2020 Walk in the Wild West

Walk in the Wild West                                    

El Paso, Texas

2020

Volunteering to help the children and families at the border - 2020

Volunteering to help the children and families at the border 

Steven B. Zwickel                                     

March, 2020

                                                
Like many people (I think) I was rattled by the news reports and pictures during the summer of 2019 about the “detention centers” the US was operating at the Mexican border to hold refugees. (Yes, they are refugees, not migrants, not “foreign invaders”, not “illegals”—they are people seeking refuge from poverty, corrupt governments, and murderous gangs). 

To me, these “detention centers” are the equivalent of concentration camps—not for killing people, like the Nazis did—but for “interning” them until something else??? is done with them.

• The whole idea of concentration camps horrifies me. 
• Concentration camps holding children is worse.
• Concentration camps holding children in the United States is the most terrible thing I can imagine.

So I couldn’t let this go. I couldn’t stand by and watch it happen. I couldn’t see it as someone else’s problem. I had to do something.

We are not wealthy enough to make big donations to the organizations working to help the people at the border, so I had to find another way to help. We have a large bed of many different types of hosta plants growing in our front yard and that gave me a way to raise money for charity. I dug up some of the hostas and divided them  into smaller plants. Over Labor Day weekend, when my neighborhood has its annual garage sale days, I set up hostas in my driveway and gave away a plant to anyone who agreed to make a donation to one of the charities. They had to send the money directly to the organizations, so I don’t know how much I raised. I gave away more than 70 plants, so if each person donated $10 that would be a good sum.

That felt good, but this situation at the border is personal for me. Too many members of my family were sent to concentration camps and never came out. Three of my granddaughters are Latinas and my son’s partner is a Mexican national. And taking children away from their parents was tearing my heart.

I wished I had a lot of money to donate, but I didn't. All I had was time and a strong desire to help. My first idea was to try to go to the border over winter break—from mid-December to mid-January—to see if I could volunteer to help out. Then I realized that holiday time was probably not the best time to go, so I considered taking a leave of absence for the spring, 2020 semester. Since I turned 70 in December and was thinking of retirement, I decided to retire in January and then I would have time to volunteer. 

I have a law degree (admitted to NY Bar, but have not practiced in many years and have no training in immigration law), an MS in social work, and a diploma in graphic arts/printing. I have taught writing and speaking skills in college and to teenagers in China. I was also licensed by Wisconsin to be a family day care provider. Unfortunately, my Español is not very good. 

On January 2, 2020 I retired after 27 years of teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and two weeks later I was on a plane to Texas. My plan was to spend two months in El Paso volunteering to work for several different agencies. I paid my own way—airfare, hotel, rental car, meals, etc. My trip was more or less successful.

I passed the background check and for the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, Inc. (DMRS) I developed a series of presentations on the situation at the border and what DMRS is doing to help adults and children. I also created a simulation game to demonstrate what happens to people who try to get lawful residence status in the US and wrote a 17-page glossary of terms related to US Immigration. After my return to Madison, I redesigned an informational brochure for DMRS.

I was accepted as a volunteer for Ciudad Nueva Community Outreach Middle School Program but after I got to El Paso they decided that they didn’t need more volunteers. 

I did get to work for Abara Frontiers sorting out piles of donated articles, writing a profile of a staff member, visiting three migrant shelters in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and participating in one of their border encounter groups. 

I went through background checks and Pro Bono Attorney Orientation, but was unable to be part of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) program in El Paso-Juárez because they couldn’t arrange for an interpreter. 

Two other opportunities didn’t pan out. I interviewed with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, which provides legal services to asylum-seeking parents who are separated from their families. The Las Americas volunteer coordinator said they might be able to use me to do intake interviews and to help them create a list of area resources to which they could refer clients. But then I got an email telling me that there wasn't a “pressing need right now for some of the volunteer ideas we discussed unfortunately.” 

Episcopal Father Jose Juan Bernal talked to me about teaching English to people from Central America living in shelters in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He was very enthusiastic about the idea, but a few days later, in a phone call, he admitted he was concerned about my safety and he wouldn't be able to work directly with me for at least two weeks. I explained my situation to him, about spending a lot of money to be here, etc. He said he understood and seemed sincerely disappointed. 

While I was in Texas, the University managed to mess up my retirement plans, resulting in an endless series of emails and phone calls between Madison and El Paso. By mid-February I had reached the limit of what I could do in El Paso and, because of the retirement snafus, I decided to cut my trip short and return to Madison in mid-March.

I learned a lot during my time in El Paso and I think I am still processing it. I kept track of where I went and what I did. I sent emails describing my experiences, with photos, to a list of more than 50 people who had expressed an interest in getting them. (An expanded and edited version of the collected emails can be found online at: https://bit.ly/2TCqxGR Please feel free to share it with anyone.)

To summarize what I got from my time at the border:

We don’t know what we want in an immigration policy. Like many other countries, we are struggling to find a rational way to figure out who should be allowed in and who should not. As a result, US immigration laws are a mess and they will remain a mess until Congress does something, so don’t hold your breath.

The immigration process continues to be racist and biased against non-whites and non-Christians. People all over the world consider us hypocrites for claiming to believe in diversity and equality.

The root of the immigration problem is drugs. If Americans stopped craving heroin and cocaine, the gangs that are terrorizing people in Central America would go broke. Without cash, no bribery and corruption, no guns, no caravans of people fleeing for their lives. As long as the people in Central America feel unsafe, they are going to keep on coming.

The “Remain in Mexico” policy is inhumane and has made a humanitarian crisis much worse. People in shelters in Mexico (almost all from other parts of central and south America, not Mexico) are living in dire poverty and have become easy targets of criminals who take what little they have.

Many people have asked me what they can do to help. I have three suggestions.

• The situation of the people living in shelters in Mexico is dire. This is a humanitarian crisis, so consider donating money to one of the groups that is trying to help them. This is a short-term solution; keeping them in these shelters is not a sustainable, long-term solution. 

• The people in the shelters in Mexico and in the US are waiting for judges to review their applications for asylum to determine whether they deserve to get visas. The process is slow—too many cases, too few lawyers, not enough attorneys ready to represent the applicants. Consider donating to one of the organizations that provides legal representation to asylum seekers.

• Vote. Vote against candidates who take a strong anti- or pro-immigration stance—the only way any progress will ever be made is if politicians are willing to compromise. Electing all-or-nothing candidates will result in a continuation of an immigration system that isn’t fair and doesn’t work. Don’t vote for anyone who offers “simple solutions”. They are either ignorant or pandering. Do vote for candidates who support conversation, debate, and negotiation.