This year marks the third annual trek to the border for the “Encuentros de la Frontera” program. Inspired by the work of Borderlinks, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, the Southside Presbyterian Church and other humanitarian organizations in Tucson, I first imagined this program some four years ago as a means to introduce students to Mexico, to the desert where so many migrants from Latin America attempt to cross in their search for work in the US, and to the political causes and consequences of that immigration on both sides of the border.
Now in the summer of 2010, a new group has arrived at the border – and nothing has improved to alleviate the problems we first came to learn about. In fact, new developments in immigration policies, particularly in Arizona, have intensified the debate and tensions surrounding it in the US. Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, which was signed into law shortly before our arrival, is adding fuel to the fire of the immigration debate on both sides. One can feel the heat here in Arizona in more ways than one.
I have said on numerous occasions that this is “ground zero” of the immigration debate. And ground zero shows no signs of cooling anytime soon. Students don’t need to go far to feel it, to learn about all sides of the issues, and then to become engaged with those doing something about the humanitarian challenges that face people who live here. Those are the “encuentros” we first imagined, but we didn’t know this place would be so much in the national news as it is today.
As most every citizen in the country now knows, the economy and violence in Mexico also have worsened as well. Every parent of the members of the delegation has worried about their children being close to the border or especially going into Mexico. I take this to heart, especially having talked with students and some of their parents in preparation for coming here about their specific concerns. No one takes this responsibility more seriously than I. My wife and I traveled along the border from the Gulf of Mexico to Tucson just to see for ourselves what the conditions are. We spent three days in Ciudad Juarez in May. Life goes on there and everywhere else on the border. Children go to school. Parents work in their jobs. But there is increased stress this year. We don’t take this lightly.
That said, I have complete confidence in Borderlinks and the organizations with which they partner in Mexico to keep us safe and to provide a profound learning experience on both sides of the border. They have always impressed me as a thoughtful and professional organization that knows exactly what it’s doing. I decided from the beginning that I couldn’t do this project without them. This organization leads delegations to the border every month of the year, with over 120 members of delegations going to Mexico in March of this year alone. They are our partners in this endeavor.
Most important about this partnership is that Borderlinks has staff members who are Mexican citizens who live and work in the communities where we’re going. They raise children in Nogales, their parents live in Nogales, and they go to school, work, and the grocery store and to church in the city. They know what’s going on there from a perspective that I could never have. That “on-the-ground knowledge” and caution gives me utmost confidence in their ability to read the various situations in which we find ourselves with a depth of understanding no outsider could ever attain.
Even with this level of assurance, I can still imagine that people might ask, since we must think and act with caution, why go in the first place? This is a topic I’ve thought about a lot. My own parents and my wife and son are on my mind as I write. It’s our job after all to keep our family members safe and to be safe for our family members. It’s a universal sentiment and I share it.
But my answer to this is that we must go to the border and into Mexico to fully understand immigration. Immigration is perhaps the most pressing domestic problem of our time. We must understand the challenges of the border and the issues our neighbor to the South faces in order to understand our country. Taking a “gated community” view of immigration and locking ourselves within walls might give us the illusion of safety, but without US citizens being engaged in these issues directly, we can never hope to build a safe and prosperous future. No country can stand alone in the world. We must have ambassadors who venture outside our gates, and not just official ones meeting at state dinners in suits. We need citizens reaching across boundaries in order to understand others and be understood.
I applaud the students who are studying these issues because they understand, through their previous experiences and through their own family’s immigration stories, that to study the border is to study our very identities. They give their time to making world more humane and a better place on both sides. For all of us, being here stretches our notions of who we are, who our neighbors are, and what citizenship in the nation and world mean. We are cultural ambassadors and interpreters back to our own communities as well. It’s a big responsibility, but I’m convinced we have the tools to do this work.
I have met dozens of people who live and work on both sides of the border over the past years of this experience, and have traveled extensively in Mexico and Guatemala for my own research. I can’t say that I’m always sure of my safety everywhere I go. But I can say that I know how to read international situations, negotiate borders of culture and politics, and I lead this delegation with strong convictions that our very democracy depends on having informed citizens – and that the border is where we learn what we’re made of nationally. I’ve also learned that we always gain more than we ever can give when we visit such places. No experience is more enriching while traveling than visiting with families in another place and reaching across boundaries.
I know that the border raises many questions and concerns for parents, friends, and anyone reading these words. But at the same time I am so proud of the students’ efforts thus far. They are our best ambassadors. They are wonderful interpreters of experiences of these kinds. Their minds are open and they face the world with honesty, hope, and a strong sense of duty as humanitarians. They know after having arrived here just how necessary understanding and communication about the border is today. Please read their thoughts within this blog and give thanks with me that we young people willing to cross divides. That is our best hope for building a world where we must all live together.
With great expectations,
Charles D. Thompson, Jr.
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