Drawings by: Alesha Garand
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By Ellie
Drawings by: Alesha Garand
By Ellie
March 14, 2018
Today’s main focus was Operation Streamline.
Operation Streamline is a federal court preceding that happens every weekday at the federal district court in Tucson where up to 70 immigrants receive prison sentences. They are charged with the felony of re-entry after deportation and the misdemeanor of illegal entry.
Most of the men and women we saw through this process had been caught at the border a few days before their sentence. We sat at the back of the courthouse and watched groups of 6-8 men and women go up, answer a few questions and receive their sentences that varied from 0 to 160 days in privately-owned detention centers.
Watching this process was very difficult for us. The process is usually completed in less than 5 minutes and we could see the confusion in their faces as they walked in with their pre-assigned representatives. These representatives were only given about 30 minutes to speak with their representees; which isn’t enough time to understand the true complexity of their case.
There was one particular client that had a language and education barrier. His attorney informed the judge about the barriers and the judge made an effort to accomodate him but it was still not enough. When asked if he pleaded guilty, he responded “No ma’am, I will not return to your country.” This proved that he was still not fully understanding what was being asked. It was truly heartbreaking seeing the struggle and confusion we saw in this man and many of the other faces.
When they pleaded guilty, we would also hear so much hopelessness in their voices and even fear. After such a long journey only to be detained at the border must have been earth-shattering.
After being sentenced, one of the representatives informed the judge that his client expressed credible fear to return to his country. The judge took note of it but we heard nothing more of the matter. Another man who was sentenced to a detention center mentioned that he had diabetes and required special care. Based on what we have learned, we know there is a small chance this will be taken into consideration.
After watching ths process, the judge took the time to answer some of our questions. Her responses gave us mixed feelings about her attitude towards these immigrants. It was clear that she felt bad for the immigrants but was unwilling to take any of the blame; she believe only Mexico was to blame for the issue.
The rest of the day, we listened to stories of immigrants and their journeys.
By: Karina Diaz and Melissa Olivera
By Ellie
Today we visited the Florence Detention Center which is about an hour and a half away from Borderlinks.
We met a detainee named Milton who spoke to us about his experience in the detention facility as well as what he went through in Ecuador. His reason for coming was to escape the violence that he was a victim of. He came with the hopes and dreams of working in the US and when we asked him what his dreams were, his answer was that he wanted to build a house for his mom with a kitchen, because she doesn’t have one back home.
This was emotional for us because our moms are very important to us and they have done all they can to provide for us and give us a good life. We could see in his face how much he missed her, and it broke our hearts when he said that he couldn’t talk to her as much as he wanted to because it was expensive to make phone calls. Sadly he has been in this detention center for over 2 years and his next court date isn’t until September.
It is sad to know that it has taken this long for him to know if he is even able to get a bond, but he wants to stay and wait out the court proceedings because he really wants to be here and be a productive member of the community. He has no prior criminal record, but he hears from others all the time that he is a criminal and a danger to society, which is frustrating because he is such a good person. Being in detention for so long without knowing exactly what is is going to happen has had a huge effect on his mental and emotional health, but he still has faith and hope, which is amazing and inspiring.
This just goes to show that people in detention facilities are honest, hardworking, and compassionate people who just want the best for themselves and their families. Even those who have done nothing but pursue a better future are treated like they are dangerous or treated like they should be ashamed of wanting a better life. It was an emotional experience, but valuable because it allows us to put a face to the issues that we’ve been talking about throughout the week.
Later that day, we spoke to an attorney with the Florence Defense Project named Valentina. She gave us some information that helped us understand how the system is working and why cases like Milton’s stay in the system for as long as they do. It’s a really complex and broken system, but people Valentina are working step by step to help people and make the system better. This gave us hope knowing that there are people out there making change and that want to do the right thing.
Overall the day was very emotionally draining but we wish that everyone could have this experience. It is easy to dehumanize people and be uncompassionate when you do not know them personally, but when people are in front of you and you can see the emotions in their face as they share their story, it tugs on your heart and makes you want to assist them in any way you can.
