Thanksgiving en la Frontera

This year marks the first year that I will be away from my friends and family for the Thanksgiving holiday.  While I would surely sacrifice some of the traditions that I have become accustomed to for an opportunity to spend time with those I love most, I will not be boarding a plane to return to the Philadelphia area this Thanksgiving season.  My Día de Acción de Gracias will be spent on the border, in El Paso, celebrating in a much different capacity than that which I have become comfortable with.  It is so easy to take for granted the aesthetic beauty of the change of seasons at its peak.  As the leaves grow yellow, orange, and seemingly infinite shades of red, the flamboyance of the foliage reminds us that Thanksgiving is on its way.  As we prepare to put an extra notch in our belts, supermarkets take pride in stockpiling turkeys that have grown such abnormally sized breasts, it is impossible to imagine any semblance of a normal life for these genetically manipulated beasts.  Cranberries are pushed to their absolute limits, as many store brand purées still bear the imprints of the aluminum can they were packaged in.

Historically, Thanksgiving has been viewed as a somewhat devotional holiday.  We were to give thanks to God for a bountiful harvest.  Blessed with a bounty, we felt compelled to share with those whom we loved the most, the family and close friends.  All were invited to give thanks together during this ritual meal provided by the elements of nature.  The roots of this day may be traced through popular culture, which elicits the traditional image of the "Pilgrims and Indians" coming together at Plymouth Rock in joy and harmony, while history suggests that the conquest of the "new world" was not characterized by peace and harmony, rather massive bloodshed and exploitation.  But how can we celebrate amidst such a violation of human rights?  We most certainly cannot disregard the plight of the American Indian, yet the contemporary idea of Thanksgiving transcends this bloody history.  When we join with our friends and family we are not celebrating the conquest of the new world, but the simple beauty of our valued relationships.  We cooperatively give thanks that we care and we are indeed cared about.

So what does Thanksgiving look like on the border?  Stripped of any real change of seasons, El Paso looks much like it did in the heat of the summer.  It has not rained in the past couple of months, so it becomes impossible to conceive of any bounty, with the exception of green chilies.  This is not a holiday widely celebrated by the Mexican culture, yet El Paso's "gingro" roots provide for a reportedly very impressive Thanksgiving Day Parade.  While I am accustomed to my hands numbing because of the frigid Thanksgiving morning air at the Philadelphia parade, surely the short sleeve appropriate desert climate will come as a culture shock.  The Thanksgiving feeling just is not the same when the symbolic change of leaves I am used to has been replaced by the continued presence of ice cream trucks.  Further, the traditional Thanksgiving spread is unattainable to a considerable number of families on the border under the poverty line, living in the shadows.  I never imagined the presence of a 20 lb. turkey on the dining room table as a luxury, yet in parts of El Paso, a turkey becomes somewhat of a status symbol.

Without my family, closest friends, autumn colors, and brisk weather, Thanksgiving will undoubtedly feel different this year, yet sulking would be ignoring the very essence of the holiday.  We are invited to give thanks for our surroundings and all we have been given.  This Thanksgiving, I have an incredible amount to be thankful for.  I am surrounded by a support system which will ensure my safety and well-being, while I am able to truly value my family and friends at home.  I am thankful that I will be with new friends this year, while being able to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving dinner spread that I have become so comfortable with.  Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful regardless of whether the leaves are red or green, whether the temperature is 20 degrees F or 75 degrees F, or whether you are enjoying a deep fried turkey or Dietz and Watson slices.  This is a time to truly cherish those whom we care most about.

DREAM Big

As the immigration debate continues and comprehensive immigration reform seems further and further delayed, we saw a glint of hope a couple weeks ago as the DREAM Act reached a vote in the Senate.  Unfortunately this hope was stifled once again as it failed to pass through the Senate.  The DREAM Act was included in the National Defense Authorization Act which also housed a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.  Since the bill was first introduced, expectations have been lofty, but frequent defeats have unfortunately demoralized young individuals looking for a desirable future in this country.  As we near mid-term elections, we must look at the voting histories of individuals like John McCain, who previously supported the DREAM Act, but recently voted against it.  Surely this idea is not as polarizing as the current Senate vote suggests.  As the bill failed to receive any Republican support, I am wondering whether this is simply political posturing, or if it is truly a single partisan idea.

