Water Run, Border Patrol, and Court - Oh My!

Today was a busy day. It began at 7:00 a.m. with meeting Barbara, the lady who does this run every Tuesday, and Bob, a first time volunteer from a Catholic Church in town, at Human Borders for our water stations run to the Ironwood Forest. In this 100-mile, round-trip we checked on 4 water stations. The trip took us about 4 1/2 hours.

As we drove we shared in conversation with one another. It struck me that each of us differed in our political views around immigration, yet we all agreed that human beings should not die needlessly in the desert because of heat and lack of water.




After lunch I went to the courthouse to witness Operation Streamline where about 70 migrants were being prosecuted for illegally crossing the border. I'm still learning more and want to be accurate in disseminating information, so I'll write more later. (I wasn't able to stay for the entire proceeding.) I'll be going back possibly on Friday, and for sure next Thursday with Borderlinks. My one noticing was how disengaged the migrants' court appointed attorneys were during the whole process. They read newspapers and played on their Blackberrys and cell phones, never seeming to pay attention.

After court, I headed to the Tucson Sector of Border Patrol to meet Jimmy, the Chaplain and Community Relations Director. He spent most of the time showing me maps of the area and talking about the various migrant trails. Then he showed me the vehicles with all their technology. He wouldn't show me the processing area, as he said they were worried about the spread of swine flu - and he was protecting me. He was a nice guy and let me hear bits of the Border Patrol story, but its what he didn't say that I'm more interested in hearing. I can't wait to have more conversations with the folks from Borderlinks, No Mas Muertes and Humane Borders.


Today's experiences obviously need much more processing. But, it's late and I need a break . . . Hasta luego.