Day Two--House of Bishops

We had an extremely busy day yesterday and so rich that it was almost too much.  At the end of the day, my brain kept sending an "Overload" message.  We split into four groups.

We began by going across the border to Mexico to Agua Prieta, a small town a few miles from Douglas, AZ and then  to Centro de Attencion a Migrantes en Exodo, a shelter for immigrants who are trapped at the border.  We were able to talk to two guests and their stories moved me beyond a consideration of laws and economics to what W. B. Yeats calls, "the rag and bone shop of the heart." 

The first person is from Nicaragua.  He had been living in Canada for 18 years.  He was deported back to Nicaragua two years ago, leaving behind his daughter who is now 11. She is in foster care and he is only able to talk to her by making an appointment with Social Services because as a illegal immigrant, he is a criminal. He has not seen his daughter for two years.  We as a nation need to be honest that our policy--however we justify it--is dividing families. It's leaving husbands and daughters on two sides of a wall with at least a desert between.

He took him 3 months to go from Nicaragua to Agua Prieta.  He was kidnapped by a gang on the way and held for ransom.  He said the gangs wear police uniforms and then force you to call your family for money.  It said the trip is "kind of bloody."

Listening to him made me realize that among all the consequences of this system--there is an erosion of trust and community and sense of firm ground anywhere.  Are the police protectors or will they turn out to be gang members? Will the person offering you help do so or capture you or kill you?   It's obvious that getting to the USA is an opportunity for the darkest enterprises to make money at any cost. 

The Border Wall at Agua Prieta, Mexico

And then there is the desert.  The fence has forced crossings into the most desolate parts of Arizona and as a result people die from exposure or lack of water.  Consequently, travellers become more dependent on Coyotes who take their money, give them hope, and them leave them in the desert.

We do need to look at our laws.  In the afternoon we talked to members of the Border Patrol.  These are honorable men and women doing their job in as humane a fashion as they can.  They are caught in this system as is everyone.  They have 470 agents to cover 41 miles of the border as well as the Arizona desert.

Elizabeth Sewell writes, "It's not problems we face. Problems have solutions. It's some utter deep rooted dilemma."

I do know that immigration has many sides. It's a problem about economics, national identity, race, drugs, families, NAFTA, national and state laws, politics, the recession, and above all, our calling as Christians to see the face of Jesus Christ in our neighbor.  We cannot get to a solution without seeing all these sides, and we cannot get to a solution by ourselves.  The United States is bound up with Mexico and Central America whether we want to be or not.  The flood of immigrants is not simply because our laws are lax or not enforced.  The reasons are layered and layered and involve us. It's not simply a question of preventing criminal behavior but of wading into the complexity of this dilemma.

At the end of the day, we as Christians are called to respect the dignity of every human person. The day ended with a vigil for all those who have died in the desert.  Each person whose body has been recovered was represented by a cross with their name on it or simply "No Identification."  We walked down the road towards the border and called out each name and the lay the cross by the road saying "Present" to signify that they are not forgotten.

I came away with a sense of loss and tragedy.  The forces have aligned to grind up people's lives and push us into relationships that prevent community.  Since 1998 over 4,000 people have died crossing the US/Mexican border.  We must find a better way that looks at all the issues.  This utter deep rooted dilemma cannot be solved by a bigger fence nor by open borders.  For me, the first step is accept all the complexity and let all the pain into my heart.  It's about asking God to take my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh.  And then it's about engagement with as much of the issue as I can fathom.  Why is that people hunger to come here?  What is our relation to Nicaragua or Ecuador?  How many workers from south of the border does the US economy need?  Why doesn't a green card system work?  What is that we are afraid of?  How has NAFTA affected the Mexican and US economies?  What is our responsibility to the larger economic welfare of the hemisphere?  What is the effect on the ranchers' property by having hundreds of people go through their land night after night? and on and on.

Finally we need to read the Bible and not bumper stickers.  We need to remember our highest calling is to the Lord Jesus and to God's kingdom.  And we need to pray for God to send us where God needs us to go.  I am proud that our Church is engaging this issue as I hope you are.  The House of Bishops meeting begins Thursday morning. We will engage immigration and evangelism as a body.   Today we wrap up here and travel to Phoenix.

Keep me in your prayers as I keep you in mine.
+Porter

The Vigil to Remember the Dead