Behind Walls of Separation

El Chaparral has changed again since MPT was last here. No longer are the government agencies attempting to maintain a facade of an autonomous asylum seekers self-managed list. Now, the red canopy and the list managers sit inside the National Institution of Migration / Border Police parking area, behind huge metal posts set side by side - a fence that mirrors the Border wall itself, hiding and blocking the recording of illegal numbers and the entire process. 

The assertion that the list managers as asylum seekers are in authority and control the list wears thin when they are seen sitting behind a fence that isolates one asylum seeker from another creating a cold and impersonal shield of separation. People's lives are neatly arranged in illusionary ink, reduced to slips of paper and handed through the inhumane barrier. The stories of the migrants have been muted - the human voice can barely pass through this metal barrier. 

The entire sidewalk is roped off. Asylum seekers must stand a great distance away, held back by yet another metal barrier where a list manager tells them when to advance down the sidewalk to release their precious documents through the metal barrier. They wait, poised to see if the papers will prove their right to ask for asylum or to see if  they will be told that they don't have the proper documents. How can an asylum seeker believe that there is anything other than an orchestrated dance of cruelty and corruption behind this metal veil that denigrates U.S. and international law and the right to seek asylum? 

Upon return this summer, tensions are rising. MPT has observed the escalation of indignation by those holding the tiny illegal numbers for weeks and sometimes months. They angrily challenge the system demanding answers to why their number has not been called - questioning why they have been bypassed while others are allowed entry. A team member observed an asylum seeker look a Grupos Beta humanitarian agent in the eye saying, "I know what's going on - I heard with my own ears someone with a number lower than me say, 'Cuanto me cobra?' ('How much will it cost me?').

A team member listened to this exchange, witnessing the agent respond stoically to the accusations that were bravely asserted by this man and two women. They stood directly in the driveway entrance on the Mexican side of the border - yards away from where "the chosen" line up to board the vans that drive them less than half a kilometer away to Ped East Point of Entry. There they disembark only to be shuffled in a line - grandmothers, babies, and pregnant women. Then they are turned over to the custody of ICE on the U.S. side and loaded and transported by U.S. vans a mere 200 feet from where they were boarded at El Chaparral in the first place. 

Meanwhile, out in the center divide stand the Africans of Cameroon, Togo and Yemen, along with the Haitians and Jamaicans, visibly segregated from the lighter-skinned asylum seekers. They all stand waiting to be called. Team members observed seven numbers called today which should mean 70 people cross, but instead only 14 are transported to Al Otro Lado (the other side). The questions hang in the air.  Why? And again Who goes? Who stays and who is making a profit? We observe, we listen and meticulously document to find the answers.

There are other things to consider as well like: Who gets to have an audience? Who is turned away? Which documents are accepted and why aren’t others? Our team members witness the dire reality of this manufactured crisis that squeezes out the last remnants of civility. It is a world gone mad with waiting and fearful desperation mired in exhaustion. Team members know that there will be more trauma for these families, the seekers of asylum, before relief is found if at all. 

Today the Summer Meta Peace Team saw there was a UN representative taking photos of the people waiting in an illegal line for illegal numbers - their lives illegally held in limbo by a number on a piece of paper.  Meta Peace Team holds a peaceful and loving presence in the wake of chaos.

A System Designed to Make Life Hard

Since arriving at the border this summer, MPT has heard disturbing information and seen questionable actions that indicate that the process of asylum-seeking operates neither fairly nor squarely. The process has become more complicated, secretive and corrupt.

Most readers of this blog already know about the illegal “metering” system. Instead of being welcomed into the US as international law states, an asylum seeker is given a number on a tiny piece of paper. Because that number will not be called for weeks or months, people have to find a place to stay until that number is reached.  There is no way to tell exactly when the number will be called.  Anywhere from 0 to 100 names may be called on any day, so asylum seekers must pack up their families and all of their possessions and get themselves to the border at 7 AM (sometimes requiring several hours of travel). They do this for several days in a row in order to be there when their number is called.  If they miss the call, they must start over again by getting a new number and the wait continues.

Today 60 new arrivals received their numbers while only 30 names of asylum seekers were called, and of those 30 names, a total of 15 people actually passed through to the US where their first stop will be detention centers for several weeks.  One team member expressed to an English-speaking asylum seeker who was standing next to her that she was concerned that so many people were missing their call. The woman explained that many of those who were not there at this time had paid to get lower numbers and had passed through at an earlier date.  

