IMMIGRANTS AT THE BORDER

 

Unsurprisingly, I remain passionate about those detained or expelled at the border who fled their countries because of violence and poverty. I do not doubt that most of us would do the same, even those with the misguided view that everyone crossing the border is a murderer, rapist, or drug dealer. We fail to realize that those trafficking drugs wouldn’t be doing so if there wasn’t a massive demand for illegal drugs in the US.

There are no easy answers. My focus has always been on families and unaccompanied children asking for asylum. The drug runners are our fault, so until we get a handle on the demand from our fellow citizens, it will continue and have a ripple effect in Mexico and other Central American countries where the drug cartels are ruling with guns. Many of their weapons come from the US. 

 

I made several trips to the border from 2017 through January 2020 after raising money for Angry Tias and Abuelas. This outstanding organization provides aid to families awaiting asylum and living in tents on the Mexican side of the border. I plan to return to the border and volunteer for a month this February. Recently, I was asked to join the board of Grannies Respond, an activist group originating in New York in 2018 after the Trump administration took children from their parent’s arms and placed them in cages in detention centers. This ill-conceived and cruel policy of intimidation, kidnapping, and child abuse was to discourage others from entering our country. 

If drug cartels took over this country and threatened my family, we would flee to another country in a heartbeat. Fortunately, my family has the means to get on a plane and leave. What happens to those living in Nicaragua who live in poverty, have their house seized by the drug cartels, watch their daughters being raped, and do not see their sons again after being killed or forced into working for them? I heard those stories at the border, and the memory still brings me to tears. It could be my family, and it could be your family. 

 

Asylum seekers should be allowed to enter, particularly when they have families in this country. And businesses in this country are begging for employees. 

 

I was approached three years ago by a retired Border Patrol Agent who owns a ranch in Llano County. He had spoken to the Republican women’s group about his experiences on the border and wanted to share his story with the Highland Lakes Democratic Women at our regular meeting. I was hesitant but agreed to let him speak. My misgivings were because our two groups held diametrically opposing views on the situation at the border. I warned him that our more outspoken members would eat him alive if he started spouting the lie that all those crossing the border illegally were drug runners, rapists, and murderers or were families wanting to come to the US to live off our tax dollars.

He did an admirable job in sharing his experiences. However, he sometimes wandered into the “all illegals are bad” territory with the common refrain that “they need to get the proper paperwork completed from their countries before they try to come to our country.” Really? If you lose your house, your daughter is raped, members of your family are murdered, and you have no food or running water, do you have the resources to go to the local consulate and begin legally entering the US? Come on. 

 

I suggested he read a book entitled The Line Becomes a River with the profound hope that he might be open to reading about another Border Patrol Agent’s perspective. We shook hands, and I thanked him for speaking to us. I figured I’d never hear from him after we said our final goodbyes.

 

The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border is written by Francisco Cantu, a retired Border Patrol Agent. His mother, a former park ranger, raised him on the hard-scrabble land around our border. His mother is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. After being willing to participate in the dehumanization and sometimes murder of those coming across the border along with his fellow agents, his conscience kicked in via nightmares of wolves attacking. He had enough when he witnessed his partners destroying water containers left for immigrants and urinating on their backpacks. After leaving the Border Patrol, Cantu became a Fulbright Fellow to learn to write professionally. As he practiced his craft at a local coffee shop, he became friends with a man working hard to make a living for his family but was not legally in our country. When Cantu's friend crossed the border to visit his dying mother, he was not allowed back into the country and could not be reunited with his family. Even with Cantu's connections, he could not help his friend return to the United States. That's when he realized on an even deeper level the inhumanity of our policies at the border. It was one thing to arrest drug runners and witness many dead bodies along the border. Still, when a productive member of our society is not allowed back into the country to take care of his family, it’s dehumanization on a whole other level. Esquire reviewed The Line Becomes a River and commented that it was “a must-read for anyone who thinks ‘build a wall’ is the answer to anything.”

 

A few days ago, I received an email from the retired Border Patrol Agent who spoke to us almost three years ago. He wanted me to know that he had read Cantu’s profound book twice and was moved. His email ended with the statement, “How tragic for the poor people in Mexico and other countries south of us.” Sometimes I lose all hope that those of a particular segment of our society will have empathy and compassion for those who don't look like them. I didn't have much hope for this man, but he proved me wrong. My faith in humanity has been restored, at least for now.