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
22, 2013
Susan
Background
Our daughter, Katrina is in Mennonite
Voluntary Service, serving at BorderLinks in Tucson. We have been aware of
immigration issues and the need for immigration reform for some time now,
particularly related to immigrants from Mexico and Central America. However, it is Katrina’s involvement that
pushed us to go on a delegation and learn more.
A second motivation is simply the desire to be peace and justice makers related
to our faith. It is about “following Jesus” day to day which is integral to our
inward/outward faith journey. We have
done this kind of experiential travel in the past, to El Salvador, Guatemala,
and Honduras. Each time it has changed
us and opened our world to new ideas and understandings. It has changed our life stories and how we live.
John and Anne-Marie have traveled more extensively than we have and have also
been shaped by those experiences. Together
we now share our reflections; we also will be open to personal conversations
with anyone(!) and hope to share our perspectives with state and national
legislators.
BorderLinks has been around for about twenty-five years and grew out of the Sanctuary Movement for
Central American refugees in the late 1980s; its mission includes experiential
educational delegations. Delegations are immersed in border and immigration
issues; staff design an itinerary suited for each delegation, considering their
specific needs and wishes. Delegations interact with undocumented persons,
representatives of Customs and Immigration Enforcement, lawyers involved in
immigration issues, public defenders, and a variety of agencies and individuals
that assist migrants in different ways.
Delegations may also choose to go into Mexico, experience the wall on
the border, and walk in the desert to see the places where bodies have been
found. Delegations hear the actual human stories of those involved on all sides
of the issue. Visit their website for information about delegations, and their
other programs and mission. (www.BorderLinks.org)
In order for a delegation to be financially viable, it must include 7
people. Steve and I, and our good
friends John and Anne-Marie from Louisville were able to join another small
delegation. We thoroughly enjoyed
getting to know a group of five 18-22 year old students and their leader, all
from the Newman Center at the University of St. Cloud, St. Cloud, MN. They dubbed themselves the “less mature”
segment of the delegation. We took on
the designation of “more mature” or “life-long learners.” Sigh. Together we created a wonderful group
of newer and longer life learners.
Please check out the BorderLinks website for more information about this
grassroots organization, and consider developing or joining a delegation. Read our daily blogs to follow to get a taste
of our experiences.
(www.BorderLinks.org)
© Susan Ortman Goering
March 23, 2013
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