van. The volunteer (originally from northern MN) got the three guests as far as security and then had to leave. Dennis was able to escort the single man. I stayed with a very young mother and her toddler son. She spoke very little Spanish. We made it to her gate with time to spare so I pulled up a dictionary of her native Mayan language and we had a conversation of sorts. When we received seat assignments from the gate agent, she and her son were 11 rows apart. As we waited in line to board, I explained the situation to another woman waiting. She seemed sympathetic and I can only hope that between her and the flight attendants, the young woman and her child were able to be seated together. She had a very short connection time at the next airport. It was hard to let go and leave for my gate.
At our gate, there was a large group of migrants waiting for the same flight as we were. They had the bags of sandwiches and snacks and there were many missing shoelaces. On the plane I was seated behind a young family. As we lifted off the ground, a big smile crept across the father’s face while the young mother wiped tears from her eyes. Their toddler quickly fell asleep. When we got off the plane, we introduced ourselves to each other. They are from the same department in Guatemala where I have friends and have spent a lot of time working. We made it to their next gate on the opposite side of the airport as the flight was boarding. It’s so exciting to think about them reuniting with family members and starting a new life but sad to know that their life here may be short and they could be sent back to the untenable situation from which they were fleeing.
From Vicki:
Our trip to the border was just the beginning of more to come. We want to share our stories, speak to groups, live out our learnings in positive and informative ways.
We thought our week was finished in El Paso and Juarez when we stepped out of Father Bob’s van and said our farewells to each other. Two of us were traveling on the same flight to Fargo, Nola Storm and me. We had plenty of time to catch our flight but went to our gate and sat there. Within minutes we realized we were in the midst of a group of migrants, ready to fly to meet families. We noticed them because they had in their hands some of the same kind of travel bags we had been packing the day before.
We initiated conversation with a few and noted that we’d been involved in creating their travel bags. One woman only spoke a dialect language and was traveling alone to a brother in Philadelphia, meaning she would need to change planes all by herself in Denver without benefit of Spanish or English. Others were Spanish speaking so to make more clear conversation, I got out Google translator. About 15 migrants would be on our flight to Denver. Another 10 or so were leaving for Houston and on from there. Dads with small kids, a few family units, some brothers and cousins together made up the group of about 25 people. Some were from Guatemala and some from Honduras, both countries steeped in violence and economic disaster. The adults all wore monitors on their ankles so ICE could track their whereabouts anywhere in the country.
I asked about the sandwiches in their bags but they said they had none. They were hungry. All of them. Nola and I put our heads together and went to the nearby pizza store and we purchased 10 small pizzas. One of the men helped us distribute the pieces to everyone - most adults got two pieces if they wanted them and the children mostly took just one piece. They were so grateful. Many came up to us to shake our hands. One of the little girls drew some pictures with Nola.
The young woman traveling alone was walking around with flopping shoes, because her shoelaces had been confiscated when she was detained after seeking asylum. I knew I could get shoelaces pretty easily when I got home, so took my shoes from my suitcase and gave her mine. She was so happy as she laced up her shoes. Such a little thing. Such big smiles.
Nola and I ended up helping the migrants traveling on our same flight to find their seats. The young boy with his dad that sat across the aisle from me watched as the plane took off, and as we landed, and at mountains and little cities below, and kept looking up at his dad with grins that lit up the world. His first flight, his first step to a new home. I just kept watching him and smiling back. And all along I wondered at his thoughts, and at the thoughts his father might be having.
A beautiful thing happened. Two people on the flight entered into the circle of caring. One lady spoke to the people around me, checked their next gate numbers, and helped them know what to do. A second woman said she would see that several of the migrants got to their gate, and we walked past her as she instructed them and spoke to the gate attendant. Kindness begets kindness!
We also found another dad and his daughter from Honduras sitting at their gate, and after realizing they had no food, we bought them sandwiches, juice and fruit - they had four hours to wait for their next flight, and had no food or money. It would be more than six hours before they would meet family. They could only smile at us and express sheer joy at having food to sustain them.
Nola and I were excited to share! We had a little time left so we had a beer and asked God to protect these people on their way.
