Hard Edges

Judy, the nun who drives me through the point of entry from Douglas to Agua Prieta recommends that I read Peg Bowden's "Land of Hard Edges". By the time I do so, I will have learned that immigration is not the same as migration across the Mexico/U.S. border. One comes with papers, the other does not. Migration is more closely aligned with a refugee status. "People wouldn't leave their homes on a lark," Judy insists. With increased border and asylum deterrance, Aqua Prieta has become a site of transit limbo which now reminds me of the book by Anna Segurs. Some agree to carry drugs in exchange for being brought across. An agent with border patrol claims that 80% of those caught with drugs are these desperate migrants. And now they won't be deported, they'll be imprisoned. When a nation State refuses to provide refuge to refugees, what kind of neighbor are they? Individual agents of mercy (not to be confused with NGOs or humanitarian aid) take it upon themselves to serve those without a home; to welcome them as Jesus was welcomed. Today, the U.S. no longer deports through the Agua Prieta crossing. Anyone caught near Douglas is repatriated through Mexicali or Texas or Nogales. This disorientation is a form of punishment. Deportation. Repatriation. These are the modes of kindness and hospitality in which our representative democracy trades. (January 19, 2018)