Written by Bibiana and Anita
By Ellie
We started the day with a 7-mile trek to the border through a valley in the Coronado National Forest. Our guide Brian from Tucson Samaritans lead us through the rocky/sandy valley.
Along the trek we encountered worn out supplies and used up food and water that the Samaritans had left behind for migrants. During our journey we took breaks to reflect on what traveling across the border for a migrant entails and the hardships they might experience.
Eventually we made it to the border where we saw more food and water drops. Along the trek we stopped briefly to talk and reflect on the things we would see or what our guide Brian would inform us. On our way back to the vans we stopped to have an emotional reflection on what we just experienced.
After that we drove with our guide Leah to the town of Nogales. When we got to Nogales we had the opportunity to meet Manuel, a former undocumented immigrant that like many other came to the US looking for the American Dream. After hearing him talk about how far he’d come in his life we were all in awe of his dedication and attitude.
Then he lead us to a spot along the border wall dividing Nogales, U.S.A. and Nogales, Mexico. Here, Manuel showed us, through the wall, a cross that was painted on the side of a building on the Mexican side. This cross was to mark the death of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez who was shot and killed by possibly more than one border patrol agent but only one is being charged.
Manuel then told us the circumstances regarding Elena Rodriguez’s death and the importance since this is the first time a US border patrol agent will be charged (many cases similar to Elena Rodriguez have happened but with no reprecussions).
After that we did this activity with Manuel to show us the Canasta Basica (Basic Basket). We were shown the prices of necessary food and commodities and how difficult it is to get by with the minimum wage salary in Mexico. It really put things into perspective, a person in Mexico needs to work 3 days to earn what it takes an hour the equivalent minimum wage in Oregon can (11.25 USD = 202 MXN).
In preparation for our visitation to the Detention center Florence, we visited Karolina with Mariposas Sin Fronteras. She told us her personal story, the abuse that she went through, how she overcame the adversities in her life, and how she now works to help others that have had similar experiences.
After telling us about her story she told us her future goals and aspirations in her life, her passion inspires us to work for those without a voice. She then proceded to give us guidelines, appropriate behaviors, questions to ask and dress for the detention center which she visits frequently on behalf of Mariposas Sin Fronteras to help as much as she can.
My favorite part of the day was meeting Manuel. With the help of Borderlinks he was able to help Manuel rebuild his life and go from an undocumented immigrant to a visa holder who has a fullfulling life working with borderlinks and living in Mexico.
His attitude was very admirable to say the least and his willingness to participate and teach people as much as he can from his personal expirience, and facts about the complex topic that is immigration, Mexican-US relations and border regulations.
Manuel left us with a quote that said “just because there are a few bad apples doesn’t mean the rest are like that”. He said we are all humans and should treat each other as such and not let bias impair our ability to treat others respectfully.- Paula Ortiz Cazaubon
Personally the hardest part of the day was when Manuel was telling the group about Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. We learned that he was shot 14 or 10 times, Mexico coroners say 14 and the United States disputes that claiming 10 times. Either way it seems like way too many times to shoot a 16 year old that was throwing rocks at the border wall.
Additionally, there’s evidence that the bullets came from several different angles. There are several steps that could have been taken to deescalate the situation before the border patrol agents fired. The border wall in Nogales isn’t the average residential wall, it’s at least 20 feet of steel with small slots in the wall.
I’m not entirely sure what constitues an act of war but firing across a border at another country’s citizen seems like it might. It’s also fairly upsetting that this case has been put off since 2012, not to mention all the reported similar cases that never see court.
At the end of all this no amount of justice will bring back Jose Antonio Elena Rodgriuez to his family and friends, nobody will know what he could have done in his life, and that’s awful.
-Dylan Williams
By Ellie
Reflection by Christina and Chelsea
We began our first day by leaving University of Portland at 1:30am and left for Phoenix at 5am. After a tiring night, we arrived in Tucsan and were picked up by BorderLinks and brought to the center we will be staying at. We jumped right in with orientation and learned about the history of BorderLinks and how their mission is to educate from people and their shared experience.