And guess what? While we were doing all this, we got texts from others from our group who were interacting with migrants in the same ways! God’s love poured out…God’s work, our hands!
We gathered and learned about each other’s journeys to this place.
Father Bob taught us about the Columban Mission Center and the histories of himself, St. Columban, and what’s happening now. Facts such as people being detained in order to fill beds in for profit detention centers under government contracts were included.
Church was attended at Christo Rey Lutheran where Pastor Rose Marie Sanchez-Guzman led the bi-lingual service followed by lunch with the congregation. We were reminded of our similarities to Thomas in both our doubts and that Christ is with us. Christ does not promise that all will be OK, but that He will always be with us. We should be like Christ who begins with “May peace be with you”. We were reminded that it is hard to trust without reservation as Christ tells us. There is more than one resurrection in today’s story – Christ’s, Thomas’s, and our own. One thing that we may find is that sometimes the people we seem to be helping are the ones helping us. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” La paz sea contigo.
In the afternoon we took a brief time to rest and reflect, then left to visit the border fence. It was interesting to learn that the fence is not the actual border but is inside US soil. The fence has also sometimes bisected people’s property placing their land on both sides of the border. While at the fence Border Patrol vehicles came near, but did not interact with us. We were each given a slip of paper with the name, age and death date or the date their body was found or identified. After reading their names we put them into our hearts and into the heart of God that they will not be forgotten. It was difficult to read that some were young children, and then look to see the young children on the other side of the fence feeling like it could have been them we were reading the names of. Ground into the dirt was the tattered remains of a child’s doll. Who knows who dropped it there, but one has to hope that child’s name will be known as one who has survived and is safe.
We took an interesting tour of the city area, including driving through the UTEP campus. The buildings were designed in the style of Bhutanese architecture due to the whim of the founder’s wife who in its inception saw a photo in a National Geographic and decided that the beauty of the design would fit in beautifully with the surrounding landscape. She was right.
Good tacos for dinner, good conversation. A great deal to think about in such a short time.
Monday, April 29-Summary of our day So Much Learning!
First Word this morning-What gives you energy and what saps your energy? Our songs were Morning Has Broken (also sung with the words of St. Patrick’s breastplate) and When Lord Did We See You Hungry?
We drove for a couple hours through farm fields (pecans, grapes, etc.) and learned how growing pecans (Carya illinoinensis) is depleting the aquifer at a fast rate. Fields are surrounded by small dikes and are watered through flooding using 110 gallons/tree. Pecan farming seems to be lucrative based on the size of some of the homes built within the plantations. The Rio Grande was a dry riverbed when we drove over it in this area.
We briefly stopped outside of a shelter for unaccompanied minors in Canutillo TX run by Southwest Key. This is one of four of these shelters in the El Paso area. Church groups can visit the children in the shelters but are heavily vetted.
At an impressive overlook, we were able to see the border fence that we visited yesterday in Sunland Park NM. A little farther in the distance was a large white factory complex, una maquila (maquiladora), owned by Foxconn. This is one of 400 factories placed in service immediately after NAFTA became effective in 1994. Factory workers often make no more than $50-60/week. The maquilas are assembly line factories that produce parts which are later sent to the US (or country of final sale) for completion of the end products.
As we drove by Fort Briggs, we noticed that there were solar panels on most of the base housing.
Back in El Paso, we met with Anna Hey at the DMRS (Diocesan Migrant Relief Services) which is the largest legal services organization for immigrants in the region. Anna gave the example of how her mother, a Mexican citizen, sought help from DMRS as a widow in the US when she was sent to deportation proceedings due to a technical issue.
DMRS has the following programs:
- Unaccompanied Minors Program
- General Legal Services – for non-litigated services
- Crime Victims Unit – for victims of trafficking, domestic abuse or other crimes
- Religious Workers Program – to bring priests from other countries to fill needs
- Removal Defense Program – the largest unit now
- Legal Orientation Program – to inform detainees of the process after they have been detained
Anna’s ideas for improving the immigration system include the following:
- Fix the numbers for visas
- Offer a waiver for false claim to US citizenship
- Change asylum law to meet today’s needs
- Consider a brasero program to bring in temporary needed workers
- Don’t reduce the numbers of worker visas
Here are some other notes from Anna’s presentation:
- Some mothers choose to give birth in the US so that their children will have more choices in their lives, not necessarily because the mother would like to move to the US
- There is no right to an attorney in deportation proceedings
- Often US practices have created situations that cause the problems faced by the immigrants. For example, corporate interests placed above individuals, United Fruit.
