3/07/2023
Our day began with a walk in the desert. When I first pictured it in my head, I thought we would be walking around an area with nothing else other than sand and occasional cacti. I could not have been more wrong with this assumption.
We took the walk through the desert area surrounding Arivaca Lake. With the terrain, this walk turned more into a hike. There was dry grass everywhere, hills, dry plants that would scratch you as you walk by, and different types of cacti. We started earlier in the day but as we went on our trek grew hotter and hotter. I grew more thirsty as we went on, even though I had a full water bottle with me. By the time we were done with the hike, I had already run out of water.
At the end of our journey, we came across a drop-off point with many jugs full of water, as well as a bucket filled with easy-to-open canned foods. Seeing this in person was such a surreal moment that could not be explained with words. We were told by our BorderLinks leader that this site was one of the most (if not the most) used in the area, hence the amount of food and water present.
This experience made me realize the importance of humanitarian aid. Later on in the day (which will be discussed in detail later in this post), we watched videos showing how border patrol directly fuels the missing person crisis regarding immigrants. We were shown footage of these people dumping out water from jugs left for immigrants by samaritans and/or organizations like No More Deaths. I had no words after seeing this. How can someone do something so cruel, so inhumane? How can they throw away the food left for migrants to eat?
—
After coming back from Arivaca Lake and the desert walk, we visited Casa Mariposa where we were greeted by Kat and Rocío. We introduced ourselves to them and they began to tell the story of Rocío. As we were listening to her story, we gained a better understanding of what life was like for someone in a detention center. More often than not, people who are sent to detention centers are usually held there a lot longer than they are told, and they are held on high bonds that are usually impossible for the people being held there to pay. In addition to not knowing how long they will stay there, the living conditions are often such that we would consider them unbearable. These detention centers are often referred to as “hieleras” which translates to coolers because of how cold these places can be.
Thanks to the help of Casa Mariposa, however, they have given people the opportunity to create relationships with people outside the detention center and in some cases even receive donations to help pay bonds. It is hard to imagine just how much of an impact organizations like Casa Mariposa can have on people who feel like their situation is completely hopeless. We learned that even the smallest actions can make all the difference in the world to someone trapped inside one of these detention centers.
At the end of the presentation by Casa Mariposa, they offered us the opportunity to write letters to people who are currently in detention centers so that we could participate in the effort to give support to those people. We were also offered the option to leave our home address on the letter so that if they want to they can send a letter back to us and keep in touch.
After having dinner, we had our workshop where we watched videos discussing border patrol and how they are fueling the missing persons crisis. From purposely sabotaging humanitarian aid for people crossing the desert to chasing migrants into the desert with harsh conditions such as dangerous terrain during nightfall. Helicopters have even been used before to try to chase migrants in remote or dangerous areas of the desert. Overall, these migrant-border patrol encounters often end in some sort of conflict that becomes detrimental to migrants.
After having our reflection that night, we concluded that although immigration issues seem hopeless to fix, we can see that small actions can have a huge impact. For example, we have seen that humanitarian aid is widely used across the desert and small efforts through organizations like Casa Mariposa can completely change someone’s life. This gave us some hope for a future where change is possible and justice exists.
-Kaylee Gunderson