Meeting Nuggets
Drones Scouting South of the Border - January 13, 2020
Those on Samaritan desert searches take an opportunity to talk to Border Patrol agents whenever they can. We learned at this morning's meeting that the Border Patrol is using drones to track groups of people still in Mexico who may be intending to cross into the United States. They can then be ready to apprehend them as soon as they cross.
- Sandra
- Sandra
Migrants' Trek Through Mexico Is Bittersweet - December 30, 2019
Rev. Delle McCormick visited the meeting to tell of her journey to southern Mexico shelters to understand the complicated and often tragic dynamics faced by migrants as they come north. The surprising and hopeful news was how organized the Mexican shelters are in their assistance of asylum seekers. The work is mainly churches and volunteers, not the government. But migrants are allowed to apply for a one year status as a refugee in Mexico. And they are given a map of all the participating shelters! The sad development is that only about 5% will actually complete the journey to enter the U.S. to seek asylum.
- Barb
- Barb
Over 1200 Families Waiting in Nogales - December 16, 2019
At our Samaritans meeting on December 16, 2019, we were reminded again of the plight of asylum seekers in Nogales, Sonora. On a typical day, the Comedor is faced with feeding 200 or more people, 40% of whom may be children. There are estimates of 1200 or more families waiting in Nogales to make their credible fear claim to agents at the U.S. border. Only 15-20 families are allowed to present themselves daily and some have been waiting as long as four months.
- Sandra
- Sandra
Scott Warren's Landmark Case - December 2, 2019
As we celebrate the not-guilty verdict in Scott Warren's second trial on felony charges, we should also celebrate the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins to acquit Warren on charges of "abandonment of property" (leaving water jugs in the desert). The judge ruled that this act was an exercise of Warren's deeply held religious beliefs and therefore protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This decision is very important for two reasons: First, the judge invoked RFRA even though he did not invoke any particular religious belief system; second, this is believed to be the first use of RFRA which has been used to protect progressive religious activism, rather than refusal to hire or serve LGBTQ individuals or to provide reproductive health benefits to employees. In both respects this is a landmark case in the federal courts.
- David (fledgling snowbird from Michigan and first-time attendee at GV Samaritans meeting)
- David (fledgling snowbird from Michigan and first-time attendee at GV Samaritans meeting)
Compassion and Respect in the Desert - November 18, 2019
On a recent Sunday Samaritan Search, we came across several Border Patrol trucks alongside the road. We saw agents bringing a migrant group across the desert. Soon the migrants were sitting along the road. The handcuffs shackling them were being removed. We were allowed to hand out food and water.
A woman at the end of the line was crying and my partner said the woman was crying for her children. I sat next to her, putting my arms around her. She told me through her tears her three children lived with their grandparents back east. Though she never said the words, I knew her tears meant she knew she wasn’t going to see them. All I could tell her was, "Lo siento, I’m sorry.” Then I had to leave her. The agents were gathering the migrants’ information.
Throughout this encounter the agents treated the migrants with respect. My partner and I waited until all the migrants were in the trucks and on their way. I told the remaining agents I appreciated the courtesy I witnessed. We don’t always see eye to eye with Border Patrol, but that day I couldn’t have asked for better care for this group.
- Kathy
A woman at the end of the line was crying and my partner said the woman was crying for her children. I sat next to her, putting my arms around her. She told me through her tears her three children lived with their grandparents back east. Though she never said the words, I knew her tears meant she knew she wasn’t going to see them. All I could tell her was, "Lo siento, I’m sorry.” Then I had to leave her. The agents were gathering the migrants’ information.
Throughout this encounter the agents treated the migrants with respect. My partner and I waited until all the migrants were in the trucks and on their way. I told the remaining agents I appreciated the courtesy I witnessed. We don’t always see eye to eye with Border Patrol, but that day I couldn’t have asked for better care for this group.
