My Trip to Nogales Mexico

Alex Dea

Pedro Arrupe Nogales Mexico Immersion and Learning Trip Blog and Journal

Hello and welcome. For 10 days I spent traveling and learning about the immigration issues along the Arizona and Mexican border. I went around with 10 other students from BC, 2 other adult leaders and 2 leaders with Border links throughout Arizona and Mexico to learn about the border and the issues that surround it. In my time here, I learned a great deal and have a lot of information, and I also kept a personal journal/reflection of my experience. The following is a personal reflection/journal part, so please feel free to take a look. By the way, there are some pictures in here, but the rest can be found on Facebook and all of them can be found in my photos section at the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/adea11

Day 1

Thursday Jaunary 3^rd 2008

We left very early this morning from Boston Logan Airport and flew to Phoenix Arizona and then drove to Tucson Arizona, where we will be staying at the Border Links facility for a few days. After an exhaustive day of traveling we are finally here.

 

Day 2

Friday January 4^th 2008

Today was our first full day at Borderlinks in Tuscon. We started off with a bit of an orientation and then we watched a documentary called Crossing Arizona, which covered the history of migration as well as the problems and issues surrounding immigration with regards to the Arizona-Mexico Border. If you haven’t seen it or read about it, I highly recommend viewing it or reading about it as it explains the situation well and it is very interesting. It was a great way to begin the trip because it gave a good background to the whole situation surrounding the border as well as the problems that we currently are facing today. And as I look at the schedule it looks like we’re going to be speaking with a number of these individuals who appear in the movie. After the movie we had lunch. At Borderlinks, one of their goals is to provide meals that are sustainable and locally grown, but also meals that are vegetarian. If you know me that I’m big on meat, so its been a bit of a struggle in terms of eating because of the fact that there is no meat. Hopefully I can make it through the next few days. Later in the afternoon we did a skit with NAFTA, this was very interesting as it demonstrated how much NAFTA benefited the US and big corporations and how it negatively impacted many farmers in Mexico. Unfortunately, it appears as it is just getting worse because as of the beginning of the year American corn will now be subsidized, making it cheaper to buy American corn in Mexico as opposed to Mexican corn, which will in turn put out more Mexican farmers, thus contributing to the immigration problems as more people will be forced to turn to migrating in order to find a better source of income. Our first real speaker was the Reverened John Fife, who was the founder of a Sanctuary Movement that united family members from Central America to their families in the states. John was an interesting person as he once advocated along side of Dr. Martin Luther King and currently advocates for migrants crossing the border. He did such a good job of giving a history of immigration, ranging back to the 1850’s to present day and also in the last 10 minutes he gave his theory of how the immigration problem could be solved, which alone was worth the price of admission. His three steps are as follows:

1-      Tax to redistribute wealth and to get money to others hands

2-      Build public infrastructure, set world standards that all must abide by. Eliminate economic advantages, such as cheap labor, tax breaks etc.

3-      Protect the environment for our kids.

 

While this is idea and will take a lot for to happen, he provided us for some early solutions to solve a very difficult problem. I don’t know if this is the right answer, but right now it is an answer, so it will be interesting so see how we can build off it.

 

Day 3

Saturday 1/5/2008

Mike Wilson was a very interesting and powerful speaker. Despite receiving little support from his peers and people Mike still puts water out on the reservation and helps migrants in any way that he can. He is the type of person that is important because he is not afraid to speak his mind and isn’t worried about politics or what others will think of him. It’s a shame that the Indian Reservation chief supports him but cannot do so publically, and its also frustrating because our own government is dangling millions of dollars in basically buy money to ensure that the rest of the Reservation does not do more for the migrants. It’s amazing to me that despite the odds stacked against them there are so many people that are willing to cross the desert in such terrible conditions. It just shows how bad it is in Mexico in many ways.