One of our first activities was to share our family immigration stories and how they compared to overall immigration and border history. Through this activity, we learned about the history of immigration in the United States. After this we all participated in an immigration simulation. We embodied the persona of various people wanting to immigrate into the United States. This showed the difficulties many people face and how long the process takes to become a citizen.
After dinner, we watched two short videos about the organization No More Deaths. Through these videos we learned about humanitarian aid for those crossing the deadly desert border. We learned about water drops, which is where people bring jugs of water and place them along the migrant trails to assist those crossing the border. We gained insight on anti-humanitarian efforts from border control and how this contributes to migrant deaths.
We are all doing well and are looking forward.
By Ellie
As I approach the last week of my journey I wanted to share about two topics that have impacted me and my time at L’Arche.
The first is the language barrier. I came to L’Arche knowing little Italian. (I thought “ciao” was spelled “chow”. Very wrong I quickly learned!) Luckily, Spanish is very close to Italian, but they are definitely NOT the same. I took Spanish classes throughout high school and my father grew up in Mexico, so I grew up hearing Spanish being spoken.
By knowing some Spanish, I started off being able to understand the topic of the conversation but not all of the words and what people were saying. Often when I do not know a word in Italian I can try in Spanish and sometimes it is similar enough that the assistants understand what I am saying!
As my time at L’Arche progressed, my Italian improved tremendously. I can now speak much better and know many words. Each day I try to learn a word that I can use in conversations with the rigazzi (residents) for everyday L’Arche life. Today I learned how to say “Set the table.” As I learn to speak more Italian, my comprehension has grown as well. I can now understand much more in conversations and when others want to tell me things they can do so in Italian. Also I can understand what the rigazzi say to me and can respond to a certain extent.
The language barrier has been not only tricky for me, but also for the assistants and rigazzi. It has been interesting with the assistants because the assistants fall into 3 main categories in terms of communicating with me. The first is the assistants that speak English. In my house there are 3 assistants who are fluent in English and are very easy to communicate with. One assistant tries to tell me in Italian and if I do not understand she will then tell me in English. One assistant even told me, “speak English with me only, I enjoy getting to practice and keep up my English.” The second category is the assistants who do not speak English but still try to communicate with me. There are quite a few who know zero English but they still try to have conversations with me and try to get to know me and include me in everyday conversations. I really appreciate their efforts to try to get me to learn Italian and treat me as if I knew how to speak Italian. The third category is the assistants who do not speak English, but also do not try to communicate with me because they simply do not want to work around the language barrier. This group is very small and not many assistants fall into this category. But there have been a few assistants who merely ignore you because they just don’t even want to try. I responded to an assistant when she didn’t think I understood what she said, and it changed her outlook. She began trying with me more and wanting to help me. This meant a lot to me because I felt like I had helped her realize that I want to learn and it doesn’t matter that I am not fluent in Italian.
The rigazzi are all different in how they respond to my Italian. A few of the rigazzi are extremely helpful and I ask them what things are and they help me learn new words. One rigazzi even taught me how to count to ten with correct pronunciation. But some rigazzi sometimes do not understand me fully and give me a “huh?” look. There is one rigazzi who does not like my poor Italian and tells me “Basta” which means stop or enough when I pronounce the word wrong or say words out of order. So I try to have my Italian at its best when I am around this rigazzi and am sensitive to his feeling about my Italian. There is one rigazzi in my house that does not talk and does not verbally communicate, and does not respond to any words in Italian. When I am alone with him I practice my Italian with him by saying it aloud and just try to talk as best as I can. He does not respond to any words so it is a nice time for me to practice with him.
The second thing I wanted to describe is communication with the rigazzi. Not all communication and relationships with the rigazzi are ones where I talk to them. All the relationships with the rigazzi are different which makes them special to me. For example, in the morning when we go to the saloon to say good morning to everyone, there is a rigazzi who lives in a different house than mine that says “ciao” to me and then invites me to sit next to him. When I see him I fix his shoes and realign the velcro. After that I give him a short back rub and then we are done. He does not like to talk much to anyone. But that little everyday communication where I fix his shoes and sit next to him is our friendship. It is interesting how each rigazzi wants you to be their friend in different ways and how they interact with you.
With one week left, I will continue my relationships and build on my Italian, but I will also have a hard goodbye.
