Day 4 - Desert ICE

TRIP TO THE BORDER:   Day 4 -  ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)        

BorderLinks Delegation

Participants:  Steve Goering, Susan Ortman Goering, John Schneider, Anne-Marie Patrie

March 11-14, 2013                                                                            

ICE

Our last presentation was from an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agent.  Rick Crocker acknowledged that he was apprehensive about meeting with us.  He has worked for the Department of Homeland Security since it began in 2001.  He said nobody likes what he does.  Some feel he (ICE) should be doing more, ridding the US of all persons here without papers.  Some feel he (ICE) is cruel and heartless, going after the wrong people. 

He emphasized that HSI works primarily to protect our borders and eliminate crimes including customs fraud, child exploitation, human trafficking/slavery and smuggling – humans/drugs/weapons/currency.  In his current position, he works with the seven ports of entry in Arizona.  Primary concerns in Arizona are inbound drugs and human smuggling and outbound weapons and currency smuggling.  More drugs come into the US through Arizona ports than any others. 

Crocker stressed the violence of the drug cartels and the violence directed at the migrants (he called them illegal aliens).   “These are not nice people,” he said repeatedly.   He wanted to emphasize that part of his work: eliminating the cartels, the drug, human, and weapons trafficking, etc.

He seemed to have sympathy for the migrants, emphasizing that they are extremely vulnerable,  at the mercy of the coyotes every step of the way.  Sometimes they are abandoned in the desert; anyone who can’t keep up is simply left behind.   He also showed pictures of migrants stacked like cordwood in a drop house in Phoenix.  The migrants told stories of paying thousands of dollars to get across the border.  They were then held in the drop house while their captors called family members and attempted to extort additional money.  “If you don’t send another $3,000, we’ll beat your brother.”  And then they would proceed to do just that, beat him so the family members could hear his screams.     With women migrants, the scenario changed to rape; women, he said, expect to be raped, sometimes repeatedly. 

Grupos Beta and the Wall

Day 3, Grupos Beta and the Wall

TRIP TO THE BORDER

BorderLinks Delegation

Participants:  Steve Goering, Susan Ortman Goering, John Schneider, Anne-Marie Patrie

March 13, 2013

By: Susan

Grupos Beta.

Just before returning to the US, we spent an hour or so at Grupos Beta.  Employees, supported by the Mexican government, go into the desert on the Mexican side and offer food, water and medical aid to migrants and recent deportees.  They also offer the same to recent deportees.  Beta also allows other organizations such as Kino Border Initiative (see yesterday’s blog) and No More Deaths to come to Beta’s location and offer services.  We saw them handing out compasses and offering safe phone calls home.  Migrants are vulnerable, taken advantage of easily.  One common scam is to offer to let a migrant call family somewhere, either in the US or back home.  Then, when the migrant hands the phone back, the phone’s owner accesses the number just called and makes another phone call to the family to extort money from them.  So, being able to make a safe call to let family know about location and status is extremely helpful to a migrant.

The courtyard was full of migrants.  Many of those present had tried to cross and had been deported.  Some were hoping to make their first attempt soon.  Most were young.  Most were extremely unprepared for the journey ahead.

We divided into small groups with several of us, an interpreter from our group, and a migrant.  Our small group of 3 talked to a young man, I’ll call Juan.   Amazingly, I had seen Juan the day before when we met with West from Kino.  We waited in the van for West to arrive, within sight of the border crossing where most of the big trucks cross with produce and other goods for the US.   Juan had come walking down the hill from the border crossing; I picked him out as a migrant.  He was wearing a backpack and had a bundle wrapped in a black garbage bag.  He waited around the corner and then came into Kino to eat.

Juan was 17, from southern Mexico.  He had ridden the trains north, a dangerous undertaking in itself as people fall off the trains and are injured or killed.  Sometimes they are beaten and robbed.  Juan talked about how cold it was at night, how the cold went right through his jacket and sweatshirt and shirt.  His plan was to go over the fence with a friend and cross at night.  While the fence looks formidable to me, apparently, scaling the fence is not uncommon.  He had a friend in Tucson.  He showed us the phone number on a scrap of paper in his pocket.  He hoped to get a job in a nursery or working on a farm.  He asked how long it took to get to Tucson.  We said an hour by car, but several days walking.  His face fell, but he was still determined.  He had no guide through the desert, no money, no food or water.  “Perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow night,” he said.