- Before 1996, all immigration proceedings were civil. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act changed that so the first instance of illegal entry is a misdemeanor and the second instance is a felony but they are all criminal cases.
- Not uncommon to have citizens in detention. Some don’t know their status if children or if memories from older family members are lost.
- Obama deported more people but had a priority system which valued family, breadwinners, good character, etc. and agents were able to use their discretion. Now discretion has been taken away and no prioritizing.
- Almost a million cases backlogged in deportation proceedings.
- No major changes in immigration system since Reagan in 1980’s.
- Asylum seekers are processed by asylum officer. Current push to have Border Patrol, who are not trained in this, conduct hearings themselves. Cases of lies or misleading statements have been reported.
- It’s always easier to prove your asylum case outside of a detention center where everything costs money and evidence is harder to gather.
- Current administration is all about deterrence and doesn’t address root causes.
- About 96% of those released from detention center show up for court.
- Very hard to fill shortage of Customs and Border Protection officers. No discretion so every encounter becomes negative.
- Immigration judges are part of executive branch and have also lost much discretion.
- DACA is discretionary relief only, not legal protection.
Afternoon was spent at Cristo Rey cleaning and preparing evening meal for guests at a Hotel. Three Thrivent cards were used at Costco to purchase food for a couple of meals. Forty dollars was added by a grateful customer who was saddened and emotional by this whole situation. After a few incidents (ha ha), mission was accomplished and we headed for the hotel with Erma as our leader. We visited with the guests during the service and learned some of their stories. They had come from Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and probably other places and were here in transit to their sponsors’ homes. We had a chance to share experiences with the volunteers working at the hotel. They do intake upon arrival, make phone calls to the sponsors to arrange travel, distribute clothing, and whatever other needs come up. Sister Margaret from Detroit has been here for five weeks and will be leaving tomorrow. She previously worked here in January for two weeks.
It is encouraging to meet so many people that have a heart for service and support for these brave souls that have left all behind, filled with hope. Grace abounds. And it’s humbling to acknowledge our privilege, knowing that we will likely never experience this kind of poverty, violence, fear… and knowing that we will not have to make such a heartbreaking decision.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Frustration and Hope
After morning reflection we headed out again. Our first stop was again at the border where we met with two Border Control agents who gave us their prospective of the crisis. They were quite emotional as they shared that there are not enough resources and that Congress refuses to admit to a humanitarian crisis. Children arrive with adults who are not their parents for kind and not so kind reasons and these must be separated from the adults. People are threatened on the other side of the border and made to pay in order to go on. Right now there are about 70% coming who are families and 15% who are unaccompanied minors. The others are adults. Only 25% are from Mexico as country of origin, which makes the job of the Border control much harder. One agent had 86 people come across illegally at one time. People move from the Border Patrol, to ICE, to a non-government agency. The Border Patrol feels too stretched with antiquated laws and lack of training and other resources, causing the “bad guys” to win.
Meeting Dr. Mendoza at her little clinic in Juarez was a treat. Many who she helps cannot get help due to having no passports having been sent back from the U.S., so she treats up to 60 people per day in her little dispensary with no beds and only two bathrooms. The building is kept looking in need of repair from the outside so that the cartel will not be attracted.
Father Peter who is only 95 years young and a Carmelita Priest, and Sister Betty a nurse from the Sisters of Mercy and a bit younger, were a special treat as they told of their journeys. When younger they enthusiastically worked for God arriving in jeeps and changing the people to whom they were sent according to their own points of view. After some corrected them telling them that they came uninvited and then changed the furniture, they worked on trying to do what God wanted. They talked of poverty, NAFTA, and violence in Juarez. Thousands have been killed. Betty has painted murals outside where she also keeps the names of those lost for various reasons. We ended with prayers for victims before visiting the garden.