 

Lunch at Cecelia’s was very tasty as well as enjoyable. She was very nice to welcome us into her home and we had great food. She also used to work for Borderlinks and it was good to hear her kind words as she encouraged us to be the ones to change the policies for our future. Additionally, she had some really cute dogs, and we all go to play with them. Upon first look Nogales looks like a fascinating town. The environment aspect is beautiful but there are houses that are stacked upon houses upon houses, it’s really amazing. In the afternoon we drove to Altar, which was a strategic stopping point for those migrating to Mexico. There, Coyotes met up with potential clients to help them cross the border in exchange for large amounts of money. Our first stop was to CCAMYN, which was a shelter for migrants. This was a great place because it provided free services for migrants to help them get better and heal, but it also discouraged them from crossing and risking their lives. We had dinner with a few of the migrants and they were all very receptive and responsive to all the questions that we had. We had a presentation given to us at the shelter by a man named Enrique. He spent a good deal of time talking about the ramifications of NAFTA, which we also touched upon during the previous day. More or less, it appears as if the US knew very well that NAFTA would destroy the small Mexican farmers and help many big businesses reap profits in the United States and despite this they still went full steam ahead. And now, why are there people crossing daily? Likely many because of the fact that they cant find work in Mexico which was taken away from them because of the ramifications of NAFTA.

Altar was an interesting town because there are so many transient people. Originally, there were anywhere between 2,000-4,000 people arriving daily, almost all migrants looking to cross the border. It’s so crazy that so many people every day are looking to cross at some point. And finally, its frustrating how the town of Altar is playing to it. They have shops where you can buy supplies that you will need to cross the border, Coyotes can more or less be seen on every street corner trying to solicit people and every time you see a van or a bus, either its bringing people in or taking them out to migrate.

What an interesting but frustrating process. At dinner and during the day it finally hit me, no longer are these migrants stats, they are real people. Looking at the migrants and speaking with them I realized that these weren’t just arbitrary numbers anymore, they are very real, and the experiences and challenges that they face are very real as well, it was kind of hard for me to fathom.

 

Day 4

Sunday 1/6/2008

Today was a very interesting day that began very early, and before I begin let me say that it was absolutely frigid last night. We all had sleeping bags and slept on the floor of the migrant shelter and it got extremely cold at night. Nonetheless, we march onward. Oh, and they don’t have hot water here or not right now so I don’t I’ll be able to shower. You sometimes take things for granted, so it’s a good reminder to appreciate what we have. The time at the hospitality house was very frustrating and interesting. To recap, hospitality/guest houses are places that migrants can stay temporarily for a fee before they head off on their journey. Many times coyotes tell them to stay in specific houses and they get a little kickback for their advertisement. The one we went to was one of the better ones in the city, and the room we saw it was a sauna in there and there were literally 20 people sleeping in a room smaller than a regular room at a hotel. Everything they have, blankets, pillows etc is paid for a la carte and at 6:30 AM a bunch of random Americans were invading their room to look at what it was like. Despite this, they all answered any questions we might have had and did so without any problem. I felt like I literally as at a zoo and I was looking in at caged animals as if they were on show. Again, these guest houses are basically put in order to take advantage of the migrants, and many end up spending lots of money as everything is a la carte. Oh yeah, and food is not provided, they have to find that on their own. This town is literally built on and for the sake of aiding/taking advantage of migrants who are going to cross the border, and that is very frustrating. Later on we went to Mass at a church in Altar. The Priest was the man who showed us around the guest house in the morning, but before the Mass we helped hand out fliers for the migrant shelter in the main center of town. While most were thankful for the handouts there were many that threw out the fliers because they already were with coyotes who would forbid them from staying at the shelter, especially since it was free of charge. After mass we thanked the Priest, and in his little office a reporter for the town newspaper came and interviewed us. He asked us why we were there and a couple of other basic questions, like what our thoughts were and so forth. He kind of just asked us in general, but while he was asking it was hard for me to find the answers to any of his questions. So far it has definitely been a great experience but I’m not exactly sure what the worst or best thing is, or any of those types of answers for those questions. I hope that at the end I’ll be able to figure them out but right now I’m just at a loss for words. After church we ate lunch at a woman named Tere’s house. She was a vital member of the migrant shelter and helped found it back when it initially began. She was such an amazing person and had do so much for the community, and she was so welcoming of us into her home. She made a great lunch for us and spent 15-20 minutes talking to us. I say she is an amazing person because she seemed so selfless and had so much hope and faith. Despite knowing full on what is going on with the immigration problem she still believes that one day the problem will be solved. Additionally, and the thing that struck me most was her “half full” faith mentality. She talked about her husband who died just a few years ago. When her husband was getting sick the doctors said he would only live for about 1-2 years, and he ended up living for about 4. Once someone asked Tere how God could love her if she took her husband away and she replied “well he lived twice as long as he was expected to, so I guess God is really with me.” It seems like in our culture there is a glass half empty based faith whereas down here there is a glass half full based faith. Despite the fact that she lost the person she loved most in the world she still is able to be selfless and think of how God has blessed her life. This is something that is so amazing and admirable, because its something that I really don’t see everyday.