What is the DREAM Act?
The DREAM Act is a piece of legislation that would allow a path to documentation for the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants that would qualify.  The DREAM Act has been proposed to offer individuals who meet certain criteria the opportunity to enlist in the military or go to college.  As it is difficult seek a college education with undocumented status, the DREAM Act would alleviate the stress brought on to good students who need to end their education after high school because of their legal status in the United States. 

Who qualifies for the DREAM Act?
-The individual must have entered the United States before the age of 16
-The individual must be present in the United States for at least 5 years before the bill is enacted
-The individual must have graduated from a United States high school or obtained a GED
-The individual must be between the ages of 12 and 35
-The individual must have "good moral character"
(DREAM Act Portal)

What would passing the DREAM Act mean?
Passing the DREAM Act would mean that students of good academic and moral standing would no longer have to live in the shadows.  The DREAM Act would reward students for their achievements, just as students with documentation are rewarded.  It would pave the way for new leaders of tomorrow.  Those who claim that undocumented immigrants do not contribute to society should embrace a bill that will allow them to seek higher education.

My take
Although I understand that I am fairly biased, the DREAM Act makes very good sense to me.  The individuals that would benefit from this act came to the United States as children, often not by their own will.  These individuals have demonstrated that they would like to succeed in an academic environment or in the military.  The DREAM Act makes it possible for these students who have undoubtedly already overcome much adversity to no longer live in fear and fully embrace a future in the United States.  Our current system allows for individuals to live almost their whole lives in the United States while attending public or private schools, yet when it comes time for college, an undocumented immigrant is the first to be closed out.


This is not the first time that the DREAM Act has come to a vote in the Senate and will not be the last time.  Please learn more about this bill and make an educated decision for yourself!  Passing the DREAM Act requires political participation from all those who support it, so if you are in favor, please urge your Representative or Senator to support the DREAM Act.

La Violencia

By this point, everyone has heard of Ciudad Juárez.  If this were a discussion, I would probably attempt to start with everyone throwing out what they had heard of Juárez and making some form of comprehensive list on a white board.  Common sense would lead me to debunk some of the myths of violence occurring in Juárez, in attempt to paint a more optimistic image of the infamous city than the media.  I scan several news sources a day, and regardless of their political slant, all of them are riddled with stories of violence on the border, most often violence in Juárez.  While I might like to be able to paint an optimistic image, I'm not sure that I have the artistic prowess at this point in time.  I am writing from the perspective of an onlooker, someone that only sees the violence from a distance.  I am close enough that shootings in Juárez are covered in the local news, yet I am far enough to not have to fear about violence penetrating the border or any stray bullets.   I certainly do not claim to be an expert on any of this; I have never even been to Juárez.

The number that keeps being thrown out in articles that I have read is 28,000 murders in Mexico since Felipe Calderón has assumed duties as President of Mexico in 2006.  This somewhat right leaning president came into office with a clear intent of cracking down on the drug trade into the United States.  The overall attitude towards drugs changed when Calderón took office and militarized many of the border cities in Mexico.  It is fairly common to see a military presence in Ciudad Juárez, the city now known almost exclusively for its violent drug trade.  As Calderón shifted the federal focus from a generally apathetic stance in effort to take a stand against the drug trade, federal troops swarmed the cities, and a war broke out in Mexico.  Although the violence in Juárez really started to increase with the onset of NAFTA in 1994, the border city has reached a new level of infamy in recent years.  The cartels are no longer fighting exclusively with each other for control of valuable turf, but now with the largely corrupted federales.  While the federal police should signify safety for citizens of Juárez, it is best to avoid them.