The difference between the numbers that were distributed today and the numbers of the asylum seekers who were able to enter the U.S. represents 3240 individuals. That shows how many people are left waiting “in limbo,” stuck at the border, trying to find life’s basic needs: food, clothing, shelter. This life is hard. We hear that. We see that. We sense that. This life is hard. And the system seems designed to make it that way.

Border Report - Context and Orientation

Monday was MPT's first full day in Tijuana. The team spent the day connecting with partners to discuss the work ahead, meeting with friends from the Unified U.S. Deported Veterans, and visiting Las Playas de Tijuana where the border wall reaches out into the ocean like a long finger pointing toward freedom and a world without walls.

Throughout the week, the team will be posting short reports on what we are witnessing and doing at the border. Upon return, team members will offer more detailed accounts of the situation on the ground.These daily posts are offered as brief snapshots of what is happening here.

The day began with the news that  Mexico was sending 15, 000 troops to the northern U.S.- Mexico border in response to pressure from the Trump administration. This was followed by reports that a migrant father and his 23-month-old daughter drowned a migrant father and his 23-month-old daughter drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande. These realities, along with the ongoing rash of stories detailing the horrid conditions in U.S. immigration detention facilities and the ongoing manufactured humanitarian crisis at the border, provide some of the context for the work of MPT's June Border Team.

After orienting ourselves and being brought up to date on the situation at the border and beyond for those seeking asylum, the team visited the office of the Unified Deported U.S. Veterans and Veterans for Peace Tijuana. These veterans, who are dealing with the trauma of war, detention, and deportation, have been waging a mighty struggle to return home to their families and friends in the U.S. As Hector, one of the deported vets, says: "If I died tonight, my ashes could be returned to the States where I would be given a full military funeral, yet while I'm alive I can't return to the only home I know . . .  I'm an American."

Although the injustice of being deported after having served in the military has been devastating for each veteran, collectively they have built a strong and loving community here in Tijuana where, in addition to their advocacy work, they offer support to newly-deported vets and direct aid to migrants living in Tijuana's shelters.

When MPT was here in February, the team was invited by the veterans to place a peace team at a march they were co-sponsoring with a local Muslim group.

This team plans on accompanying the vets later in the week as they offer humanitarian relief to migrants. Individual team members are also arranging meetings with their elected officials back home in order to raise the issue of justice for these deported vets and offer an eye witness report of what is happening on the U.S. - Mexico border..

After leaving the vets' office, the team went to Las Playas de Tijuana where the wall that separates Tijuana from San Diego stretches out into the ocean. This is where Friendship Park is located, the site where the deported vets organize weekly bi-national church services.This is also the site where Pat Nixon famously stated that she wished the barbed wire fence that separates the people of two such friendly nations would be cut down.

This area, which once provided a space for families on both sides of the border to connect with one another, is now highly restricted and monitored by U.S. Border Patrol. Today Friendship Park is open for only a few hours on weekends to ten people at a time, a far cry from the vision of unity articulated by the former First Lady.

Despite draconian policies to keep people separated, the wall has become a place of resistance and hope.This is where deported veterans have painted their names onto the iron slats of the wall and where the ugliness of separation has been transformed into a beautiful statement of shared humanity through art and gardens and creative expressions of solidarity. 

The team's last visit of the day to the  Tijuana's Border Angels office and migrant shelter that hug the beach at Las Playas. MPT learned that earlier in the afternoon, ten Mexican soldiers conducted a raid on the shelter, arresting two men. The team wonders if this raid has anything to do with the day's news about Mexican troops being sent to the U.S. - Mexico border. The team will keep in touch with Border Angels and post updates.

Early tomorrow morning the team will report to  El Chaparral at the U.S. point of entry (POE) to provide human rights monitoring and a peaceful presence.This is where those seeking asylum line up early in the morning in order to be placed on a waiting list as part of a "metering" process that is in violation of international and U.S. law.

Others, having waited weeks or even months after being placed on the list, also gather at El Chaparral in the hope that their numbers will be called that day. Those whose names are announced will then board a bus that will take them on a hellish journey that begins with being held in the hielera (ice box) for processing. From there, these asylum seekers will step into an uncertain future that may include family separation, detention, and being sent back to Mexico.