The past four days have been an interesting experience thus far. I have a lot of feelings and emotions running through my head. We’ve met a lot of great people, heard interesting, fascinating, deveasting and inspiring stories as well as bonded as a group. And while I was reluctant to leave my issues (other things that I was thinking about like back at BC) at the door at first, I feel as if I am making progress. The people down here that we’ve met are great people. They all are so welcoming and inviting and have plenty of knowledge to share with us, and its really wonderful. They have so much hope and faith, and are so elated that we are down there, and when they say that they hope and believe that we as a group are going to be the ones to help facilitate change they really do mean it. Just like for Jesus in his life, this makes the cross even more heavy for all of us to carry. As for some underlying thoughts that I have been thinking about lately:

 

In a good/bad way, its sad given their obstacles how they have an ability to still find hope. It’s sad because of what they are facing, but despite how much the odds are stacked against them many truly believe that they can make it through the desert and find a better life in the States.

 

Selfish

I feel selfish for what I have and what I desire, because these people have so little but yet share so much.

 

Half Full vs Half empty- I alluded to this before. It must be an American thing, but I feel as if we are so “woe is me” and look at how bad my problems are. Despite how tough things get here, many of the people here just preserve and never let those things bother them. It tests their faith, but only makes it stronger. Maybe we’re just whimps?

 

 

Day 5

Monday January 7^th 2008

 

This must be the coldest day yet, it is freezing out and to top it off its raining. In the morning our first speaker was a man named Kiko. Kiko has lived his entire live in Nogales and began working in the factories before making it up the chain and eventually becoming an official of Economic Development in Nogales. He was an awesome speaker and gave us a great overview of how Nogales has developed over the years as well as answered a great deal of questions that I posed to him. He devoted his ability to do well because of his education which he got in the US. In just the two years he spent he was able to learn English and graduate with some type of degree, which eventually helped him through the factories and led him to his current job. So far, I think Kiko has had the best message yet in terms of the immigration problem and solution. Instead of blaming others, Kiko adamantly said that Mexico has nobody to blame but itself for NAFTA, because after all the Mexican government was paying lobbyists in Washington to get NAFTA to pass. He says that before anything can happen the government in Mexico needs to refocus on the people as opposed to just the rich people and it needs to rid itself of corruption. As for the future, he said that there definitely is a place for capitalism despite how it has ruined the Mexican economy. Additionally, he said that he would hope the US would view Mexico as a partner/ally as opposed to an economic tool or pawn. He believes that we are all in this planet together and that we should all work together to share success rather than pit one against another. After Kiko we went to the Nogales border to a No More Deaths Camp. Basically, No More Deaths sets up tents near borders and provides basically food and medical care to migrants that need it. We stayed very briefly, but the volunteers that worked there said that the immigration situation is getting worse and worse and noting that many people that have passed through their camp were ones who were rounded up in raids and deported back to Mexico. Later on in the afternoon, we went back to the Wall that separated US-Mexico and looked at some of the paintings and pictures which were designed by two artists in Nogales. After walking around, looking at them and reflecting on them I see a lot of angst, anger, frustration and hope in the murals. A look at the pictures will give you a better understanding of them, but they certainly were thought provoking and interesting.

