Borderlands

Reflexiones del Borde Palestina/U.S.: Muros de Vergüenza

Estoy en Hebron, ubicada en los montes de Judea, al sur de Jerusalem en la Tierra Santa. A pesar de que este lugar, al otro lado del mundo de mi hogar en Brownsville, TX, hay muchas cosas similares que experimentamos en el Valle del Río Grande.

 Como personas de color, los Palestinos tienen que soportar los acosos diarios de las Fuerzas de Defensa Israelí (IDF), igual que nuestros hermanos de Méjico y otras partes del mundo que son acosados por las Patrullas del Borde y Aduana (CBP).

TIERRAS DEL BORDE: Reservistas de ECAP fueron acusados de dejar ayuda humanitaria en el camino de los inmigrantes.

 El 10 de Julio, 2011, personal de la fuerza de ley emitieron una nota de violación a cuatro trabajadores de ayuda humanitaria, incluyendo al reservista de ECAP John Heid en el Refugio de Vida Silvestre Buenos Aires (BANWAR). Fueron acusados de actividad no permitida por rellenar los sitios de suplementos de agua y comida a lo largo de un camino  activo de inmigrantes , a doce millas del borde de U.S-Méjico.

ZONA FRONTERIZA: Viajes clandestinos a la periferia

En sus sueños, ella oye su súplica: “no me dejen….”

BORDE: ECAP incentiva a los constituyentes a unirse a la delegación en apoyo de la reforma inmigratoria.

La organización Uniones de Borde (Borderlinks) compañera de los Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la Paz, llama a aplicantes para participar de la delegación de Solidaridad en Contra de la ley del Senado 1070, del 26 al 31 de Julio del 2010. Estas fechas tiene un lapso de tiempo  intencional, ya que la ley SB1070 esta programada en tomar efecto el 29 de Julio, la cual incrimina por falta de documentos y autoriza a las fuerzas locales y estatales a tomar medidas de fuerza con los que hospedan, dan trabajo y transportan a ilegales.

BORDERLANDS LETTER: Racism and internment camps, then and now

Hi Folks,

I went to Phoenix today to join hundreds of other concerned citizens protesting the signing of SB1070, the unjust and racist immigration legislation by Gov. Brewer.  It is hard to believe the Arizona legislature chose this path.  I held a sign [displaying] "I WILL NOT COMPLY.”  This states clearly that I will not comply [with] the call to turn in my neighbor or any other person I might know who I think might be undocumented.  The impact of this legislation on the Hispanic community in southern AZ and all over AZ is enormous.  Racial profiling is already a big problem here and now this legislation will heighten the tension and fear felt here in Tucson (especially after 800 [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents raided South Tucson a few weeks ago—some wearing ski masks, all armed.)

BORDERLANDS LETTER: “No one should die for the lack of a cup of water”

Hello Everyone,

I just got back from spending the weekend at the No More Deaths desert camp.  Wow, the desert is an endless expanse of beauty—mountains, rock formations, cactus, birds, animals, a lot of cows, dry riverbeds, and right now green trees and other vegetation.  It is hard…to know that people may be dying in the same moments you are taking in the beauty of God's creation…

BORDERLANDS: CPT reservist and other volunteers leaving water for migrants face littering charges.

Tucson, Arizona On 1 June 2009, CPT Reservist John Heid and two other companions placed three-dozen gallons of water on an active migrant trail in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR), southwest of Tucson, Arizona.  The three were confronted by a Fish and Wildlife officer, escorted out of the area, and face possible prosecution for littering.  

BORDERLANDS: A Holy Week with immigrants

Maundy Thursday
Over 500 pilgrims had just completed an eight-mile journey through Cobb County, home of some of Georgia's most vitriolic anti-immigrant residents, and it was time to engage in the subversive ritual of foot washing; an act of holy resistance to the dehumanizing dynamics of this world.

Six unauthorized immigrants sat on a stage while six United States citizens stooped down and washed their feet.

BORDERLANDS: God will change the politicians’ hearts


We were on the fifth day of the Pilgrimage for Immigrants, 5-10 April 2009, in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia.  I was having lunch with Joaquin, a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent.  He has been here for twenty years, and lives in the Atlanta area with his wife and four children.  She is Hispanic, a fourth generation American, and their children are all citizens by birth.  Interestingly, he said that English is the first language of his children, although they are all bilingual.  Work is slow these days, and he took the day off for the pilgrimage.  His reason?  To support change in immigration policy so families will not be broken up.  When asked how that could happen, he said, “Politicians do not want to change, but we are praying to God, and God can change the politicians’ hearts.”

U.S./MEXICO BORDERLANDS: Tearing down walls and building community

by Heather Brady

Sorrow and pain are at home here in the desolate landscape of the Arizona desert. Along the borderlands, our Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation walks in the footsteps of the thousands of migrants who make the dangerous journey northward.

Standing still, I close my eyes and feel the burning sun upon my bare skin.
I imagine what it means to be a migrant, to leave everything and everyone you know and love in order to provide for them, to spend days and weeks running and hiding, feet blistered and bloody. Desperate for water, your tongue grows thick with thirst. Cactus thorns stab you as you run blindly through the darkness, struggling to stay with the group.

We hear the story of Josseline Quinteros, a fourteen-year-old girl from El Salvador. Separated from her group, she would wander lost and alone for weeks before eventually laying down, never to get up again.