{"id":830,"date":"2011-01-24T13:53:01","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T17:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crosscultural\/?p=830"},"modified":"2011-01-24T13:53:01","modified_gmt":"2011-01-24T17:53:01","slug":"report-on-border-issues-from-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/2011\/01\/24\/report-on-border-issues-from-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Report on border issues from Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mexico\/Guatemala<\/a>We are spending the weekend in Tuscon before we head to Guatemala for the bulk of our cross-cultural.\u00a0 This past week we were living in Agua Prieta, Mexico studying more about the border under the direction of Frontera de Cristo.\u00a0 Events to highlight are:\u00a0 walking immigrant trails in the Sonoran Desert, speaking first hand with deportees, touring a maquiladora and interacting with the U.S. Border Patrol. \u00a0For this update I will share about our desert experience.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been learning a lot about immigration issues and laws, but this week we were able to see it in action.\u00a0 On Tuesday we visited Centro de Rehabilitacion y Recuperacion de Enfermos De Alcoholismo (C.R.R.E.D.A. or The Center for Rehabilitation and Recuperation from Drug and Alcohol Addictions).\u00a0 CRREDA works with recovering drug and alcohol addicts giving them a place to live while they recover from their addictions.\u00a0 One of the things they do is maintain multiple water stations in the desert for immigrants to refill their water bottles before they cross into the U.S. and make the trek through the Arizona part of the Sonoran Desert.<\/p>\n

We went with them as they drove a truck out and topped off each of the 50 gallon drums.\u00a0 We ate lunch under a shade tree which kept the water nice and cool under its branches.\u00a0 As we got out our lunches, two heavily armed Mexican police seemingly popped out of nowhere.\u00a0 They were looking for drug dealers.\u00a0 The people we were with showed their credentials and we were left alone.\u00a0 After lunch in the cool shade, our local friends led us along trails that migrants walk.\u00a0 It was humbling to walk along trails that were possibly going to be traveled that very night by immigrants eager for a better life.\u00a0 As we reached the plain just before the fence our group spread out.\u00a0 I found myself weaving in and out, back and forth, trying to walk in open patches where the thorn bushes could not get at my legs.\u00a0 I had to think about the migrants traversing the same ground at night.\u00a0 They are not able to look around, scan the area ahead for the clearest path.\u00a0 They just have to follow their coyote (a guide) with no time to choose a safe route.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a> The first time I saw the wall I thought to myself \u201cI wonder how hard it would actually be to climb it.\u201d\u00a0 I got my chance out there in the desert; some of us climbed up the wall, I wanted to know how hard it would be.\u00a0 I got up without a terrible amount of difficulty, I just sat there, didn\u2019t cross to the other side because that could be accompanied with criminal charges.\u00a0 After a while I heard shouts of \u201cmira, la migra!!\u201d (look, the border patrol).\u00a0 There as a quick scramble and everyone got down, it really wasn\u2019t a big deal, the agent chatted with us for a bit and then drove away.\u00a0 I had to think about that for a bit.\u00a0 I was able to just climb that wall and not have much problem, but my Mexican friends weren\u2019t able to just play around so freely.<\/p>\n

As we were heading back to the vans our friends pointed out, with some binoculars, a small group of migrants hiding out on the side of one of the mountains.\u00a0 It was this, walking the trails, and climbing the wall that brought the reality of migrants crossing the border into perspective for me.\u00a0 I had read about it but it always seemed so distant, like it was happening in a different time and place.\u00a0 Now it was happening right where I was and at the time that I was there.<\/p>\n

So why do people cross illegally into the United States?\u00a0 We\u2019ve studied this a lot, and it\u2019s not because they want to take our jobs, be a bother, or in any way get in the way.\u00a0 They come because it\u2019s their last resort.\u00a0 Their economy is struggling and there is little to be found to support a family in Mexico.\u00a0 When there are offers of cutting grass or working construction for ten dollars an hour, it\u2019s hardly a question of whether or not to go.\u00a0 For many it is the only foreseeable way that they can support a family, so they make the life threatening trip to work here in the states and send the money back to their loved ones.<\/p>\n

I work for a lawn care company during the summers and I work with immigrants, \u201camigos\u201d as my employer calls them.\u00a0 They are \u201camigos,\u201d and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Not given any high ranking jobs, and rarely allowed to drive the trucks or do the nicer jobs.\u00a0 I have also been influenced by our society and have made racial judgments due to lack of understanding.\u00a0 Through the desert experience and others this past week I feel like I am able to humanize the immigrants.\u00a0 I know, for the most part, why they are coming, how they come, and where their hearts are.\u00a0 From my observation the main driving factor in jumping the wall is love.\u00a0 Love for loved ones and family.<\/p>\n

I will take this with me when I come back to the states, and with the Spanish that I pick up in Guatemala, I hope to connect on a personal level with immigrants.<\/p>\n

-Austin Showalter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are spending the weekend in Tuscon before we head to Guatemala for the bulk of our cross-cultural.\u00a0 This past week we were living in Agua Prieta, Mexico studying more about the border under the direction of Frontera de Cristo.\u00a0 Events to highlight are:\u00a0 walking immigrant trails in the Sonoran Desert, speaking first hand with....<\/p>

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