 

Perhaps the most horrific event of the day came at our tour of Groupos Betas, a government arm that goes in to help Migrants along their journeys. Typically, they go around searching for migrants to make sure they are medically OK and if they need water or food etc. Additionally, they look for dead bodies and also for safety for many of the migrants as well. During their presentation they showed us some bulletin boards of pictures filled with dead migrants along the trail, and the pictures were pretty horrific. Tonight was also the night of our home stay. Myself, Cara, Nick, Meg and Chris headed to a small house in Nogales owned by a woman named Emma. She was so nice and welcoming and cooked a wonderful dinner for us. Emma lived with a daughter and her husband, one of her sons and her daughter also had two kids, one who was 3 and one who was 3 months. Her other two sons worked in the United States. Her one grandchild Javier who was 3 was quite the kid. He acted shy and wouldn’t really talk but loved to play. We played a modified version of chase the three year old and hide and go seek, and when we found out he was ticklish we had a great time with him, until he lightly punched Chris in the nose and was laughing hysterically about it. Anyway, back to the homestay. SO we arrived around 7pm or so and Emma served us dinner. Dinner consisted of rice, beans, tortillas as well as squash with cheese and some form of spicy chicken. It was so spicy and so cold in the house that the sweat on my forehead started giving off air/smoke in the room. Emma moved to the house 8 years ago and just got electricity 2 years ago. Every 4-5 days she pays 70 pesos or so for water and does not have heat. This is pretty common for many in Nogales, and she actually does not own the house but pays rent to a man who owns a lot of the property in the neighborhood. Many of the houses in Nogales were taken over by squatters in land invasions, and quite frankly the government could theoretically come in any day and take it back from Emma because it really isn’t hers. It’s quite an interesting reality and dilemma, and quite frankly kind of scary. After dinner we went to bed early, and all five of us shared one of Emma’s rooms. Nick Chris and I took one bad and Cara and Meg took the other. It was a cold night to say the least…

 

 

Day 6

Tuesday January 8^th

We woke up frigid at Emma’s this morning, but thankful for the experience and for Emma’s welcoming hospitality. Unfortunately, this morning I was a little bit tired and instead of putting sugar in my coffee it was salt…not a great idea. After we all met up we took a tour through the Kennedy neighborhood, the richest neighborhood in Nogales where less than 1% of its residents live in. There were some beautiful houses and they were very different from the rest of the town. Additionally, Manuel, one of our Borderlinks guides informed us that some of these people who owned these houses were drug traffickers. We had an interesting and motivational time at the Microcredit bank that we stopped at. The bank serves as hope for the city of Nogales and for humanity as well, as there is a 98.3% pay back rate of the loans which are all small loans with small amounts of interest. They enable people in Nogales to start small businesses such as street vending or small arts and crafts, and there have been a great amount of successful stories because of it. Additionally, the bank also provides free information/kits on starting a business but also healthy living, which sets it apart from the rest. Something interesting I learned was that almost 90% of the people who took out microcredit loans were women,

 

We drove to Douglas Arizona in the afternoon to continue on our trek. Crossing the border wasn’t too bad of an issue but it was about a three hour drive to Douglas. Along the way we stopped at a park in Patogonia Arizona and had lunch. It was in the middle of the mountains and it was absolutely beautiful there. After a few more hours of driving we made it to Douglas and met with Activist and lifetime resident of Douglas Ray Ybarra