Days 2-3 HEPAC

TRIP TO THE BORDER:  Part of the Solution

BorderLinks Delegation:   Tucson to Nogales and Back

Participants:  Steve Goering, Susan Ortman Goering, John Schneider,  Anne-Marie Patrie

March 11-14, 2013

HEPAC, South of the Border.  Part of the Solution. March 12-13.                                                

By: Steve

The HEPAC Community Center.  As noted earlier, our Borderlinks delegation stayed at the HEPAC Community Center for the evening of March 12.  HEPAC is an acronym for Hogar de Esperanza y Paz (Home of Hope and Peace).  The activities and the life there are at least part of the answer to the continuing migration challenge.  HEPAC brings justice and reasonable living conditions to the people of neighborhoods in Nogales near the HEPAC Center.

Hogar de Esperanza y Paz Entrance

The Center itself is comfortable, though basic in its amenities, i.e. composting toilets, etc..  It consists of meeting rooms, a dining hall/kitchen, playground and overnight facilities.   Pictures of HEPAC are shared below.   

The areas surrounding HEPAC developed as squatter neighborhoods when people came to Nogales to work in mequiladoras.  As such, electricity and full water/sewer service in these neighborhoods is a patchwork. At least 30 families must organize in any one neighborhood/hill area in order to be serviced with electricity, etc..   Mequiladora is the Mexican name for manufacturing operations in a free-trade zone near the borders, where factories import material and equipment on a duty-free and tariff-free basis for assembly, processing, or manufacturing.  The resulting products are then exported to the point of sale.  the first mequiladoras began in the 1960s and now flourish even more than they did initially, since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in the mid-1990s.  As noted in an earlier post NATFA enabled subsidized corn from the United States to enter Mexico, and this undercut Mexican corn farmers.  Nearly 3 1/2 million farmers were displaced as a result and the migration to work near the border and in the United States increased dramatically.  Workers at the mequiladoras work long hours and both parents normally must work for the families to meet minimal expenses.  The typical mequiladora salary is $5.00/day (yes, $35 for the week) for a

The Undocumented - Documentary - PBS - April 29th

On our recent visit to Mexico and Arizona we walked some of the desert trails used by migrants

coming into the United States.  We saw several markers for the unknown dead who died of exposure or injury as the crossed the desert.  Remarkably these markers were within sight of several homes.  It must be incredible fear that stops people on deaths door from knocking on a door.  Steve tells or our desert journey in his blog post.

Migrant bodies in morgue waiting for identification
Frame from documentary

The Undocumented is a documentary that describes the challenges and impacts of the desert crossing for migrants.   The documentary will premiere on PBS on April 29th - check your local PBS listings at this site.

IMDB describes the documentary as:

"THE UNDOCUMENTED investigates the deaths of undocumented migrants in the Arizona desert and the efforts to return their remains to families in Mexico. Woven from multiple narrative threads the film depicts the efforts of Tucson's medical examiner and Mexican Consulate to name unidentified dead migrants. It follows Border Patrol agents who are challenged to balance law enforcement with lifesaving. In Mexico, the film captures the reunification of the dead with their families, and documents families whose loved ones left home to cross, never to be heard from again. These characters provide an intimate view of the border and migrant deaths, expressing a wide range of opinions on border policy and illegal immigration. The one thing they agree on is that migrant deaths must end."

The link below is the documentary's website.   Be warned that the trailer on this site includes some gruesome images of death in the desert.   See the site here.

Border Patrol Accountability

Today NPR ran a story on the death of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez as an example of the confusing and disconcerting actions of our Border Patrol.  Anne-Marie wrote a blog post regarding this very event a few days ago which you can check out here.

Here is John and Anne-Marie's comment to the story that is posted on the NPR website.
"I'm a US citizen. In March I visited the site of Jose Antonio's death, we saw the stray bullet holes outlined in red on the medical office building that he was next to when he died. The sidewalk where he died is 23, very steep, vertical feet below the bottom of the fence and is across a wide street. He was standing about 150 feet from the border fence when he was shot. Our Border Patrol shot a kid, multiple times, while he stood a good distance away in a foreign country. Has the US declared war on Mexico? It seems that the ever growing militarization of this border and our Border Patrol's unwillingness to provide a transparent review is a clear measure of our Nation's fear, uncertainty, and embarrassment over these issues."