Of course, we were well fed both in Mexico (at a bar that served the first Margarita during prohibition) and Texas and while crossing the border from street vendors.
It was an emotional day with frustration showing from all but also hope.
Wednesday May 1, 2019 Lots of Hands-On Experiences
Why are we here? That was the question that opened our morning devotions. The Bible reading led by Sharyl talked about Jehoshaphat’s cry of “I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you, Lord!”
These are the sentiments of our group as a reaction to our immersion into the sights and stories at the border in El Paso and Juarez.
Responding to the story of Sister Betty and Father Peter and their experiences realizing they were not the experts but the guests of the people, we too have to be the guests. We have to accept that shredding chicken is fine, it is service. As Mother Teresa said, help one and then help another. We have been invited in to be the guests and we must act as such.
We talked about how to share our experiences and Vicki said she was told that we are the experts of our own story, that we need to say to those who will listen, “this is what I heard, this is what I saw, this is what I felt!”
We will need to tell others to come and see for themselves.
We are called to act with justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.
After breakfast we went to Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey to prepare meals for immigrants. Because of generous donations we were able to provide more than food. Cristo Rey has been serving immigrants for many years and the church had some immediate needs. Dennis and Vicki went with Pastor Rosemary Sanchez Guzman to Home Depot and bought a new washing machine and refrigerator for the church. The rest of us functioned like a well-oiled machine and churned out eight pans that would serve 30 people each of a TexMex/Minnesota Hot Dish with tortillas and fruit on the side. We were able to take the food to a motel that was a processing center for the migrants. Most of the 100 or so people at the center had recently arrived from Honduras. Most were family units. Many were young, single mothers with children. Mothers, small in stature, with children tied to their backs, watching other children, resilient to their arduous journey, playing and caring for each other. Another three pans of Hot Dish, serving 100 new arrivals, were dropped off at a location that is secret and secure. The food was just handed over from the car, to maintain confidentiality. Upon returning to the church to clean up, two more pans of Hot Dish were placed in the refrigerator for 70 or so people on Thursday.
After lunch and a short rest, we went to University of Texas El Paso Art Museum to see the “Uncaged Art” exhibit. It provided us with a look into the voices of the children who were interned at the largest detention camp for refugee children in the United States. They visually represented their homelands, their parks, churches, landscapes, and birds flying free. The art displayed the resilience and hope of the youth in the midst of their fear and suffering.
We then drove to Chamizal National Memorial which celebrates the peaceful settlement of a dispute over the international boundary at El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The piece of land that was shaped and reshaped by the meandering Rio Grande River was settled by diplomacy and technologically, and permanently channeling of the river in 1963. The treaty also set aside a portion of the land for recreational and cultural use.
Next on the drive around El Paso was the Lincoln Park El Corazon De El Paso Chicano Park under the intersection of Interstate 10 and Highway 54. The heart and arteries is a symbol of the freeways and community of the city. The murals range from tributes to lost lives on 9/11 to Chavez and the National Farm Workers to Frida Kahlo. Lincoln Elementary School, the first integrated school in the city, will be preserved as well as many of the original art murals under the freeway. There are many images of the murals on the internet.
Once back to Columban Mission Center, we were served a delicious meal prepared by a woman originally from Ciudad Juarez. Father Bob shared her story of violence and gunshot injuries and eventually fleeing to El Paso with her husband. Her meal of a ground beef, hot dog, seasoned dish; red rice; red beans; and tortillas was a traditional Mexican meal.
At the end of the day reflections we were asked to share an Image of the Day.
Responses were: very grace, very Eucharist; be there, with them; I felt like a companion; Children playing, running around but watching out for each other; seeing the smiling faces it was hard to imagine what they went through to get to this place; the humane parts of the process; purchasing the washer and refrigerator and Rosemary saying, This is Christmas!; how awesome this group is and how receptive of all comments and directions; the transition of the screaming child from fear, to calm, to running around and calling Cathy, Nana; eye contact and even small physical contact with the people; conversations with a mother and her young son and her sharing their journey of walking 26 days to get to the border, their help along the way, and now their smiles; young mothers, small of stature, with children tied to their backs; the precious children; their priority to get the forms filled out, even before eating; Paula Rose taking care of her assignment and her people; Irma going about the work with a smile on her face; the food we prepared being taken to over 300 people at four different locations.