. Ray definitely was one of the best if not the best speaker we got a chance to meet on our trip. Ray graduated from Stanford law after playing baseball in college and because of his lifelong residency in Arizona (his house butts up to the borderfence) Ray has seen the effects and impacts of immigration/response to immigration over the years. Finally after seeing enough Ray decided to act on it, and won a grant from the ACLU to start a program to watch the Minuteman, or the civil vigilante force who was aiding border patrol in finding illegal immigrants who were trying to cross. His logic was to make sure that the Minuteman were abiding by all laws and regulations and to make sure that they weren’t abusing migrants in any way. Ray also is a close friend of John Fife, the man who is working with the Sanctuary movement to help migrants find their families. In his time Ray travels the country speaking about immigration and issues of immigration in order to raise awareness. He is also trying to start a human rights center. Ray made an interesting point when speaking about the issue of immigration. He noted that as a citizen he has a duty to obey all the laws and regulations of the state and federal government, and as a citizen he is proud to have the opportunity to live in this land. But sometimes, there is a higher moral value that trumphs any law, and as a person he felt that this is the case for him for illegal migrants, in that while it might be illegal to cross the right to find work and the right to humane treatment is more important than a law, and because of this belief he is trying to carry this out. Additionally, Ray was just so down to earth and so easy to relate to. Part of it might have been because he was so young (he has a Facebook account) but also he just was a really relaxed and down to earth guy, someone you would want to hit golf balls with, go to the batting cages with or just have a drink with just to shoot the breeze. He encouraged us to send him e-mails and to do whatever we could to help. Collectively I think we decided that we want to bring him up to BC do to a speaking engagement. After Ray’s we crossed the border back into Mexico and went to Agua Prieta, which basically butts up to Ray’s house. We stayed that night at CAME, which was a resource center for migrants. This one was different and probably one of the best run ones that I’ve seen, as migrants who use drugs or alcohol will not be allowed in, those who stay have to get up early and also have to partake in chores to keep the center clean and they must stay clear of trouble if they want to continue staying there. A young man Esteban, probably a few years younger than myself gave us a presentation on the things they did at CAME as well as the resources that they provided. He also answered questions that we had. Esteban was proof that there are people out there that can make a difference and hopefully enact change one day, and when I saw him I saw a lot of myself when I was younger, except he was better looking and much more grounded and humble. He started volunteering at the center when he was just 13 and has done it ever since. He has a pretty big role as he is there almost every day of the week. When someone asked why he volunteered he responded with something along the lines of “Once you get into this work it’s hard to leave, and once you’ve seen it all its hard to turn a blind eye.” Finally, the best thing that he said was when someone asked what his future plans were he said he intended to work at the center “until he took his last breath.” Hearing that from a teenager was absolutely amazing and so motivating. It’s so great to see such passion in someone so young, Esteban was truly a special individual.

Day 7

Wednesday January 9^th

Today was probably one of the best days of the trip. We started off the morning by going to the Migrant Resource Center which is just right near the port of entry to Mexico. They are just another resource migrants can turn to if they need medical attention, food or direction. After we stopped there briefly we walked around the town of Agua Prieta and then headed to CRREDA, which was a drug and rehab center in the town. At the center, there were patients that had been there for two months and some ranging up to five years. They have a 12 step program and they also house people who have psychological problems as well. It was very confusing to me because it was a drug and resource center but yet there were individuals who had psychological problems there too. The ones with those problems were kept in a separate area, which resembled something like a cage or a pen. As one of our guides explained to us some of these people were just taken off the street because they were eating garbage or wandering aimlessly. Two of the women who have psychological problems do not know how the bathroom properly and also cannot bathe properly, so it was quite a disheartening thing to look at. To top it off, I don’t think that they receive much treatment for their problems outside of the drug and alcohol treatment. It truly was a confusing and disheartening thing to watch. Our next activity was the desert walk, in which we took a walk from the back of a ranch in Agua Prieta to the Mexican-Arizona border. This was done to give us a real life experience of only part of a journey that a migrant might encounter when crossing the border. Fortunately for us instead of walking the whole way they drove us in a truck to a certain point and then we walked the remainder of the way. This was such an ambivalent experience for me because the scenery and nature of the outdoors was so breathtaking but the actual experience of walking the trail was saddening and frustrating. Although I certainly enjoyed and appreciated the experience I could never imagine doing this to save my life or to find a better job or to support my family. The dangers are so great as well as the chance of getting caught, and not to mention the weather in the desert…that just does not bode well. Along the walk we spotted plenty of trash, torn shoes, dropped backpacks and supplies and empty water bottles and jugs, presumably from migrants who either ran out of water, finished their bottle or potentially died. They were just very real reminders out there of the things that could happen in the desert on the migrant trail. We made it to the border fence and we stopped for lunch, but not before we spotted US Border Patrol on the other side. We enjoyed our lunch and then headed back to the ranch. After the walk we finished the day by going to the Just Coffee shop. Just Coffee is a co-op that was started in response to the crash of coffee prices for Mexican farmers. Their pay for a sack of coffee beans went from 1500 pesos to about 400 pesos, and many farmers lost their jobs because they could not feed their families and thus causing some to migrate north. The winner of the coffee crash? Large corporations who make tons of profits. The point of Just Coffee is to give the farmers a fair price for their coffee, and its much more fresh as it is processed and sold right away instead of in big bulk instant coffee containers. The operation started small and grew very quickly, and they are working on getting organic certification which will hopefully take them to the next level. We all were exhausted after this incredible day and headed back to the migrant shelter where we were staying for another night. We ate dinner and closed off the night with a reflection of who/what motivated us the most thus far on the trip. For me it was Esteban, in seeing someone so young but yet so committed, driven and passionate about an issue.