- Kathy
A Better Use for $62,000,000 - November 4, 2019
Sara Busey, member of the End Streamline Coalition, surprised us with figures from their recently published Cost Study of Tucson’s Operation Streamline. Tucson is one of ten U.S. cities using this expedited criminal process for migrants.
Taxpayers are spending over sixty-two million dollars per year for Operation Streamline in Tucson. 70% of that cost is for incarceration in private prisons operated by Tennessee-based Core Civic; so, 70% of the expenditures leave the state. With that $62,000,000 Tucson could instead create 1,123 infrastructure jobs. See more suggestions in the Tucson Operation Streamline Cost Study.
- Susie
Taxpayers are spending over sixty-two million dollars per year for Operation Streamline in Tucson. 70% of that cost is for incarceration in private prisons operated by Tennessee-based Core Civic; so, 70% of the expenditures leave the state. With that $62,000,000 Tucson could instead create 1,123 infrastructure jobs. See more suggestions in the Tucson Operation Streamline Cost Study.
- Susie
A Sweet Memory of Friendship and Lost IDs Found - October 21, 2019
There they were, far out on Coronado Forest land: a one-year-old child’s birth certificate — stuck in the crook of a tree, her dad’s identification card lying in the dust, a child’s camouflage tee shirt, and a small distance away, a carefully folded child’s drawing in colored pencil. And more clothes.
Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans delivered the birth certificate and ID card to the Mexican Embassy. We are wondering what had happened here, knowing that we will never know...
- Judith
Baby Chicote - October 7, 2019
The tiny toddler shoe is a combination of pink, turquoise, yellow and purple with flowers, butterflies, crescent moons and stars stitched on denim. It has two silver sparkle laces attached beneath a velcro strap embroidered with the words “Baby Chicote.” The anti-slip white rubber sole apparently didn’t live up to its name because some little girl slipped right out of it leaving it behind on the migrant trail where it was found in the middle of the road by Samaritans on a recent search. It’s a poignant reminder that these are human beings, fellow travelers on the trail, struggling for their very lives, even little girls who love butterflies, moons and stars. It’s why we never stop looking. - Gail |
Young and Old Get Help at El Comedor - September 23, 2019
Reports from El Comedor (Kino Border Initiative’s lunchroom in Sonora, Mexico) today included an 87-year-old woman who traveled in a wheelchair from Guatemala. Just when everyone was leaving, a beautiful five month-old baby girl was carried in by Pancho, a Mexican nurse who offers medical help to many in Nogales, Sonora. They were accompanied by the baby's mother and three-year-old sister. The family was traveling alone from El Salvador and the baby was not well. A Samaritan nurse examined and treated the baby, who improved and was fine. Many more children are being seen routinely at El Comedor, compared to times past.
- Judy
- Judy
Newcomer's View - September 9, 2019
This Nugget is from a newcomer to Green Valley attending her first Samaritan meeting. One of the GVS Search teams encountered a Tucson Samaritan Search team that had discovered a group of 26 asylum seekers close to the border earlier. The apprehension of that group led directly to the apprehension of a second group of 80. It was a hot dry August day. "I can't imagine the desperation shared by these asylum seekers - their stories will be told someday, I hope."
- Laurie
- Laurie
Border Patrol Chats - August 26, 2019
We regularly hear about conversations with Border Patrol as part of search reports. We were reminded this morning that occasionally we encounter unpleasantness, sometimes there is little response to our attempts to converse and sometimes we have good conversations with them. Can't paint them all with the same brush.
- Sandra
- Sandra
The Policy of Metering - July 1, 2019
At today's meeting, folks working at the Comedor (in Sonora, Mexico), the monastery (in Tucson), or observing at Operation Streamline (at the US Federal Court building in Tucson) all report that the people, including significant numbers of young children, who want to make a case of "credible fear" to US authorities, are having to wait in Mexico. They are in Mexico for weeks and even months, just to present themselves, as a consequence of the policy of "metering," which seriously limits the number of people allowed to state their desire for a hearing.