Vicki shared about an experience taking a Thanksgiving Dinner to a Central American village and the comforting realization that it was not about the food but rather that these people had never been served before and their joy in receiving.
Vicki also shared that on one of her other experiences in El Paso, one of the participants asked Ruben Garcia “I don’t understand why any parent would send their child north?” Garcia, after a long pause, said he was offended by the question. He presented the woman with a scenario of her and her child on the second floor of a burning building and she would have to decide whether to stay in the building and both of them being consumed by the flames or throwing her son out of the window and praying someone would catch him?
The Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee met at the Columban Mission Center. They had just received a national recognition for their work here in El Paso.
The day was physically and emotionally exhausting, but extremely graced filled.
God’s Work, Our Hands, shredding chicken!
Thursday, May 2, 2019 It Was a Memorable Dinner For Sure
Dennis led our First Word this morning with some thoughts about family and community.
After breakfast, we did some planning for the evening meal that we were to prepare and serve here at Columban Mission Center for the guests at Annunciation House. We decided to add to the delicious leftovers from the meal that Elizabeth made for us yesterday. A few of us went shopping to pick up what we needed as well as some items that Dr. Mendoza had mentioned needing for the dispensary in Juarez.
We went to a nearby Chinese restaurant for an early lunch and were surprised when the Honorable Judge Robert S. Hough recognized Father Bob and came over to greet our table. It was great preparation for the next item on our agenda which was to visit the Federal Immigration Court.
After going through security, we made our way to the seventh floor to the Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review. We were able to observe several cases and were impressed with the relaxed, conversational, and yet extremely efficient manner with which Judge Hough handled each one. (We were not surprised to hear him scheduling individual hearings as far out as February and March of 2020.) Also in the room were two government officials juggling files for each case (often as much as four inches thick!), as well as a very competent interpreter for those whose strongest language was Spanish. In one case, we heard the Judge grant Legal Permanent Residency to one man and his family. It was truly remarkable to be in the room for such a victory, and we had to restrain ourselves from bursting into applause. The man’s wife and young daughter were sitting next to Father Bob, and he heard the woman whisper in Spanish, “Oh, my God!” We can only imagine how long they have waited for this.
Our next stop was Annunciation House. We arrived just in time to help bring in a van load of food donations. We soon met Cara, the current year-long volunteer in charge, who invited us into the office (which was overflowing with donations of food) and told us how Annunciation House came to be 41 years ago when Ruben Garcia asked two questions: What does it mean to live out the Gospel? And what does El Paso need? Cara gave us a tour of the house and talked very openly about what they do to welcome refugees and help them after they are released from ICE. (When Cara first arrived last fall, ICE was releasing 200 people per day. Today, they release 600-1000 per day. Thankfully, Annunciation House is not the only building set up to receive them. Ruben Garcia has two other buildings downtown as well, along with the newest addition of a huge warehouse that is housing hundreds of refugees even though its plumbing still needs work. It is currently outfitted with porta potties and a tractor trailer that functions as the kitchen.)
In addition to providing food and shelter to guests, the volunteers at Annunciation House make phone calls to each guest’s family members or friends to help arrange transportation to their final destination. Most guests stay only a day or two, though some end up staying longer. Annunciation House is 100% supported through donations and volunteers; they receive no help from the government. We admired Cara’s animated passion. She admitted that it was hard work, and when there aren’t enough volunteers, it is often up to her to figure out how to make things work, but a willingness to be inconvenienced was part of the job description. In the chapel at Annunciation House, there is a 3-D cross made of wire boxes with shoes inside symbolizing the grueling journey made by guests to get to this place. On the opposite wall is a photo of Juan Patricio Peraza Quijada, a guest from 2003, who was shot and killed by Border Patrol when he was out one evening. He was twenty years old.
