Dear Friends:

Along with Reverends Hardies and Keithan, we had the privilege of representing All Souls UU (and UUs more generally) on November 13-18th during a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. Our trip was in partnership with the UU College of Social Justice and BorderLinks, an experiential learning program that guided our exploration of the difficulties of migration and life on the U.S./Mexico border. There, we spent time with impacted communities in both the U.S. and Mexico, met with several activists and leaders in the immigration rights movement, and learned about the various groups providing humanitarian assistance along the border.

We witnessed deportation hearings under Operation Streamline (1), joined the SW Good Samaritans in leaving water in the desert, learned about the stark economic disparities of those living across the border in Mexico, and even attended services at the first religious institution to offer sanctuary in the 1980s.

We observed, acted, and reflected upon the environmental, economic, legal, and physical injustices endured by both undocumented migrants as well as Americans living along the Borderlands. This trip broadened our collective understanding of the struggles of migrants across Central America and our own national culpability in their continued suffering. Here is a representative sample of some of our individual reflections:

 

• Marleise Pastore: I (and my fellow BorderLinks participants) witnessed 75 brown people – shackled at their wrists, waists, and ankles – be found guilty of “illegal entry across the border” and deported in mass, in the span of 90 minutes. The proceeding took place in a federal courtroom.  It was legal. But I question whether it was legitimate. This proceeding was one of many instances that we observed of cruel and dehumanizing treatment handed out daily by our government, in our names. I am deeply disturbed by the brutal, cruel, and intentional disregard for brown people’s lives as practiced by our Federal government. Disturbed…but also hopeful. For I experienced divine hope during our trip, embodied in the young people who we met. Young, undocumented organizers are creating tools and systems aimed at thriving and, not only improving their own lot, but also the lives of others suffering injustice. I am reminded of the words of Hannah Arendt: “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.” I will no longer be part of that blind, undecided evil. I firmly and unequivocally make up my mind to be on the side of the good and commit to devoting my effort and energy to our local efforts to support detainees and undocumented immigrants, and to advocate for just immigration reform.

 

• Carmen Carrera: When I signed up to go to Tucson, AZ to learn about the border with Mexico, I had no idea what was awaiting me. To say that it was an intense, emotional experience is an understatement. Two experiences stayed with me. Operation Streamline (fast-track prosecution process) and the organization Scholarships A-Z. To witness 75 detainees at the courthouse with their feet and hands shackled and processed in mass was disturbing to say the least. Their expressions showed fear, confusion, hopes dashed and dreams crushed. The young people of Scholarships A-Z impressed me with their leadership and commitment. This organization fights for students to have access to education regardless of the immigration status. They had won the right to in-state tuition as undocumented students but in April of this year, the AZ Supreme Court ruled they no longer qualify for it. In addition, many of them live in fear of not seeing their parents when they get home from school adding more worry to their already stressful lives. However, I can be involved to end these and many other immigration injustices, I will be there. Standing by is not a choice.

 

• Brian Barger: The deep golden hues of desert sunset conceal human tragedy unfolding below. Walls, flesh-eating barbed wire, sensors and drones across the U.S.-Mexico border force pilgrims on their exodus from misery to an uninhabitable desert crossing. Up to 80 miles of severe Arizona terrain stand before them. Border Patrol copters overhead, kicking up clouds of blinding dust. They call it “Swoop and Scatter,” sending mothers, fathers, and children running for cover. How many are lost? In Arizona alone, 3,000 bodies have been recovered in recent years; 7,000 bodies found from California to Texas. In a small act of solidarity, our BorderLinks delegation left gallons of water along migrant paths. For many, the weeks-long journey from Central America ends in immigration detention and deportation back to the U.S.-inspired violence they are escaping. Join our team! Help fight for immigrant rights!

 

• Serene Lowe: On Friday, we traveled to Nogales, Mexico, where we learned about the death of 16-year old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in 2012.  He was shot 14 times by a Customs & Border Patrolman, who stepped off the border wall and entered Mexican territory during the incident. Supposedly, the young man was throwing rocks – from 40 feet below and approximately 100 feet down the street. His murderer was acquitted in April of this year of second-degree murder (2). Last week, he was acquitted on two charges of manslaughter. They have a shrine in his honor at the exact place where he was murdered – there are two holes in the wall above the shrine where two bullets missed him.  We then spent time learning about the economic disparities caused by the “marquiladoras” or factories built by American companies in Mexico after NAFTA to take advantage of cheap labor. I knew people were not being paid what they should, but I had no clear grasp of the horrible standard of living that these border communities face. For example, it takes an individual living in Nogales approximately 14 hours of labor to earn enough money to buy a box of 32 disposable diapers. Gas is so expensive that most people never have enough for more than a quarter of a tank at a time (ironically, it’s cheaper to buy gas north of the border in the U.S.). People have to work 62 hours on average just to afford a typical week’s worth of groceries – this doesn’t take into consideration housing, transportation, child care or clothing. Before, I had focused heavily on local efforts supporting asylum seekers, partly because I could understand the fear of violence, imprisonment, persecution, or death. But now, I have a much deeper appreciation for the economic deprivation that people are often trying to overcome by migrating to the U.S., as there is simply no way to survive where they are at.

 

• Megan Calvert: The most impactful part of this experience for me was definitely the desert walk. I had just read Luis Alberto Urrea’s non-fiction book “The Devil’s Highway,” which describes the 2001 desert crossing of 26 migrants which resulted in 14 deaths. As we walked through the increasingly warm day, breathing in the dry air until I started to feel a just the slightest bit of dehydration, I thought about the horrific experiences Urrea described. He wrote about how some of the walkers went mad, stripped naked, ran against the spiky cactuses as though embracing a loved one. Later we looked at a map showing there places where migrants’ bodies had been found and we saw how they were scattered all across the area where we had walked to bring life-saving water. We learned about “prevention though deterrence,” and how the treacherous nature of today’s border crossings are an intentional strategy from the US government. They believe that fewer people will cross if they push migrants into more dangerous areas, but the desperation and fear people experience drives them to cross regardless.

 

Upon our return, we felt it was critical to share with you our personal observations, as we believe it is imperative that our congregation reaffirm its commitment to doing whatever we can to support our undocumented brothers and sisters during this time of heightened aggression and marginalization. We simply must do more – we believe we have a moral obligation to do this work.

Please join us in standing up for immigrant rights – there will be many ways to get involved at an even deeper level as we head into 2019. Stay tuned –stop by the Immigration Rights/Sanctuary table after services, get involved in the Immigration Rights already in action at All Souls, or your UU congregation or church, and keep an eye out for future opportunities to engage.

If all of us commit to this work, we can have a major impact in supporting our immigrant neighbors here in the DMV area.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Brian, Carl, Carmen, Marleise, Megan and Serena

All Souls Church Unitarian, D.C.

 

Footnotes:

(1) Operation Streamline is a joint initiative of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice in the United States, started in 2005, that adopts a “zero-tolerance” approach to unauthorized border-crossing by engaging in criminal prosecution of those engaging in it. Additionally, Operation Streamline has exposed undocumented border-crossers crossing to unprecedented rates of incarceration; overburdened the federal criminal justice system; and added enormous costs to the American taxpayer while providing a boon to the for-profit private prison industry.

(2) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-border-patrol-agent-lonnie-swartz-shoot-teenager-murder-mexico-a8319261.html