On the front lines with refugees seeking asylum

“For here on either side of the wall 

are God’s children, and no man-made barrier 

can obliterate that fact.” 

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

© 2019 Christy K Robinson

I live in the Phoenix-metro area, about 200 miles from a Mexican port of entry. There are several churches in the Valley of the Sun that accept busloads of Central American asylum seekers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These are people who have traveled more than 2,000 miles from their crime-ridden countries, seeking political asylum according to international and United States law. They must apply for asylum on US soil. After their surrender and arrest at the Mexican-American border, they’re "processed" through ICE detention centers for about three weeks' incarceration in tents, remodeled Walmart stores, and chain-link fencing inside buildings. Parents sleep on asphalt floors with their children on their legs to cushion the toddler from the cold, hard floor.

In case you didn’t know, your tax dollars, to the tune of billions, are paying top prices to these for-profit prisons. It’s an industry that benefits handsomely from having donated to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. A Department of Homeland Security memo, dated December 2017, "details deliberate plans to implement a family separation policy as a deterrent to would-be asylum seekers and lays out strategies to increase detention of migrant children," wrote US Senator Jeff Merkley following an NBC News report. When Americans expressed outrage that children were being kept in fences and cages in June 2018, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen lied about the policy repeatedly.

The adult inmates of these prison camps have been served rotten food, and forced to work all night for a “payment” in candy or chips when they're still hungry after a meal. Here in Arizona, children were sexually molested by Southwest Key employees.

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-detention/11-toothpaste-immigrants-pay-big-for-basics-at-private-ice-lock-ups-idUSKCN1PC0DJ?fbclid=IwAR1H9NvaxP5-c9hj-SrRtuQ4cWMqcrf-5pb8FFsIHBXRNMdRJAu7MA8P6XU 
• https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/us/northwest-immigrant-detention-center-geo-group-invs/index.html
• https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/18/leaked-memo-reveals-trump-administrations-immoral-plan-traumatize-migrant-children?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork&fbclid=IwAR0x1WDhNyXVbaLn8QIEb50n0LEgUurX9GRyfdR5Wnpdbiz5Bf6lRzNQOOE

In many cases, parents have been separated from their children and summarily deported, leaving their children behind in Homeland Security-contractor prison camps. Lately, because of citizen outrage leading to federal court orders, families have been kept together in detention camps for up to 20 days. The children for whom the Trump Administration cannot locate parents or relatives, and says it would require too much effort to reunite the thousands of families it separated. The separations are ongoing.

After the three weeks of detention, the lucky ones who weren't (yet) deported are given ankle monitors and wristbands, legal documents, and then bused to a vacant lot near a commercial bus station or they're bused to a host church and told to appear for several court dates with their immigration attorney.

Homeland Security bus with opaque windows. Volunteers wait to
greet refugee immigrants.

When they arrive in clearly marked “Department of Homeland Security” buses at the bus station, and sometimes at churches, they encounter vicious shouts and menacing gestures from right-wing, racist vigilantes who call themselves the Patriot Movement. These are zealots who support people like ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and film themselves and their children stealing from a mosque. They scream at Hispanic or Native American state legislators to "go home," and they advocate killing "illegals" and executing government members, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The refugees who are lucky enough to come to a church are welcomed by volunteers who form a human shield against the protesters. As they step off the buses, they’re escorted through “Do Not Trespass” yellow tape, to a line of volunteers who applaud, say “welcome” or “bienvenidos,” and shake their hands or hug them. The surprise and joy on their faces at this treatment, after so much rejection, hate, and fear, is very moving. 

Cubans fled their country in overcrowded,
rickety boats and rafts.

 One of the volunteers hopes that the children are too young to remember their harsh journey and treatment. But my friend Hilda, a Cuban refugee who has since been naturalized, says she remembers being rescued from the rickety boat exodus by a US Coast Guard ship. “You give hope, a smile like the one I got from the Coast Guard at sea. I didn’t understand a word he was saying but he handed me an apple and his smile said it all. I knew I was going to be OK,” said my friend. She remembers.