Location:  The shooting occurred at this location on Google Maps:  http://goo.gl/maps/ofOuc.  Jose Antonio died near the grated window under the sign saying Emergencias Medicas.  I saw several bullet holes in the wall around the grated window.  If you scan on Google to the other side of the street you will see the old wall.  This wall was replaced in about 2010.  The new fence type the Border Patrol Agent shot his weapon through is called a Bollard Fence.  If you Google Bollard Fence Nogales you will see multiple images of this type of fence."

Here is Steve's comment to the story as posted on the NPR website:
"This shooting is an abuse of power and plausibly criminal in nature. I have been to this site. The geography is such that there is no way that an unarmed 16 year old boy could be of any threat to border patrol personnel on the Arizona side. Most border patrol personnel are good people and seek to do their jobs responsibly. However, when abuse of power is apparent, our government should hold accountable those responsible and do that with transparency and honesty. To not do so sends the message that America does not value humanity in Mexico, and in other countries, the same as our own."

And Susan's:
"I'm so happy to see this NPR coverage of a story that has been largely absent from the news here. I have been to the site in Nogales, Sonora. Nobody could throw a rock from that location that would pose any sort of threat to border patrol; the fence is too high, too far from the street. Even if Jose Antonio was a rock thrower, and I don't think this is certain, shooting at him was absolutely excessive force. Was it border patrol or Mexican drug lords who shot him? Well, I don't hear any denials from Border Patrol. If they hadn't done it, they would be quick to say that. It is shameful that border patrol members would shoot someone across the border. If a Mexican law enforcement agent shot across the border and killed an American, you can bet that the investigation would be swift and noisy, and not like this 6 month silence."

See or listen to the NPR story here.

Wait of a Lifetime

After Christmas my family was stuck in traffic for an hour heading to the airport.  The entire freeway was being detoured through a single stoplight on a neighborhood street.   This would not do, my daughter needed to be dropped off and we were going to be late!  In the morning she needed to be at school and she was going to miss her flight!   We didn't expect that the intersection at I-70 and I-270 was closed - it's always open.   People were joking and laughing at us as they drove by on the frontage road not 30 yards away.   Who do they think they are?   I set my phasers to calm and had to shoot myself  twice to begin easing the tension in the car.   Road rage narrowly averted.  We later found out that a truck had hit a bridge and traffic was detoured for out own safety.  The bridge never did fall.  I think we were going to be okay.

This 60 minutes really strung my family out.   When was your last 60 minute wait?  Can you imagine a wait of more than 20 years?  My daughter is turning 20 next month and she would consider that a lifetime.   The image on the right shows waiting times for US work visas with waits up to 24 years for some countries - 24 years.  Twenty four years is a really long time.  

Other blog posts and the US Immigration Process page on this site talk about the long lines to get an work visa to the US.  An April 10th article in US News/NBC online describes these long visa waiting lists with some cool infographics.   The full article on the obstacle course of immigration is here.

Tucson to Nogales and Back

TRIP TO THE BORDER

BorderLinks Delegation:   Tucson to Nogales and Back

Participants:  Steve Goering, Susan Ortman Goering, John Schneider,  Anne-Marie Patrie

March 11-14, 2013

March 12. Nogales South of the Border                                                          

The Iniciativa Kino para la Frontera (The Kino Border Initiatives).