After our tour, we walked back to Columban Mission Center, which has become home to us, to prepare the evening meal for our guests. We were ready to serve them when they walked over from Annunciation House at 6:00. They seemed to enjoy the meal together, especially when ice cream sandwiches were announced! A couple of us got to snuggle the brand new baby who was born at Annunciation house just over a month ago. Others of us were delighted to receive hugs from some of the children when they left. It was a memorable dinner for sure.
Friday, May 3, 2019 Last day of the week Sharing the Peace
This was a climax of the trip, with two very big events. First, we went to the CDR, Centro de Refugiadios, and in the early afternoon, we assisted with two masses for inmates at the Detention Center, first for males and then for females.
The CDR is huge, eventually big enough for 1500 refugees, necessary since new “migrantes” are arriving up to 1000 a day. It’s a huge warehouse that is replacing about a half-dozen rented hotels, which cost $200,000 a month to rent, with a single facility that costs $30,000 a month to rent. Some upsides and downsides to that. It was very inefficient to have to staff all those smaller facilities. This large one, just opened in the last weeks and consolidates the dining, the clothes distribution, the handling of papers and transportation to bus station and airport.
It’s also a warehouse for people, big open spaces, hundreds of people in a room, and because of years of being unused, the indoor plumbing doesn’t work. But I was deeply moved by the huge murals they have had painted on many of the walls, with traditional and modern scenes that speak to the residents. Many of us noticed we could almost always hear crying children. Most will be here only a day or two until they can connect to their transportation to their sponsors.
Our group split in half for work- with some packing hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, probably thousands. Just imagine, all these people have had all but the clothes they are wearing taken away, even their belts and shoelaces. Their family or sponsors will receive them when they arrive there, but for now, they have no money or food. So we packed sandwiches for them to carry, depending on the length of their trip. Our packers smelled of their pb and j.
My group worked with clothing. Some sorted, others of us helped a few families at a time pick out a set of shirt, pant, underwear and socks. If their shoes were totally destroyed, they got to pick out shoes, or if they were going to colder states, they got a jacket. We got lots of smiles, tried to go out of our way to find things that fit and pleased. It was my best chance so far to see families and children, and I was moved by it. We were grateful for enough clothes for the day, at least, and that families could feel the support of American strangers.
After lunch, we drove to the Detention Center, housing up to 1000 men and women, and joined Father Jose Luis for mass with the inmates. We had applied weeks before to be able to join the mass and it was so worth it. We went through many locked doors and gates and then had mass with 40 men and later, 80 women. Father Jose was very engaging, teasing out great participation in singing and in the service. And his words were great, about forgiveness, all of us being brothers. At one point in each service, he called a young inmate forward and then one of our group and introduced each other as brothers and sisters, and then we prayed the Lord’s Prayer in many languages.
High points were the sharing of the peace, with many smiles and hugs, singing a song for them during communion, and the closing goodbyes. Just before the end, a young woman with a birthday was celebrated by all, then two songs touched on mothers and forever love and the flood gates opened. We found that many of these mothers had been separated from their children and didn’t know where they were. They cried, kissed our faces, and hugged us so tightly. I could only think of my little grandchildren and what it would be like to have them taken away. It feels so wrong for their requests for protection from dangerous situations in their home country to put them in prison, to criminalize their poverty and vulnerability.
I am grateful we have met so many wonderful helpers, volunteers who sacrificially give of their time and energy to make the best of a bad situation. But it’s a band-aid to a terrible situation in their home countries, mainly in Central America, and at our border. We must find a better way for this is intolerable, especially the separating of children from parents and imprisoning asylum seekers.
We closed the day with a celebratory meal at a great Mexican restaurant. We have grown to love and trust each other and it has greatly supported our learning.
Tonight at our evening reflection, our thoughts turned toward home and we shared our learnings and how we could carry this story home. Vicki’s wise advice was that we need not argue, but only tell our own story, our own experience. No one can argue with that.
What a week it has been!