Juárez is a very real part of the culture here in El Paso.  The two are connected in many more ways than the bridges that link the two urban areas.  The two cities form the largest bi-national metropolitan area in the world, and while culture easily permeates the porous fence, violence does not.  Many of the individuals currently living in El Paso have roots in Juárez and have given El Paso a very Mexican feel.  Pockets of El Paso can certainly be mistaken for Juárez as signs have restaurants and roads have adopted Spanish language names.

Migration takes a ne focus for people living in Juárez.  While we do not typically reckognize refugee status of our neighbors living in Juárez, many are forced to cross for sheer safety, for fear that the future of their family is in danger in such a violent city.  With such a safe place a stone throw away, the decission makes sense.  We have to look at immigration a bit differently in these border areas, especially as cartels continue to murder thousands a year.  As maquiladoras are now pulling out of Juárez in search of even cheaper labor in Asia and continuing violence threatens the life of all residents, we must recognize the fact that Juárez remains home to over a million people.  While we only read about all the atrocities on CNN and in the New York Times, Juárez is much more than a news story for many people.  The vast majority of the people living in Juárez are good, decent people, whose names have unfortunately been tainted because of the ongoing violence.  To make matters worse, they are forced to look at a fence, which reminds them that safety is just around the corner.  I am not sure that I would be able to resist the temptation.

The Grim Reality

So, I haven't had a terrible amount of time to blog in the past couple weeks.  My weeks have been generally very full, and I've gotten off schedule with updating my blog.  I will try to be more regular in the coming weeks.

 I am amidst week four of being in my position, and it is beginning to feel somewhat regular, fairly routine.  The staff at Cristo Rey is very limited (pastor, part-time secretary, another Border Servant Corps volunteer, and myself) and we can basically make our own hours.  The mornings are filled with contacting potential groups for the Border Immersion Experience and planning trips for the future, while my afternoons are spent primarily working with the after school program, "La Mansion" that is run through the church.  Although in numbers the after school program is down this year, the kids (elementary age) are certainly a handful for the other volunteer and myself.  When I finally get home at 7ish, I am absolutely exhausted.  I can see the vast differences of having a full-time job and the sheltered idealistic bubble that is college.  I am also beginning to understand the nature of non-profit work, everything is no ones job, which makes it your job!

The community that Cristo Rey serves is on the margins of society.  These are the people who came for much of the same reasons as my ancestors.  If we are indeed a country built by immigrants, a nation that embraces our diverse heritage, why must we scorn and hate these individuals that are coming for the same reasons as our parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents.  Racism is apparent in the faces of individuals like Joe Arpaio and Jan Brewer, who make a living on the sheer hate of mankind.  As they continue to persecute individuals in the state of Arizona, I am able through my job at Cristo Rey to see the unbridled love of the family unit, of the community.  Unfortunately, the way money is distributed in this country does not seem to favor some of my new friends and the community they have built. 

The church cannot sustain itself through collection, and as the recession continues, the national Lutheran community is withdrawing more and more funds to churches like Cristo Rey.  Because of the many services that we provide, any money coming into the church is spent immediately.  We are incredibly short staffed, and rely heavily on the border immersions that come through the church to make some sort of profit.  A rude awakening came just a week ago for me, when my first immersion group canceled because they were concerned that the violence had spilled over from Juarez into El Paso.  As the media continues to paint the picture of a war zone on both sides of the border, violence continues to increase in Juarez, while decreasing in El Paso.  People simply do not want to come down to El Paso, which is costing Cristo Rey tens of thousands of dollars.  Our current debt is approaching $25,000 and while we laugh and celebrate together every week, the debt is beginning to hit home for the community that truly benefits from our services.