Just to put in perspective, the shelter got hot water today so I took my first warm shower of the trip. The shelter does not have heat but it did have a space heater, but ones the flame runs out it goes off, so it was pretty cold sleeping here for the second night in a row. Although I didn’t sleep very well I can only imagine what the people here go through on a regular basis, and two bad nights of sleep aren’t the worst things in the world.

 

Day 8

Thursday January 10^th 2008

This morning we left Agua Prieta and then drove to Sierra Vista Arizona where we met with David Walker. Walker is a lifelong resident of Sierra Vista who grew up on a ranch that butts up the border. He has experience dealing with border patrol, minuteman, migrants, drug traffickers and everyone else in between, and had a very interesting perspective of the border and what should be done. Most of the people in our group were more towards the liberal leaning side and this guy was clearly conservative in his ways. He had a very different perspective on what the problem was and many people felt as if he was ignorant and almost offensive but I didn’t necessarily disagree with some of what he had to say. He believes that there shouldn’t be a fence because it isn’t effective and people still will cross so it’s a waste of money, and that there nobody needs to die in this process because its not worth it. He believes that the US should make it easier for migrants to legally work in the United States as the system in place right now isn’t working. However, for all these things he believes he didn’t effectively communicate it in the best manner and also said some politically incorrect things that some of us took offense to. One of the positive things about David was that he was proactive in calling his politicians to voice his opinion. Although again, he didn’t exactly do it in the best manner (calling other politicians that were out of his district and pretending he was their constituent in order to get them to do something) I can say for a fact that he is doing much more than most of the people in the United States. The sense of apathy and do nothingness that permeates our society is frustrating at times, and while I don’t agree with all his decisions and tactics I do commend the fact that he is trying to do something about it. After speaking with David we went to lunch and then drove back to Tucson. When we got back to Tucson we had some free time to relax and then we met with Brad Lancaster, who was an activist for sustainable living. He showed us his house in Tucson and also different ways that his house was sustainable and the different contraptions and devices that he made in order to make it sustainable. It was very interesting and very different from what we’ve seen. He has two outdoor showers, a solar powered oven, natural air conditioners which he made by planting trees in the front of his house so that it would be cooler when it got hot in the summer and he also has bikes instead of cars. He was able to create a program in which people could get free trees to plant as long as they planted them in their front yards in order to help fight against the warming temperatures. Additionally, he uses no water from the city, just rainwater that he harvests. It was quite an interesting house and very neat as well. To top it off he looked like Paul Bunyan.