Resources:
Al Otro Lado Border Rights Project: https://alotrolado.org/programs/border-rights-project/

Refugee Blockade: The Trump Administration's Obstruction of Asylum Claims at the Border (Human Rights First Fact Sheet)
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/files/December_Border_Report.pdf

MPT at the Border - Summer Team

MPT Summer Border Team is off to a great start having arrived in Tijuana in time for orientation with our partner organization. We see great need for our compassionate presence. Asylum seekers face a very difficult, complicated  - even horrendous - process at all levels, and many of the potential outcomes are devastating. Over and over again arbitrary decisions are made such as: the time pending between presenting themselves and having their claims heard, the documentation process and whether or not family members are going to be separated. Much of what we heard at orientation helped us better understand the process and fueled our desire to work for human dignity and freedom. Our work begins today.

When our team arrived in Tijuana, we could not know what we would experience in the days ahead.  Would the border be open or closed?  Would we need to use our violence de-escalation methods to help protect migrants?  How could we be most helpful to the most vulnerable persons at the border?  We discovered that while Tijuana can be a very dangerous place, our day to day experience was, on the surface, quite ordinary.  Tijuana is like many cities of its size.  And fairly safe if you are traveling in a group, have reliable shelter, have access to money and transportation, and know who to approach for help.  We had those advantages, most do not.  Through our orientation with Al Otro Lado and our first-hand experience at El Chaparral and Al Otro Lado, we became aware of the obstacles to even reaching the port of entry and we began to feel apprehensive for these ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.   In our work with Al Otro Lado, we came to learn the importance and power of being a friendly presence, a link to trustworthy assistance, and witnesses to the ways the asylum process, at one of the world's busiest points of entry, is not accessible, is not equitable, and is not just for the vast majority of men, women, and children who seek to make their claims for asylum. 

Sunday February 17:  Friendship Bi-national Park, La Playa

We had an opportunity to view the artwork, community garden, and sculptures that community members had created on and along the wall.  It was remarkable to see this symbol of bi-national friendship, the expressions of love, humanity, and interconnection throughout Friendship Park now a challenge and resistance to the rusted iron barrier that scars the sandy outcropping into the ocean there.  Constructed in 1971 during the Nixon administration, the park was originally a symbol of cross-national friendship.  And in fact, the park only had a short barbed wire fence until 1994, when residents of both countries could easily meet on the border under the supervision of US border patrol.  Even after September 11, 2001, it was possible to meet and pass things across the fence.  That changed in 2009, when the Department of Homeland Security closed down the park and constructed a second parallel fence and later a third 20 foot wall of bars was built that stands today.  Friendship Park reopened in 2012 with the mesh fence that only allows people to touch fingers with loved ones on the other side. (“Friendship Park,” Wikipedia).  We gathered at a little coffee place near the beach run by Border Angels, the café is a fundraiser and educational center for the human rights group that advocates for and educates people about the dangers faced by migrants as they cross the desert, dropping off water along migrant routes and educating about the history of US/ Mexico border policy as well as providing legal advice.  One of the café staff shared with our group their experiences along the border and their efforts to continue their work despite border patrol interference with their humanitarian work.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Our previous day’s orientation gave us context for what the travelers could face, but could not prepare us for understanding the confusing and changing numbers process and distinguishing newcomers from more seasoned migrants and the different immigration authorities and police always present in the plaza.  Picture an ordinary transportation plaza, where taxis idle for incoming train or bus passengers. No buses or trains here, just people walking along the pedway between the old and new point of entry or migrants who hope to cross in the near future.  The most confusing part on this first day was figuring out the numbers process as it unfolded in real time and figuring out when and how we could help.  We looked for subtle signs that people may be confused or we approached male members of family groups to find out if they had heard about Al Otro Lado and their services yet.  Other members of our team with stronger Spanish skills observed and documented the numbers process and the various efforts to obstruct the process.  At some undetermined point, we would begin to hear voices from a megaphone calling out names.  And then quickly, volunteers would hurry to the sidewalk to help those boarding the buses quickly shift their warmest layer to be next to their skin or to add a warm donated layer close to their bodies.    

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Our second day, we felt like “old hands” at El Chaparrel.  We could now identify the police standing along the concrete wall in the sunshine and the Grupos Beta overseeing the numbers process.  We were also more confident greeting people and introducing ourselves before asking them about the flier.  There were fewer migrants on the plaza that day, one of coldest during the week.  We could feel the cold radiate from the concrete and it reminded us of the cold these migrants would face, with fewer layers than ours, in the detention cells.  It was not unusual for the procedures to change without notice.  Later that morning we discouraged away from the sidewalk and had greater difficulty connecting with migrants to help them into warm clothing before they boarded buses.  