The past few weeks we have been preparing for our 9th anniversary as an independent church.  Cristo Rey has been around much longer, but the 9th anniversary marks the date that we were kicked out of our host church, which decided that a ministry in the Spanish language was not the direction that they wanted to take.  In effort to alleviate our debt, we have begun a campaign to find 1000 friends, individuals that have been touched in some way by the ministries of Cristo Rey.  We are asking that these 1000 friends make donations of $25, so that we may not need to worry about old bills or unpaid utilities.  We simply want to move forward and continue to provide for the community.  Cristo Rey is a symbol of hope in downtown El Paso and will continue to shine bright with passion and love.  Unfortunetely while we struggle to make bill payments each month, we are forced to listen to politicians each day speak words of hate at individuals that we have come to love.

La Migra

"La migra" can refer to several different things depending upon where it is said.  In most of the US, it refers to ICE (Immigration and Customs Inforcement).  These are the individuals decked out in bullet-proof vests who serve primarily to remove people of undocumented status from the United States.  They can be found all across the nation operating detention facilities which house individuals awaiting removal proceedings or raiding the local farm or factory in search of "illegals" (take note that I am not advocating the use of this term).  They operate in various other sectors as well, but I only wish to detail how they fit into the world of the immigrant.

When "la migra" is spoken or heard along the border, it most commonly refers to something very different than ICE, the US Border Patrol.  These are the people guarding our borders, ensuring that the "American Identity" stays a fairly homogeneous blend of multi-generation European American immigrants.  In my time spent on the border thus far, I have struggled with the existence of these heavily armed watch guards.  While I may not agree with the tactics they use or motivations to serve in the Border Patrol, I understand that some sort of protection on both the northern and southern borders is necessary.  I may cringe every time I see a Border Patrol van or black hawk helicopter surveying the desert, but I am beginning to realize that much of the splendor associated with becoming a Border Patrol agent has to do with the fact that it is a high paying government job with substantial benefits, operating heavily in impoverished communities. 

I have had the chance to speak with some Border Patrol agents within the recent weeks, some encounters have been planned, while others have not.  It has become clear to me that their almost limitless budget has been liberally spent in the area of public relations.  It is possible for anyone to simply call the telephone hotline and schedule a meeting with an agent at the fence.  The spokespeople that they send are generally very well-spoken individuals that know what they are talking about and who they are talking to.  They are the "best of the best" in their field and can be somewhat convincing.  They stand in front of the fence and basically just talk about their jobs.  Of course there are things that they can and cannot say, and they generally refuse to answer opinion related questions, but even in the scheduled encounters there is ample room for questions to be asked.  It is worth noting that most of the Border Patrol agents that I have encountered have been polite, respectful, and so bored sitting alone in their trucks in the desert that they have wanted nothing more than just someone to talk to.

Of course there are always exceptions, and not everyone is trained to speak with groups.  As part of the Border Immersion Experience that I am coordinating this year, we speak with some friends on the other side of the fence through the chain links.  As part of my training and orientation, it is important for me to meet our partners before I am with groups, so I accompanied two of the previous program volunteers and a housemate to the fence the meet our new friends.  Any activity at the fence attracts "la migra", so within moments of the start of our conversation we were surrounded by about 5 trucks.  They did not interrupt our conversation or question us, but kept a keen eye to ensure that no illegal activity would take place.  As the conversation was wrapping up, one of the women remembered that she had something to mail in the US.  Because it is easier and cheaper to mail within the US, she slipped us an envelope through a cut in the fence to place in the mail.  This immediately caused a rise with the Border Patrol and within seconds there were 10 people out of their cars to question the transaction that just occurred.  One of the agents seemed particularly suspicious of our actions.  She looked no older than a junior in high school, but compensated for her apparent youth with a bad attitude.  After lecturing us about valid ports of entry she called the women back to the fence and returned the letter.  There is nothing like being scolded by the Border Patrol on one of your first days of work!

In effort to stay somewhat brief, I will wrap this post up.  I came into this experience feeling one way about Border Patrol, but now I am somewhat conflicted.  We cannot criminalize these individuals for doing the job that voters support.  Oddly enough, most of the Border Patrol agents that I have met come from Mexican descent, just looking to make a living.  They see their position more as a way to pay the bills than anything else.  "La migra" is very well-funded, and it is apparent in their appearance.  They all have brand new vehicles and tend to boast about their numerous gadgets.  They carry a gun and several canisters of pepper spray, although most would argue against the level of their ammunition.  The fact that Border Patrol carry guns is particularly baffling to me.