Later that night after our dinner we had a reflection. We’ve had different reflections every night but this was one of the more powerful reflections as we got towards the end of the trip and had a better sense of what this all meant then when we began. The reflection was based off of the notion that there are people out there who have supported us and are always there for us and keep us solid, similar to a rock. The reflection asked for us to name individuals who were rocks for us, at home, at school and on the trip. This was a pretty powerful reflection and there were great responses. For me and for most, it was hard to really narrow down rocks in our lives. At home, it obviously is my family. They are always there to support me in whatever I do and without their love, support and care I wouldn’t be where I am today. They’ve always encouraged me to go beyond the norm and to not just settle for what is expected because that is what everyone else does. Additionally, they’ve driven me to become driven, passionate and motivated about making a difference in whatever I do. However, I’d have to say in particular my Father has been a solid rock for me. Although growing up it was tough at times because he always was pushing me to a step further and I didn’t always see why I needed to do that, looking back I realize how fortunate I was to have someone constantly trying to get me to the next level. Certainly we had our disagreements and tough times, especially when I quit basketball but his knowledge, advice, lectures and constant love have been so helpful into shaping the person that I am today. Although I never felt like I ever was a bad kid, my life really took a turn from being above normal to the next level when I finally started listening to the things that my father had been badgering me to do all along. I got involved with the Caddie Program, at church and in school, and I can honestly say that without those things I wouldn’t be where I am today and I wouldn’t be who I was today either. As I get older and begin to reflect more on myself, my life, my decisions, my thoughts and the direction I want to go in I see it more and more that I really am my Father’s son, and how similar we are in so many ways. In terms of my rock at school, I talked about my best friend Chrissy. Chrissy is always there for me and is one of the smartest, strongest, resilient, loving and caring person that I’ve ever met in my life. Despite her ups and downs and the obstacles that she has faced she never blames anything in her life on them and she never is angry or feels spiteful because of them. If anything, it just drives her to be even more loving, caring and resilient. Her ability to always have a smile on her face always brightens me up while her love, care and resiliency amaze me and push me to do the same in my life. Her constant love and undying friendship get me through and help me stay sane and unstressed. Finally, its safe to say that everyone on the trip so far has been a rock in some way. We’ve all been here for each other and supported each other through the entire trip and also in specific situations. But one person in particular that has really been a rock for me has been my friend Shawn. Shawn and I had a few classes together this semester and also we lived on the same campus last year. This semester, we had our weekly trip meetings every Wednesday, which also was my hell day at school because of classes and meetings. Despite this, he always was there to motivate me to get to meetings, making sure I was OK and ready to go and making me laugh. On the trip he was someone who I could always talk to and to keep my sanity but we also just seem to be on the same wavelength, and whenever I’m thinking something if I look at him 8 times out of 10 he’ll be thinking the same thing, or when I start singing a song he’ll immediately catch on right away. This was a great exercise and a great way to end the night.

Day 9

Friday January 11^th 2008

Today was also a very powerful day, and also the last day more or less on our trip. We spent the entire morning at Tucson federal court with Isabel Garcia and Yendi Castillo, two public defenders who specialized in immigration cases. We watched a few immigration hearings, talked with the judge and spent time talking with our two lawyers. This was such an interesting and frustrating experience, as we got to see the flaws of the legal system at work as well as the interesting tactics of our United States government as well as a perfect example of a waste of federal tax dollars. In all the hearings all the people were charged with illegal entry in getting caught in some way of crossing the border without proper documentation. Each charge was a felony (as a repeat violation) and is punishable from anywhere between 2-20 years. However, most charged immigrants will take a plea bargain that is much less jail time. Very rarely will they go to trial unless there are extenuating circumstances. They are defended by private lawyers in most cases who get paid $100 an hour to defend these people, who mainly have no defense as it is, and that money comes from the court, aka taxpayer dollars. To do some math, in my time there they processed 5 different people that morning with 5 lawyers getting paid $100 an hour to defend them. 90% of the cases seen in this court in Tucson are immigration cases and this was just one of the many judges they have…I don’t have to do the math to prove this is very expensive. To add to that, this Monday they are starting Operation Streamline, which is a 0 tolerance policy towards immigration and illegal crossing. They want to process 40 of these cases every day in the Tucson court. So now, when undocumented people are caught crossing the border instead of having the option to voluntarily return to Mexico they can be held and will be held in a detention center for up to 180 days. After that, they will be given the process of going to court/taking a plea bargain etc and then will serve some sort of jail time. Now that they will have more time in jail this also increases the expenses as it costs about $1900 a month to keep these people in jail. To top it off, they gave the contract to house these people to CCA, a private jail building company. I could go on for ages of the interesting things that I learned while I was at court and listening to Isabel and Yendi, but by far the most powerful and moving part of this was when Yendi started talking about the immigration issue and within 30 seconds began crying because she gets so upset trying to talk about it because of how unfair and cruel it is to these people. She believes that the government is just playing and toying with the Constitution as it deems fit and is taking away the integrity of a very important and powerful document. Seeing her get emotional about this was very frustrating and very moving and just showed the desperation and fight that this whole thing was. I don’t know the answer to this problem, but I do know that right now this isn’t right, and people should not have to die while we try and figure it out. After returning back to the Border Links facility we had lunch and then spoke with Sara, the women who had been making all our meals at the Border Links facility. She talked a little about sustainable food and also showed us a movie on it. This topic was something I was familiar with as I learned about it in a class this past year. We then went to the University of Arizona to look at some art that two artists made concerning the border, and then we drove to Gates Pass in the mountains to have a reflection. The mountains were absolutely beautiful, and we were able to take pictures and to see the sun set. We had a reflection and then headed back to Border Links for the night. After dinner we did some closing things, such as we revealed who our guardian angels were (basically everyone was a guardian angel for someone else in the group and they were to watch over them during the trip and to be extra supportive to them in times of need but we didn’t know who our guardian angel was until the revealing process) and finished with some closing reflections and a few games as well. We also played a bunch of those games in Spanish, so that our dear friend and trip leader from Border Links Manuel could play, and that was interesting to hear some of those translations…