The refugees I’ve seen are in their teens and 20s, mostly women with children who appear to be 6 months to young teens. The few men with children appear to be in their 20s or early 30s. I haven’t seen any middle-aged or older people.

Once safely inside, they're welcomed by the "sanctuary church" pastor and given an orientation and instructions by an ICE officer in both English and Spanish. The ICE officer told the people that unlike in their home countries, they could trust the police in America. The police would protect them from abusers. The relief on these young parents' faces was obvious – and heartbreaking. The ICE officer also instructed the people to stay in contact with a church at all times, and that they shouldn't take off their ankle monitors because those who might offer to do so could abuse or enslave them.

Meanwhile, the interfaith volunteers (Protestant, Catholic, non-denominational, Jewish, and perhaps nonreligious people) are in the church kitchen and dining room setting tables, pouring coffee and lemonade, making fruit platters, setting out plates of homemade cookies, and filling plates with cornbread and veggies, and bowls of soup or chili. The plates are delivered to the long tables of parents and children (I assume single parents). The refugees are grateful for the loving service and the home-cooked food after their long journey, arrest and detention, and the anxiety of not knowing if they'll be accepted or deported when they come up for court dates. It’s good to see them come into the church hall and relax their guard.

Most volunteers are adults, but some people brought their junior-high-age children to help. I put them to work delivering cups of coffee and powdered creamer and taught them to ask, “Leche por café’? Uno o dos?” Even the smallest children wanted coffee, which doesn’t surprise me. These kids come from coffee-producing countries. They were willing to drink the coffee black and bitter before we offered sugar and creamer. That’s how much they needed a taste of familiarity and comfort.

After supper, the refugees are given zipper bags to stock up on treats and granola bars for the next leg of their journey, which might be by air or bus, to their sponsor families or relatives in distant states. They also are given backpacks or cloth bags and then go "shopping" for donated clothing, underwear, shoes, and toys that are heaped in the church hall. There were many packages of new underwear and socks, and countless bags of used-but-nice outerwear that we volunteers had sorted by size. I helped cut the tags off a new pair of Mickey Mouse shoes for a little boy who was trying to chew them off. The new shoes were just his size, unlike the old ones that were an inch too long.

Making shoelaces from twine.

Their shoelaces had been taken away at detention centers. (Really, all that work to get to America, and then they'd commit suicide?! No, some of us suspect it may be another way to break the spirit.) Adults and children shuffle around in ill-fitting shoes because of the lack of laces. I checked the dollar store for shoelaces, but they didn't have many, and I wasn't impressed with the price. One volunteer brought a ball of black twine, cut it to the same lengths as his own shoelaces, and melted the ends with a lighter.

The refugees can have showers at the church, and bed down on floors or mattresses in sleeping rooms before their journeys resume the next day. 

Screenshot from a video of volunteers
serving up dinner.

 The group I work with brings food for 100 people at least once a week. None of us are wealthy. I'm single and self-employed as a piano teacher, church musician, and book editor, which "gigs" combine to make just enough income to survive month to month. But what I have is far more than what these children of God have.   

This week, I took roasted turkey breast from my freezer, diced a huge onion and three large pasilla chilies from the dollar store, minced garlic, added peeled and diced yellow squash, and diced some Anaheim chilies and bell peppers from my own patio garden. For my recipe, click HERE. The main seasoning is Penzey's Spices 4S smoky seasoned salt, and a bit of Penzey's smoked Spanish paprika. The result was absolutely fabulous! There were six large crock pots of chicken soup or stew at the event (different recipes and tastes of the various cooks), plus another few crocks of beans and rice, so my crock fed at least 15-20 people.

Turkey and green chili stew, with my Penzey's Spices jars in the background.
I mention Penzey’s because it’s a socially responsible company
that I admire, and their spices, herbs, and blends are delicious and fresh.
They have stores around the United States, but also ship from their website.