By: Susan and Steve

Crossing the Border.  The auto trip south from Tucson to Nogales is only about 70 miles and 1 ¼ hours.  Walking the desert would be a whole different story.  Nogales, AZ, U.S., has a population of about 21,000; Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, is approximately 10 times that size, or about 220,000 as of 2010.  Nogales has four primary border crossing points and has the largest port of entry along the Arizona border. Billions of dollars of agricultural produce and manufactured products pass through these ports of entry each year. The Nogales area, east and west along the border, is also an important drug trafficking area from Mexico to the U.S. Drug cartels are ruthless criminals and a threat both to men and women seeking to come to the United States and also to persons in the United States. More about that later in our reports of conversations with ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

First glimpse of the Border Wall

As we approached the border, we were advised to put away all cameras, etc.  The “Wall” identifying the border is imposing in its own right and pictured below. John will speak more about “The Wall” in the next two days. Our Borderlinks delegation easily passed through the border crossing into Mexico.  There is seldom an issue going south.  It is only going north into the United States where vehicles are searched, and passports checked, especially if one or more passengers are Latino. Tito, one of our two delegation leaders, and an Associate Pastor at a Presbyterian Church in Nogales, drove our van through the unfamiliar web of Nogales streets.  We were glad he was driving as traffic was heavy with cars and vans merging lanes in active ways!  We arrived at HEPAC, sister organization to BorderLinks, where we were to stay for the night, got situated and then headed to the Iniciativa Kino para la Frontera.

Crossing into Sonora, Mexico

The Iniciativa Kino para la Frontera (The Kino Border Initiatives).

Letters to Congress

Tuesday afternoon, April 2.

Fort Collins and Boulder.

Blog #6, Letters to Congress

Dear Friends,

Attached please find immigration letters sent to our congressional representatives.  John is the primary author here.  This is a critical time to contact Representatives and Senators as immigration reform  is being drafted in the moment.  If you do not have a time to write, please give them a call and visit with the staff person on immigration. They need to hear voices.  We want to encourage them not just to do reform, but to do reform with moral basis. Any immigration reform must carry a sense of dignity and respect for immigrant peoples.

The letters can be found at these links:

Letter to Colorado Senator Bennet

Letter to Colorado Senator Udall
     Udall Reply

Letter to Colorado Congressman Polis

Letter to Senator Bennet with specific Immigration Reform proposals

Peace to all

Steve and/for (John, Anne-Marie, and Susan OG.)

A Path to Work

Rogaciano is 19 years old.  His family is living in the village of Revolucion in southern Mexico.  He speaks a native dialect and only knows the little Spanish he learned attending school through 4^th grade.  Rogaciano said his family are poor farmers.   He said his parents have done everything for him and he has a responsibility to take care of them.  His brother left home several years ago and sends money home to his parents.   He believes his brother lives in New York.  He is traveling with 2 friends about the same age.  We met him in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.  In his village, he says, there is not enough work for him to find a job.  These three were planning to cross the U.S. Border fence in the next couple days to find work.   He says all the young men in his village have either left to for the US or are planning to leave.  Rogaciano planned on finding his way to New York.

No photos were allowed at Grupos Beta.
I snuck one of their truck.

We met him at Grupos Beta.  Grupos Beta is a Mexican Federal Agency that provides advice for those newly deported or planning a crossing.  

These 3 boys looked fit, as 19 year olds do, and were about to go on a major expedition.   Although Rogaciano was a quiet sort it seemed these boys were excited for this adventure.  

These guys ought to be excited - they had one of the big journeys of their life ahead.

What stands in their way? 

Why don’t they just get a visa?

A tourist visa to the U.S.

There are a couple types of visas that are possible.  Unfortunately they are out of reach for the Mexican poor.  One is a tourist visa.  To get a tourist visa you must demonstrate that you have $5,000 to $10,000 on deposit in a Mexican bank.   You could get a H2B service worker visa.  That is possible, but they are few and you need to be fortunate enough that you have an employer sponsor in the U.S.  If you have a immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen you can apply for a work permit.  Remarkably the waiting list for these work permits is over 20 years long.  Other than that you need to be wealthy, have special skills, or be famous.   The visa avenue is never going to cut it for the poor in Mexico. 

No Visa?  You’ve got to cross the wall.

Supplies:  These boys were about to walk 70 or more miles across the desert.  They each had a small backpack which held a jacket and a couple cans of food.  They were planning on bringing 2 gallons of water each.  These boys seemed to have sturdy shoes but we saw others who were wearing street and tennis shoes.  Other than that they had the clothes on their back and each had a baseball cap.   They expected to walk continuously, day and night, for at least 3 days.  He said they want to be able to move fast.  They had no compass or map. Would REI be satisfied with this plan?   How does this stack up to supplies you might take on just a 1 day hike?