 

Day 10

Saturday January 12^th 2008

We got up early, ate breakfast, packed the van, said goodbyes, took pictures and drove from Tucson to Phoenix to catch our flight back to Boston. This was such a powerful and amazing experience that really is not captured in its entirety in this journal. To sum it up best, it was a trip filled of emotion, excitement, frustratation, hopelessness, sadness, fear, hope, faith, highs, lows, tears, lots of laughter, times of bonding and growth of relationships, passion, motivation and lots of great conversations, not only with speakers but with each other. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all grown in some ways over the past 10 days and we’re all committed to doing what we can in order to better address the immigration problem. So in retrospect, here are some things that I have learned or I have observed on this trip. I’ve learned a great deal and I’ve observed a lot, so here are the most important things in my mind.

-          The United States has used and will continue to use other countries as pawns or tools to get what it wants in order to improve its state. This is what happened with NAFTA and has happened in our history with many other countries. This is very frustrating and unfair, but what can be done about it?

-          I feel I am a pretty well informed person who knows a lot about what is going on and the types of things that are happening in our world. However, I didn’t realize how bad the immigration problem was until I got here. It was a lot worse than I ever made it out to be and the thing that got me is I finally got to see the numbers and statistics that I had always read about.

-          Something has got to be done with our law system, because the system we have in placed that I witnessed in Tucson was not effective and there was such wasteful spending of our tax dollars.

-          Even though its against some of what I believe we should do fisically or economically in the US, we need to find ways to help the Mexican and Latin American economies, not destroy them.

-          The politicians right now have it all wrong, and there will be very little done right now to solve the problem of immigration. Everyone talks about a fence and border security, but in my opinion that won’t people away from trying to cross, it will just make it more dangerous and incur more deaths.

-          Whatever we decide to do with immigration MUST be done in parts. The Last immigration bill failed because it was so big and comprehensive. It needs to be done in pieces with some trial and error. This is going to take many years to solve, it can’t be done just overnight.

-          Most people who migrate do not want to. They would rather stay in Mexico and have a job that pays them enough to life a simple yet fulfilling life. However, they migrate because they can’t even get that in Mexico so that try and find it in the United States.

-          Edmund Burke once said “evil triumphs when good men do nothing.” And this is what I feel about the immigration issue. We know the US government knows exactly what is going on down here but yet they let it continue and seem like they don’t mind that people are dying. I’m not saying I have the right answer but to sit back and let politics be played is absolutely terrible while lives are at risk.

-          The people that we met down here were so welcoming, warming, generous and even so with what little they had they always were willing to give, share and spend time with us. I feel as if everyone down here has a story to share with us and they were able to do so when we met with them. They really have a lot of faith in us that we will somehow find a way to solve this problem one day. In return, I feel it is our responsibility to help others understand the stories of these people. Not help them directly right away, but to educate people about these issues so that the correct changes can eventually be made.

-          Now more than ever, I realize that the immigration issue is going to be solved by us, not our parents or politicians generation. They’ve either done their part or cannot be relied on but if we want to change this problem that its going to be up to us to figure out a solution. And it’s going to start with what we learned on this trip.

 

In closing

So there you have it! In closing, this was an absolute amazing experience to have and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have taken this trip. There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think about how thankful I am to all those who supported me through the form of moral or monetary support and without it I would not have been able to have this experience. Although I don’t know the right answer to the problem, I am committed to sharing what I know with as many people as I can in order to help find the problem, solve it and make the border a better place. This has been such an incredible experience and one that I will never forget.