- Sandra
- Sandra
Boss in Back - June 22, 2019
As a Samaritan, I volunteer at El Comedor in Nogales, Sonora where we go every Tuesday to help feed migrants. Sometimes when crossing back into the U.S., Border Patrol asks us what we were doing in Mexico. When we say feeding migrants at the Comedor, we get various responses from cold stares and silence to a rare “Thank you for what you do.”
At the I-19 checkpoint north of Tubac, BP is used to seeing the Samaritan vehicle with the sign on the side. On a recent trip, there were four of us returning from Mexico, and for once, Shura, our leader, was not driving. Instead Harry was driving with Steve in the passenger seat. Shura and I were in the back seat.
Much to our surprise, after pulling up to the checkpoint, the BP agent took one look at us, smiled and waved us through and said, “I see the boss is in the back!” We all laughed as indeed, the boss was in the back. For a moment we were all just folks, enjoying a light-hearted laugh.
- Gail
At the I-19 checkpoint north of Tubac, BP is used to seeing the Samaritan vehicle with the sign on the side. On a recent trip, there were four of us returning from Mexico, and for once, Shura, our leader, was not driving. Instead Harry was driving with Steve in the passenger seat. Shura and I were in the back seat.
Much to our surprise, after pulling up to the checkpoint, the BP agent took one look at us, smiled and waved us through and said, “I see the boss is in the back!” We all laughed as indeed, the boss was in the back. For a moment we were all just folks, enjoying a light-hearted laugh.
- Gail
Sleeping in the Cemetery - May 20, 2019
At the Monday, May 20 meeting we were reminded that while we hear about the asylum seekers being assisted at shelters in Tucson, there are 800 some others waiting in Nogales, Sonora, waiting to present their credible fear claim in hopes of being allowed to seek asylum in the United States. There are not enough shelters there, so many find themselves sleeping on the streets, in the cemetery, wherever they can. And their wait can be two months or more.
- Sandra
- Sandra
Searches Offer Aid - May 6, 2019
Our searches south of Arivaca are finding more migrants than in recent years. It has been nearly every week in fact. One of them involved a seriously dehydrated man who had been separated from his group. Samaritans rendered humanitarian aid until Border Patrol agents arrived and apprehended him. The agent was kind and light handed. These are always emotional interactions. It was the first for our drivers. They also had two first-time searchers along from out of state.
- Laurie
- Laurie
Wonderful Work - April 24, 2019
One of the Samaritans, on the way back from a Comedor visit, reported that two BP officers approached the Samaritan vehicle at the I-19 Checkpoint and thanked us for the work we do, saying, "You people do wonderful work." Especially nice to hear from Border Patrol.
- Sandra
- Sandra
No Eggs in the Courtroom - April 13, 2019
You have to be careful what you bring into a federal courthouse these days. I had my tiny two-inch pen knife on my keychain taken away from me once when I tried to enter DeConcini Federal Court House in Tucson where Operation Streamline is held. The daily fast-track criminal prosecution of migrants began in Tucson in 2008. Green Valley Samaritans attend twice a week as part of our keeping watch outreach.
Recently Samaritan Sara agreed to take seven dozen raw eggs to the monastery asylum shelter in Tucson on her way to Operation Streamline. Road construction delayed her 30 minutes, so rather than leave 84 eggs in a hot car for two hours, she decided to take the eggs into the courthouse. She says she had no trouble getting through security despite jokes about being an “egg lady.” The staff obviously thought there was no danger of guns being brought in via eggs.
While waiting on the second floor with her eggs, however, Sara was surprised to have a young man in uniform rush up to her yelling, “No eggs in the courthouse!” As if she were trying to pull a fast one, he added, “ I know your story, so don’t bother telling it to me.”
Sara left with her dangerous eggs and drove them to the monastery missing Operation Streamline that day. When she arrived at the courthouse the next week, Sara said security personnel showed no signs of recognizing the “egg lady.” She said she had thought of bringing one hard boiled egg to place in the security tray to go through the scanner, but thought better of it. One doesn’t want to play around with dangerous eggs.