The more I see, the more I learn.  As I progress on my journey, I am beginning to realize that I really do not know much.  I am anxious to challenge myself, as this is only one of many conflicting realities that I will grapple with.

The Fence en la Frontera

The United States and Mexico share a border of almost 2000 miles, ranging from eastern Texas to California.  This physical border takes on many shapes and sizes depending on the area.  Much of this border is in the desert and free of any physical reinforcements.  Other areas of la frontera are dilineated by the Rio Grande, better known in Mexico as the Rio Bravo, which provides a natural border where it is wide enough intimidate potential immigration.  Of the approximately 2000 miles of US-Mexico border, roughly 350 of those miles are divided by a pedestrian fence according to the Department of Homeland Security.  This fence does not have one uniform look, but has many different faces in different areas.  Another 300 miles or so are seperated by vehicular fencing.  While congress calls for more and more money invested into beefing up the border, the fence has become stronger and more technologically advanced.  The word fence does not do justice to the new "state of the art" fence that has been errected in El Paso.  While the physical fence gives the impression of an unwelcoming neighbor, this is just one of the many tactics employed by our government to keep individuals out of our country.  Once over the fence, individuals will need to deal with sensors implanted in the ground, countless border patrol agents strategically placed, blackhawk helicopters on constant surveillance, and a terrain of perfectly raked dirt to enable tracking of individuals very similar to tactics used by experienced game hunters stalking prey.  

These are a couple pictures that I have taken of the border in the El Paso area.  This particular fence divides a more rural area of El Paso from Anapra, Mexico.  As you can see, the fence on this part of the border is still fairly primitive and has not yet been updated to the fence that is used in the Juarez area.  The more expensive fence utilized in the more urban areas of the El Paso/Juarez border is entirely built of a reddish steel, stands a few feet taller, and has much smaller mesh-like holes.  Contrast this with the fence that divides San Diego from Tijuana.

This picture was taken a few years ago when I visited the San Diego/Tijuana border.  This fence is constructed of corrugated tin and provides no way of seeing into Mexico.  This particular portion of the border is devoted to individuals who have lost their lives crossing into the United States.

As more money is being pumped into reinforcing the fence and creating it more difficult for individuals to cross into the United States, we must understand the impact that this barrier is having on the entire country of people living on the other side.  We have built this monstrosity as a country specifically to keep people out.  Our tax dollars are filtering individuals to the desert, which is an extremely treacherous journey into the United States.  Thousands of people have died trying to make it to the United States by way of desert, but as the fence grows larger and the number of border patrol agents keeps growing, people will risk their lives crossing through the desert to ensure the safety and well-being of their families.  Is the fence really curbing illegal crossings or is it generating deaths in the dry and arid southwestern deserts?

This fence creates distinct claustrophobia as it keeps individuals away from their families.  It has erased the once circular pattern of immigration.  People are not risking their lives to steal our social services, they are risking their lives in attempt to save their families.  By spending more and more on the fence while not creating appropriate legal way of entering the country, we are inherently saying that we are superior.  Is this the message that we want to send?

Perhaps we should all take advice from some of the simple messages spoken by Mr. Rogers.  Instead of working to keep people out, we should brainstorm ways to embrace our vecinos.  Instead of screaming words of hate, we can ask "Won't you be my neighbor"?

Mi Trabajo

For the past week or so I have been getting oriented to my position at Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey.  This church not only holds a powerful presence within the El Paso community, but the larger Lutheran community as well.  It serves as a beacon of hope for the population that it caters to within the neighborhood.  The Cristo Rey community is comprised almost exclusively of first-generation Mexican immigrants and their families, but all are welcome to take advantage of the many services that are provided.  No questions are asked as individuals walk through our doors.  Cristo Rey provides an afterschool program for local children, a health ministry, a border immersion experience for visiting groups, english classes, and anything and everything that the community needs.  The church ministers to individuals from both sides of the border and has various partnerships with social service agencies in both El Paso and Juarez.