One of our volunteers made Rice Krispy Treats, and we put them out on platters, but they were mostly untouched at the end of supper. These poor people from Central America had never seen or tasted the American treat. I took the plates around the room and urged them in my poor Spanish to accept the "dulces con arroz y marshmallow." Google Translate advises that I should have said "dulces crujientes de arroz y marvavisco." I'll never remember that phrase! The brave ones who took a square liked them. Maybe in 40 years, a naturalized American will remember when an American lady offered them their first Rice Krispy square with poor Spanish and a smile.

I've blurred the faces of this mother and child
for security's sake.

In my photos, I intentionally blurred the faces of a mother and child to protect them from persecution. But it's plain to see that these people are no threat to Americans. They're being fed and housed by volunteers, not your tax money. They have nothing but the clothes on their backs, and they're not carrying drugs, or shooting their way through the international boundaries, or in any way endangering Americans or using government resources. In fact, they say they’re eager to serve this country, not to cause trouble or make demands. Having been processed at a port of entry, they are not "illegal" aliens, they are asylum seekers who have a right under international and US laws to apply for residence. Some of our church volunteers (of several faiths) have donated money to buy transportation to Houston or other cities where the sponsors or relatives are waiting. 

Phoenix-metro sanctuary churches receive about 700 refugees per week. I don’t know how many people are bused to churches or bus stations around our country. We volunteers and more importantly, the refugees, could be persecuted for doing what we believe is right. What our group is doing is legal, and we're actually working with ICE. But while soliciting clothing and bedding donations from a Christian group, I got some frowns from people who I believe are "build-the-wall" advocates. (Several volunteers with a rescue group near the Arizona border were convicted of crimes for leaving gallon jugs of water on migrant trails through a desert wildlife refuge. https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/US/humanitarian-volunteers-convicted-charges-related-leaving-food-water/story?id=60520579 )

A tea towel from Penzey’s Spices that says,
"Heal the world. Cook dinner tonight."
We didn't heal the whole world, but we provided comfort to the hungry and hurting.
It's a good start.

I wonder what it feels like to be a refugee

I can only faintly imagine. First, to be forced to leave the country of countless generations of your ancestors because drug cartels and corrupt political leaders make it a death trap; second, to make the perilous journey through other countries, through physical barriers of rivers and mountains, with your children; third, to travel 2,000 miles by walking or buying transport from legitimate means or dangerous coyotes; fourth, to reach the US border with thousands of others, and be turned away by policies that are in violation of international laws of asylum; fifth, to make it into an official port of entry and be arrested and incarcerated for weeks; sixth, to be released with no money, no English, no shoelaces, no food, no bus ticket for yourself and your child or children, no immigration attorney, no idea of how to get to immigration court in a distant state; and seventh – the US government is shut down and federal courts are out of money, so court dates shown on their ICE documents may not be valid.

I do know two things

1. This is where Jesus can be found. This is what he does, and calls us to do in his name. Though I’m a Christian, I also recognize that people of other religions or no religion have a Light in them, or a conscience, that informs their kindness, mercy, and compassion. They donate clothing, bedding, money, food, and time to help people they've never seen before, and will never see again, because they believe in something greater than their own needs or desires.

2. The people I served and will serve again are Jesus.  When did we see Jesus hungry, thirsty, incarcerated, sick, without clothes, or with no place to live safely? We see him in “the least of these his brethren.”

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46.

I choose life. I choose love.

For other articles on refugees seeking asylum, click this link: https://christykrobinson.blogspot.com/search?q=asylum

 

*****

Christy K Robinson is author of these books:

We Shall Be Changed (2010)

Mary Dyer Illuminated Vol. 1 (2013)  

Mary Dyer: For Such a Time as This Vol. 2 (2014)

The Dyers of London, Boston, & Newport Vol. 3 (2014)  

Effigy Hunter (2015)  

Anne Marbury Hutchinson: American Founding Mother (2018)

And of these sites:  

Discovering Love  (inspiration and service)

Rooting for Ancestors  (history and genealogy)

William and Mary Barrett Dyer (17th century culture and history of England and New England)

Editornado [ed•i•tohr•NAY•doh] (Words. Communications. Book reviews. Cartoons.)