This week I have been in San Diego and Tijuana, on a study trip with CIEL (Center for International Experiential Learning) to understand more about migration at the border. Dulcie Kugelman and John Fossum are among the others who have been in our group, which includes a few UCI teachers, as well as some Chapman and University of Wyoming students. A long-time friend of St. Mark, Erin Dunigan, who lives in La Mision in Baja, joined us for a few events. We stayed two nights in Alpine, CA, and one night in some very lovely casitas in Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico.
We have been intentional in listening to a wide variety of perspectives. On our first morning we went out with a couple who set up water stations for those who are making the arduous and hot journey across rough terrain, driven by the belief that nobody should die because they lack water. After that, we went to the South Bay Rod and Gun Club, a shooting range that is a unique location, because at the bottom of their entry is a large, flat parking space where migrants gather every morning in order to turn themselves over to the Border Patrol. They spoke about the effect of the border crossings on the neighbors around them – sparsely populated, but mostly retired folks who find the influx of migrants to be very intimidating. After dinner that day, we watched the movie Sin Nombre, a very difficult realistic look at the pervasive pressures that cause people to migrate, the effects of gangs and the constant exploitation of those who must decide either to survive at home or to flee to the US. It was a gritty way to end a long day.
On our second morning, we visited the El Centro Sector of the US Border Patrol (BP). We got an orientation from border agents regarding the scope of their work, their daily routines, their collaboration with Mexican authorities, and their interactions with the local communities where they live. Then we rode out with them to the border and learned how they track footprints, respond to migrants in crises, and keep an eye on the barrier itself. We drove along the border where there are irrigation canals, farmland, and miles of desert, and then in Calexico, where there are homes, malls, schools, and parks on both sides of the barrier. Following lunch, we visited two encampments, where immigrants gather as when they arrive and wait for the BP to show up to turn themselves in. The encampments have potable water and porta-potties, with improvised shelters. One had a solar-powered light box where migrants could charge their phones. We met migrants from Turkey, India, and China. Between multilingual skills and google translator, we were able to communicate a bit, even Facetiming one of the migrant’s father in Turkey who translated for us. It was unbelievably windy and hot in the encampments. That evening we met someone with the American Friends Service Committee, who has tents next to the barrier, offering water, soup, snacks, and fruit to those who were on the other side, handing them between the concrete-filled steel 4x4 posts. He welcomed those who had scaled the Mexican barrier and were waiting between the two barriers for the BP to arrest them. His perspective on things was quite different than what we heard at the BP office.
Our third day began with crossing the border into Tijuana, then visiting the Café Migrantes, a shelter that was constructed to house people who migrate to Mexico. The person running the shelter encourages them to go out and get a job, so they can find an apartment in Tijuana. Some do, and others choose to try to cross over to the US. The Café is very humble, a stone’s throw away from the westernmost tip of the barrier itself, where it goes out into the ocean. That, of course, makes it a very tempting place to try to get to the US via the water, but they are very choppy and that path often ends disastrously. We then visited the Ágape Mision, an asylum center run by Pastor Alberto Rivera. It was a fascinating place that I’ll have to save for a later, extended reflection. Afterwards, we met with the Director of Migrant Affairs for Tijuana, before decompressing at our casitas with wine-tasting, dinner, and a reflection around the fire pit.
We are about to visit with a Mexican Representative in Rosarito before crossing back over the border and heading home. That’s a lot and there’s so much that is left to say. We will find the right times and places to do so soon.
Mark of St. Mark
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