My position within the Cristo Rey community officially is director of the Border Immersion Experience.  I am responsible for recruiting groups, planning activities, providing sources for education about the border, and guiding groups through their experience en la frontera.  Although my position with he church is director of the immersion program, I am counted on by the very short-staffed church to do really anything and everything.  I am taking on the task of helping with the afterschool program and teaching a weekly ESL class as well.  In short, I will always have something to do, and when immersion groups come through the church I will be counted on to work 60-80 hour weeks.  Although my daily tasks seem overwelming at this point, the work that I am counted on to do is what I want to be doing.  I enjoy this type of work and know that it is more fullfilling for me than anything else I can be doing.  Through interactions with the community, I am learning more than I could have ever desired to learn in textbooks and college classes.  I am learning about life, about the struggles that millions of individuals face every day, about a population living in the shadows scorned by the racist "pundits" on FOXnews.  I am learning spanish, not from the textbook, but from the true prophets of the border, the individuals that put their lives on the line to ensure the safety and well being of their families.

I am proud to say that I work at Cristo Rey.  Cristo Rey keeps impoverished children off the streets, ensures the health and well-being of thousands of individuals on both sides of the border, and introduces hundreds of individuals across the country to the border region as develop true relationships with the community.  Cristo Rey works not to provide a voice for the voiceless, but as translator for individuals with a loud, clear, and articulate voice that aren't heard because they are speaking another language and ignored by their host country.  It ensures that America continues to be the country built by immigrants, not the country that was built by immigrants.  I am working at a social service agency, disguised as a simple church located in a prime position to minister to those that need it most.  As I continue to become acquanted with the ins and outs of my work I will share.  I plan to write something about the actual fence and border patrol in the coming week. 

The Borderlands

In this past few days or so I have decided to create a blog that will enable me to document my experiences in El Paso.  In case you weren't aware, I will be on the border for the next year of my life, experiencing things quite new to me.  El Paso is a long way from Philadelphia, and the distance is becoming more and more aparent as the days pass.  The void created from chessesteak and soft pretzel withdrawl has been filled by enchiladas and burritos.  I am surrounded by a culture steeped not in any one distinct tradition, but a clear mix of several.  Many people here claim to be proficient in three languages, English, Spanish, and una mezcla "Spanglish".  The border is a place in which people will begin talking to you in one language and switch over to another mid sentence without noticing.  It is a place in which tacquerias and car washes share the same building.  It is a place in which some individuals prosper, while others live in constant fear, stuck in no man's land between no work and absolutely no work.  Border Patrol take on the police's work, while the police take on responsibilites they did not sign up for. They say the new "state of the art" fence here costs 7.7 million dollars a mile to errect, while individuals on both sides of that fence go starving each day.

The El Paso/ Juarez border presents a dichotomy unlike any other  I have ever seen.  I live in a fairly pristine neighborhood, sandwhiched between UTEP and downtown El Paso.  While El Paso is amongst the safest cities in the United States with only one recorded homicide in the current year, I live less than half a mile from Ciudad Juarez, which ranks amongst the most dangerous cities in the world, with over 1200 recorded homicdes this year.  One of the safest places in the area to run is a neighborhood in the hills, littered with mansions owned by some of the leaders of drug cartels competing for turf in Juarez.  While this neighborhood is very pleasant, it overlooks the war raging beyond the fence, the war perpetuated by these notorious celebrities living amongst us.  As the gunshots continue, I cannot help but to feel guilty as I realize why the drug trade is such a profitable business, because of the United States.

As I near the middle of my second week on the border, I realize that I have so much to learn.  While I have attempted to prepare myself for this, I really did not know what I was in store for.  I will write later about my job, as I am just now orienting myself to my daily tasks.