- Gail
Recently Samaritan Sara agreed to take seven dozen raw eggs to the monastery asylum shelter in Tucson on her way to Operation Streamline. Road construction delayed her 30 minutes, so rather than leave 84 eggs in a hot car for two hours, she decided to take the eggs into the courthouse. She says she had no trouble getting through security despite jokes about being an “egg lady.” The staff obviously thought there was no danger of guns being brought in via eggs.
While waiting on the second floor with her eggs, however, Sara was surprised to have a young man in uniform rush up to her yelling, “No eggs in the courthouse!” As if she were trying to pull a fast one, he added, “ I know your story, so don’t bother telling it to me.”
Sara left with her dangerous eggs and drove them to the monastery missing Operation Streamline that day. When she arrived at the courthouse the next week, Sara said security personnel showed no signs of recognizing the “egg lady.” She said she had thought of bringing one hard boiled egg to place in the security tray to go through the scanner, but thought better of it. One doesn’t want to play around with dangerous eggs.
- Gail
We Were Honored - April 8, 2019
We were honored at our April 8th meeting to be visited by nine students and five adults from the Plymouth Congregational Church (UCC) from Seattle, Washington. In keeping with the mission of their historic church in downtown Seattle, they wanted to learn more about border issues from a Samaritan perspective. Their questions were thoughtful, insightful, and sincere. Visiting us is how they spent their Spring Break. We were honored by their presence.
- Russ
- Russ
What Brings You Joy...in this Despairing World? - March 25,2019
- For some wee ones, it’s a look in the mirror to see themselves looking back and giggling at the their reflection. For some toddlers, it’s the adventure of riding in a car seat for the first time ever and wondering why the other toddler nearby is shrieking at being strapped in. And for some young children it’s wearing the same Mickey Mouse hat for three days in a row as noted by a migrant father regarding his young son.
These are the tales of joy recounted by volunteers at Tucson’s Catholic Community Services Monastery Migrant shelter for asylum seekers. When I take in my donations, I need only walk a short distance before one young man or another, guests at the shelter, offer to help me with my load. In the kitchen, always awash with smiling volunteers cooking, baking, mixing and stirring, I drop off my sandwiches, apples and oranges, maybe hear a thank you on my way out the kitchen door.
It’s not about the thank you. It’s about feeding people; it’s about lending a helping hand in any way we can; it’s about making a difference, about making eye contact with vulnerable people, listening to their stories, touching, offering; it’s about honoring and respecting and looking for joy wherever we can find it. And in return, we volunteers connect to our thrive tribe, and once again we are able to go on, no matter what.
It takes a village. The cavalry is not coming to save us. Whatever we have been able to do that day, make a meal, help a teen find a shirt and a backpack, transport a family to the bus station to get them started on their road trip to family and hope, even smile and lay a hand on their shoulder—it all counts. It’s good for them and it’s good for us, and good for our soul. It’s the right thing to do. We are the “us” we’ve been waiting for.
- Gail
These are the tales of joy recounted by volunteers at Tucson’s Catholic Community Services Monastery Migrant shelter for asylum seekers. When I take in my donations, I need only walk a short distance before one young man or another, guests at the shelter, offer to help me with my load. In the kitchen, always awash with smiling volunteers cooking, baking, mixing and stirring, I drop off my sandwiches, apples and oranges, maybe hear a thank you on my way out the kitchen door.
It’s not about the thank you. It’s about feeding people; it’s about lending a helping hand in any way we can; it’s about making a difference, about making eye contact with vulnerable people, listening to their stories, touching, offering; it’s about honoring and respecting and looking for joy wherever we can find it. And in return, we volunteers connect to our thrive tribe, and once again we are able to go on, no matter what.
It takes a village. The cavalry is not coming to save us. Whatever we have been able to do that day, make a meal, help a teen find a shirt and a backpack, transport a family to the bus station to get them started on their road trip to family and hope, even smile and lay a hand on their shoulder—it all counts. It’s good for them and it’s good for us, and good for our soul. It’s the right thing to do. We are the “us” we’ve been waiting for.