Saturday, May 4 – Airport Experiences
Michelle- Before our later flight, Dennis and I spent a few hours at one of the hospitality sites close to the airport putting together toiletry packs and helping out in the clinic. When the time came to call a taxi to head out, a volunteer said that she was taking 3 people to the airport and that we could ride with them in the van. The volunteer (originally from northern MN) got the three guests as far as security and then had to leave. Dennis was able to escort the single man. I stayed with a very young mother and her toddler son. She spoke very little Spanish. We made it to her gate with time to spare so I pulled up a dictionary of her native Mayan language and we had a conversation of sorts. When we received seat assignments from the gate agent, she and her son were 11 rows apart. As we waited in line to board, I explained the situation to another woman waiting. She seemed sympathetic and I can only hope that between her and the flight attendants, the young woman and her child were able to be seated together. She had a very short connection time at the next airport. It was hard to let go and leave for my gate.
At our gate, there was a large group of migrants waiting for the same flight as we were. They had the bags of sandwiches and snacks and there were many missing shoelaces. On the plane I was seated behind a young family. As we lifted off the ground, a big smile crept across the father’s face while the young mother wiped tears from her eyes. Their toddler quickly fell asleep. When we got off the plane, we introduced ourselves to each other. They are from the same department in Guatemala where I have friends and have spent a lot of time working. We made it to their next gate on the opposite side of the airport as the flight was boarding. It’s so exciting to think about them reuniting with family members and starting a new life but sad to know that their life here may be short and they could be sent back to the untenable situation from which they were fleeing.
From Vicki:
Our trip to the border was just the beginning of more to come. We want to share our stories, speak to groups, live out our learnings in positive and informative ways.
We thought our week was finished in El Paso and Juarez when we stepped out of Father Bob’s van and said our farewells to each other. Two of us were traveling on the same flight to Fargo, Nola Storm and me. We had plenty of time to catch our flight but went to our gate and sat there. Within minutes we realized we were in the midst of a group of migrants, ready to fly to meet families. We noticed them because they had in their hands some of the same kind of travel bags we had been packing the day before.
We initiated conversation with a few and noted that we’d been involved in creating their travel bags. One woman only spoke a dialect language and was traveling alone to a brother in Philadelphia, meaning she would need to change planes all by herself in Denver without benefit of Spanish or English. Others were Spanish speaking so to make more clear conversation, I got out Google translator. About 15 migrants would be on our flight to Denver. Another 10 or so were leaving for Houston and on from there. Dads with small kids, a few family units, some brothers and cousins together made up the group of about 25 people. Some were from Guatemala and some from Honduras, both countries steeped in violence and economic disaster. The adults all wore monitors on their ankles so ICE could track their whereabouts anywhere in the country.
I asked about the sandwiches in their bags but they said they had none. They were hungry. All of them. Nola and I put our heads together and went to the nearby pizza store and we purchased 10 small pizzas. One of the men helped us distribute the pieces to everyone - most adults got two pieces if they wanted them and the children mostly took just one piece. They were so grateful. Many came up to us to shake our hands. One of the little girls drew some pictures with Nola.
The young woman traveling alone was walking around with flopping shoes, because her shoelaces had been confiscated when she was detained after seeking asylum. I knew I could get shoelaces pretty easily when I got home, so took my shoes from my suitcase and gave her mine. She was so happy as she laced up her shoes. Such a little thing. Such big smiles.
Nola and I ended up helping the migrants traveling on our same flight to find their seats. The young boy with his dad that sat across the aisle from me watched as the plane took off, and as we landed, and at mountains and little cities below, and kept looking up at his dad with grins that lit up the world. His first flight, his first step to a new home. I just kept watching him and smiling back. And all along I wondered at his thoughts, and at the thoughts his father might be having.
A beautiful thing happened. Two people on the flight entered into the circle of caring. One lady spoke to the people around me, checked their next gate numbers, and helped them know what to do. A second woman said she would see that several of the migrants got to their gate, and we walked past her as she instructed them and spoke to the gate attendant. Kindness begets kindness!
We also found another dad and his daughter from Honduras sitting at their gate, and after realizing they had no food, we bought them sandwiches, juice and fruit - they had four hours to wait for their next flight, and had no food or money. It would be more than six hours before they would meet family. They could only smile at us and express sheer joy at having food to sustain them.
Nola and I were excited to share! We had a little time left so we had a beer and asked God to protect these people on their way.
And guess what? While we were doing all this, we got texts from others from our group who were interacting with migrants in the same ways! God’s love poured out…God’s work, our hands!