Friday, February 22, 2019

This was my final day directing migrants to the Al Otro Lado entrance.  I had an opportunity to assist several families and individuals and I had the opportunity to meet and learn more about the San Diego community who are part of the larger network to provide services and assistance to asylum seekers in the region.  One of the volunteers was from the San  Diego based Rapid Response Network, which helps migrants with transportation and housing once they cross the border into the United States.  Throughout the week, we were happy to discover that a Meta Peace Team presence in Tijuana would be an important complement to an array of humanitarian groups assisting on either side of the border.  

What Do You Need to Know?

Coming back after this trip, we will all try to convey to you - collectively and individually - what we witnessed first-hand....and we'll do our best.  But there is so much...We can only pray to do it justice.

To those of you who helped support this trip, we can't thank you enough.  Your prayers and donations now allow us to share the truth that can only come from "seeing it for yourself".   That is invaluable.

So, if you only have a short time to read, what is most important for you to know?

Those seeking legal asylum in the United States are waiting at the border, with nowhere to sleep or eat.  Local Mexican churches and organizations are doing their best to provide housing and meals.  Everyone we met was cold, tired, hungry, and anxious.  Many had nowhere to sleep.  While we were there, the nighttime temperatures dropped into the 30's.  Some days it absolutely poured rain.  We were drenched and cold - and we had a place to stay!  Many people - if not most - needed medical care to treat the illnesses inherent to living on the streets, some of whom had done so for months while they journeyed north. 

Readers may want to see pictures of these immigrants, but to protect them, we can't show you their faces.  What did they look like?  Like your 3rd grade teacher.  Like the little boy next door playing with his dog.  Like the lady in the checkout line at the grocery.  Like your grandmother.  Like your baby.  Like us. 

The majority of the people seeking asylum came as families: parents, grandparents, children, and babies.  They were doing everything in their power to get across the border to safety - legally - through the myriad of hurdles our government has created.  And a good number of these hurdles are illegal and wholly unconstitutional according to our own laws.

Many of the immigrants we met were from Mexico, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, but there were also large contingencies of asylum seekers that came from Haiti, Cameroon, and Russia. 

The treatment that the immigrants receive after their number is called ("Report from El Chaparral" ) can honestly be likened to a form of torture.  It is heartbreaking to watch parents, after finally hearing their number called in the open square, scramble for permanent markers to write their contact information on their children's arms.  They know they will be separated from each other by our system.  They are doing the only thing they can to ensure that they may see their children again.  Who knows it these temporary tattoos will work to do that?

Because those called are only allowed to keep the layer of clothing closest to their skin, volunteers scramble to help them change into warmer clothes at their base before they are loaded unto a bus.  These clothing donations are needed to fend off the frigid boxes they will be "stored" in while they await their interviews to determine if their situation is dire enough to qualify for more hearings within the United States boundaries.  These ice boxes have already been well-documented.

The border wall itself is a conglomerate of corrugated steel, concertina wire, concrete, floodlights, "no man's land" barren zones traveled by armed border patrols, and amalgamations of all of these put together.  Although it may happen, the entire time we were there we never saw anyone attempt to thwart these barriers.  To build a higher wall would be ridiculous, but from all the construction equipment we saw, they are adding to it constantly.

We also saw beauty:  Wonderful people, just like you and me, hoping only for a safe, stable life.  Grateful for the tiniest of kindnesses. Appreciative smiles when
you commented on how beautiful their children were, or helped them with paperwork, or escorted them to the doctor for free medical care.

We partnered with amazing people as well.  Al Otro Lado has created a system of support that allows volunteers to assist for as little as a day and as long as...well... indefinitely.  This network of non-hierarchical volunteers works tirelessly to help those seeking asylum get their most basic needs met, offering medical care, legal consultations, simple meals, and perhaps most importantly, the warmth, dignity and respect that are due all human beings.

We also partnered with Unified U.S. Deported Veterans and Veterans for Peace: see  "Thank You For Your Service, Now Get Out of My Country".  

So what is it most important for you to know?
That there is injustice and cruelty at our doorstep.  That our tax dollars are paying for it.  And there are wonderful people trying to dismantle that cruelty and injustice.  You all helped us be a part of that, and we are most grateful.

But our work here has just begun.

MPT's Winter 2019 Border Team

Team Members (L-R): Mary Hanna, Amy Schneidhorst, Pat Thornburg,
Kim Redigan, Kathleen Hernandez, and Linda Sartor