Ellie
By Ellie
Ciao amici!
A few days ago marked the half way point of our time at L’Arche. It seems crazy that we have been here a month, but also that we are almost done. The time has gone by so quickly. It seems like a long time ago that I arrived, met my house residents, and began this journey. Time at L’Arche is interesting because the days are very long, but the weeks pass by so quickly.
After being here a month, the language barrier is not nearly the challenge it was in our first few weeks. I am comprehending more and more each day and am learning to be conversant in Italian. Each day I try to learn a new word that can help me in my conversations with rigazzi (the residents) and assistants. For example, today I learned what “sit” is in Italian (its sedersi). The rigazzi are also improving in communicating with me. The one rigazzi who refused to talk to me because I was not fluent in Italian gave in and we had a conversation about his band Fuori Tempo.
In my time here there have been many highs. This week I had several things happen that I enjoyed and made me laugh. They are little things but showed me the character of the rigazzi. I listed a few below.
-I got to take one of the rigazzi out by myself for a walk without an assistant (usually there is always an assistant with the rigazzi)
-One of the rigazzi who doesn’t talk to anyone but has a good character, walked past me and put napkins on my head as a joke.
-I had the opportunity to cook for all of the volunteers and my food was edible!. (It’s a lot harder to cook in Italy than the US – talk about pressure to make something good!)
-Played Uno with the rigazzi and they beat me and yes I did try to win 🙂
-I got to do an art project where we made jewelry from clay. I really enjoyed this activity because at home in Boise I teach mentally disabled adults art.
-I was lectured by one of the rigazzi because I didn’t set the table the way they wanted. This was funny because they often care so much about the little things.
-I was able to go with our workshop to the park and have a picnic. Everyone likes getting out into town so outings are always fun.
-I did have one not so great moment. I did not make the bus on schedule and had to walk 8 km back from the train station. While I enjoy a good walk, 8km is pretty far!
These are just a few of the things that happened to me this week and which will be good memories for me. I feel blessed to be able to help the rigazzi as well being blessed by them. They are a very special group of people.
Ciao from Italy!!
Ellie Jacobs
By Ellie
Angie and I have completed our first two weeks at L’Arche and they have been a unique experience. The first week was the most difficult because it took a few days to fully learn our roles as volunteers. The rigazzi (members of L’Arche community) also had to learn to adjust to someone new who does not speak their language. Trying to communicate those first few days was difficult. Often the language barrier can be difficult when you don’t understand what you need to do or the rigazzi want to talk, but Angie and I are picking up Italian quickly. We can understand some because some words are similar to Spanish. My Italian accent needs lots of work though!
A typical day starts by getting up and going to breakfast. When I get there the residents are finishing eating and I help clean up. After breakfast, we head to the Saloon where all assistants, volunteers, and rigazzi sit in a circle and pass around a sign that says “buon giorne” on it. When someone gets the sign, the person has it you say “buon giorne ___(name)”. This good-morning ritual is a good way to start the day before we start our other activities. We have workshops, which is a time where everyone is assigned a task. The first week I worked with the bunnies and chickens and cared for them. This second week there were a lot of changes in the structure of how workshops were to be held and it was very mellow because the changes needed to be explained to the rigazzi. Typically, we all eat lunch together and after I clean up after lunch, Angie and I have our 2 hr daily break.
Angie and I like to either go walk into the small town where we are located or a nap is always a good choice. After our break there is an afternoon activity. Each day the activity is different. This week I helped cook dinner, did laundry, supervised an art project, and went on a walk. Some rigazzi do different activities like Special Olympics practice, help pick vegetables, go to the supermarket or horse back riding. After activity time we eat dinner, clean up and end the day with evening prayer which ends at 9:15 PM. It is a long day but very rewarding.
Some of the days have been long, but some go by very fast. Overall, I am learning lots and cherishing my time with the rigazzi. One of the most fun events we have done is participating in the annual Bologna festival. All of us went to town to celebrate and have fun. Some of the rigazzi got up and sang and danced. It was so much fun to see them so happy and excited. We are only two weeks in but I can already tell this will be an incredibly memorable experience.