- Gail
Hundreds Waiting for Legal Processing - March 11, 2019
We were reminded again of the extent of the humanitarian crisis on our border as a result of the exodus from Central America, due in large measure to the effects of climate change and the extreme violence in those countries. There are hundreds of people, including many children, waiting in Nogales, Sonora, for an opportunity to make their request for asylum (a completely legal process), but only 10-15 are processed daily. The shelters in Nogales are over-full and the Comedor, where usually 40-80 migrants are fed, have recently had as many as 300-500 hungry people showing up, greatly taxing both their capacity and their food supplies. - Sandra
They Just Keep Coming - February 13, 2019
"They just kept coming." That's how a member of the Samaritans described the scene last week at El Comedor where she was volunteering. Seventy-five adults and twenty-five children were crowded into the Comedor: seeking safety, finding sustenance, and enjoying fellowship. Most were from Guerrero, Mexico, a change from previous weeks, but like all the rest, they were fleeing poverty, violence, and the control of gangs and cartels.
- Russ and Rita
A Gut-Wrenching Story - January 28, 2018
Margo Cowan, the immigration lawyer behind the "Keep Tucson Together" legal clinics, came to our meeting to recruit more help. There are jobs for everyone, Spanish speaking or not, legal training or not. The effort is growing like crazy, trying to keep up with the needs. There are successes and failures.
A decision in a recent case trying to establish hardship to a family should their mother be deported was gut wrenching. The sexual abuse of a young daughter, a U.S. citizen, by a family member, was not enough to stay the deportation.
- Laurie
A decision in a recent case trying to establish hardship to a family should their mother be deported was gut wrenching. The sexual abuse of a young daughter, a U.S. citizen, by a family member, was not enough to stay the deportation.
- Laurie
You Walk on Water - January 14, 2019
During a seemingly routine recent water drop, our vehicle was approached by a Border Patrol agent who told one of our members "You walk on water."
He went on to say that back in 2014 he had found a young girl in the desert who had been raped repeatedly and left to die. As she was severely dehydrated and near death, the agent picked her up and began to carry her back to his vehicle. On his way, he found water Samaritans had left in the desert. Our work and the agent's humanity saved her life. No one should die in the desert.
- Russ
He went on to say that back in 2014 he had found a young girl in the desert who had been raped repeatedly and left to die. As she was severely dehydrated and near death, the agent picked her up and began to carry her back to his vehicle. On his way, he found water Samaritans had left in the desert. Our work and the agent's humanity saved her life. No one should die in the desert.
- Russ
Complex Realities - December 2, 2018
Here are two Nuggets from Monday’s meeting that instruct us well. The realities of the border are complex. One of Samaritans’ purposes is to discover these complexities.
A young man from Honduras presented himself to a member of our group within the last few weeks. He had traveled four months from Honduras, ending in a five day walk, to reach the border. Abandoned by his coyote, he wandered the desert for 15 days before making it to Green Valley. After receiving food and water, he was on his way toward a hopeful future. Miraculous.
Out on a Samaritan Search, one team encountered a Border Patrol agent and talked for an hour. While some agents are reluctant to talk or they rant, this agent was fair minded and thoughtful. Possessing a Masters Degree, he endeavored to do his job with respect and concern. In six years on the job, he has had only 2-3 threatening situations and none involved firearms.
- Russ
A young man from Honduras presented himself to a member of our group within the last few weeks. He had traveled four months from Honduras, ending in a five day walk, to reach the border. Abandoned by his coyote, he wandered the desert for 15 days before making it to Green Valley. After receiving food and water, he was on his way toward a hopeful future. Miraculous.
Out on a Samaritan Search, one team encountered a Border Patrol agent and talked for an hour. While some agents are reluctant to talk or they rant, this agent was fair minded and thoughtful. Possessing a Masters Degree, he endeavored to do his job with respect and concern. In six years on the job, he has had only 2-3 threatening situations and none involved firearms.
- Russ