Stories

Courage. Resiliency. Strength. Hope. Faith.

These are the words that come to my mind as I am writing right now. Today I had the opportunity to talk to two amazing and inspirational people – one of them a Franciscan priest and one of them a deported migrant. Two very different men with two very different stories, but both strong, resilient, and faithful men.

For over 30 years, the priest has been working tirelessly to fight against injustices perpetuated by the government. Since his involvement in the Sanctuary Movement (an underground religious movement in which churches offered shelter and services to refugees escaping Central America) in Texas in the 1980s, he has been fighting extremely hard for justice. He has protested against the School of the Americas and Lockheed Martin and has gotten arrested hundreds of times. He has spent more than 5 years combined in jail, and yet he still keeps fighting for human rights.

The other man I had the privilege to talk to was a migrant from California. He had just been deported into Nogales after having spent 3 months in prisons in California and Arizona. So here is he in Nogales, with no money, no place to stay, no job, and no family. His entire family is back in California, where he had been helping to provide for his aging mother. Now every time he talks to her on the phone, she cries because she is so worried about him being in a country that he hardly remembers and in which he has very little resources. However, what keeps him fighting for survival is his faith. Over and over again, he repeated how important it was that he had the support of his church back home and needed to find a church to attend here in Nogales.

I am extremely grateful that these two men were willing to share their stories with me. Stories like these are what I will remember most from my experience here on the border. I know that I cannot offer much to migrants whose lives have been twisted and shaken by inhumane immigration policies, but I can offer a listening ear. I can offer accompaniment, and I can show them that there are people who do care.