tvc . dsj . org | April 4 , 2017 19 Walking in the Footsteps of Migrants
COMMENTARY
By Tony Magliano
Internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist
Recently I was given a unique opportunity to taste some of the bitter hardships endured by fellow human beings fleeing drug-gang violence , oppressive poverty and economic injustice south of the U . S . border .
The day after a talk I gave at Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Parish in Tucson , Arizona , I entered into a migrant immersion experience starting with a team of Tucson Samaritans ( www . tucsonsamaritans . org ).
The Samaritans are a faith-based group who regularly patrol very remote areas of the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona . They leave jugs of life-saving water along hot rugged terrain traveled by very poor migrant children , women and men seeking a safe , decent place to live in the U . S .
Because there are relatively few legal visas issued annually by the U . S . government for much needed low-skilled laborers ( http :// bit . ly / 2mN2Ur7 ), undocumented migrant workers are forced to dangerously trek through the desert hoping to reach a U . S . workplace .
My journey with the Samaritans took me close to the U . S . -Mexico border .
Donning backpacks loaded with first-aid supplies , water and nutritional food bars we hiked four hours up into the Las Guijas Mountains looking for unchartered migrant trails .
On top of a 4,000-foot steep desert mountaintop we paused to try to determine where our overgrown trail continued .
As I looked out in all directions I could easily imagine many of the dangers facing me if I was a migrant – running out of water , heat stroke , hypothermia , rattlesnakes , a debilitating fall , disorientation and getting lost .
I hope that we will commit to becoming a deeply welcoming society to all those in need ; so that my new little friend , and all the needy migrants like her , will never again be forced to walk dangerous , unjust paths to a better life .
The next day at the federal courthouse in Tucson , I attend an immigration hearing of arrested migrants prosecuted under the federal program “ Operation Streamline ,” which tries migrant cases quickly , in large groups , with only brief access to legal counsel .
That day 14 migrants were given between 30 and 180-day prison sentences ending in deportation .
The third day , together with a few migrant ministry volunteers , I crossed the border into Nogales , Mexico visiting the Catholic operated Kino Border Initiative which provides essential humanitarian assistance to deported children , women and men
( www . kinoborderinitiative . org ).
Before leaving Nogales I touched “ The Wall ” – the approximately 25 foot high steel barrier blocking Mexicans from entering the U . S . It looks and feels unholy .
Over 2,500 migrants have died trying to walk around the wall and through the unforgiving Arizona Sonoran desert . Finally , I participated in a desert cross planting . About 20 of us traveled to Cochise , Arizona where we planted a cross and prayed for Ramon Contreras Ramos , 36 , who perished nearby trying to make his way through the desert . Ramon was a poor Mexican carpenter who had a wife and two small children ( http :// bit . ly / 2nNW8GB ).
Anyone or any group seeking to experience an eye-opening , enriching migrant immersion experience similar to mine , contact Father Bill Remmel at bjremmel @ gmail . com .
Accurate information is available to correct the numerous myths surrounding immigration ( http :// cnnmon . ie / 1Q9YAuQ ).
Compassionate , just , comprehensive immigration reform legislation is desperately needed .
While journeying along a desert mountain migrant trail , a Tucson Samaritan volunteer handed me a little girl ’ s broken hair barrette he found . It ’ s now sitting on my desk . And as I write this column , every so often I pause to look at it , and hold it . I sure hope that little girl made it . And I hope that we will commit to becoming a deeply welcoming society to all those in need ; so that my new little friend , and all the needy migrants like her , will never again be forced to walk dangerous , unjust paths to a better life .
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