Our Work Today

This morning we assembled food packs for a humanitarian group called the Samaritans! Our group leaders reserved a big chunk of the morning for us to put 150 of them together, but we finished them all in 10 minutes! We were pretty excited to get most of the morning to just chill out, rest, and recharge. After lunch we made “altars” out of gallon water bottles that have been found in the desert, left by migrants. We wrote the names of migrants whose bodies have been found dead in the Arizona desert all over the bottles and decorated them with bandanas. Seeing all those names really legitimized this week's experience for me; it made it seem more real. But no matter how cool everything was today, the absolute best part of today was dinner. We got meat! We got Mexican take-out and had some awesome burritos; it was exactly what everyone needed. Today was definitely my favorite day this week, and I'm excited to see everyone when I get home tomorrow!
-Madeline Gordon

Hello Everyone!

When the two ranchers started talking about their opinions of the border I liked how they clearly stated that they understood these were their own biased opinions and they weren’t trying to tell us what to believe. They explained what they felt about the border control and the people migrating north, but instead of firmly choosing a side, they showed they agreed with certain parts of both sides. Unfortunately, the only experience they really had with immigrants were those who left traces behind: broke their fences, took their water, left trash, and constantly left them feeling unsafe. But I’m sure there were even more people that had merely passed through, never intending to hurt the ranchers, who only made it so far on their hopes of earning money to send back home. Because of the ranchers’ opinions of these people, they decided to allow border patrol to install a camera and sensor on their ranch. But the camera often failed to work, so they felt the border patrol showed no purpose or solution. I did feel offended by how they kept referring to those migrating north as “wetbacks”, and would occasionally rant on repeating themselves about how horrible they thought our government was. But the truth is they were the first people so far who honestly told us they knew their opinion was biased, and even offered several solutions to the many problems surrounding this issue. I appreciated being able to hear their opinions today.
-Lauren Heath

Thoughts from the border

This trip has been amazing. The first day we got here we were plunged into the immigration situation with a simulation that showed us just how hard it is to even get by in Mexico, and how difficult it is to immigrate into the U.S. On Tuesday we went to the courthouse and witnessed something called “operation streamline” an extremely inhumane process for the handling of illegal immigrants. They deport 70-80 people at a time. When we were sitting in the courthouse there was this one particular man who I will never forget. He was wearing a blue tank-top and jeans, his hair was a mess and he had a cut on his arm. Throughout the entire hearing, we kept making eye contact and he just looked so scared, like he didn’t know what was going on. As he walked up to the judge, chains jingling, he glanced at me again. The judge called his name, “Juan Wilmer Arroz” which is very similar to my name, which just made me feel even more connected to this guy. The judge gave him a “time served” and deported him. As they took off the translator headset, he looked like all hope was gone. When he was leaving, he paused in front of our group and looked at me one last time before a deputy pushed him through the door. I will never ever forget this experience. The next day we went to the border patrol office and had a tour. They continuously bragged about how many drugs they have confiscated. Yet when we asked the agent what percentage of people they caught were drug smugglers, his answer was “about 2-5%” yet that is the only group he talked about. After that he talked about how they are preventing terrorism, yet they said in the past 15 years they have caught no one with terrorist connections. Another thing about the border patrol is they referred to people as “subjects” as well when they said that they arrested people, they called it “rescued” these wordings just struck me as weird. The fact that they had gift bags for us also seemed a bit of a weird concept, in the hallway they had a little souvenir case with souvenir border patrol fish bobbers, yes, really, fish bobbers. After this we traveled down to Nogales and visited the border wall, how can an inch of sheet metal separate two countries? The people on the other side of the wall are just as much human as I am what makes me so different? The border wall is made out of old runways from operation desert storm. A border separating people is made from the leftover of a war.
-Jon Rice

ps sorry mom for any grammar errors, Ii know you'll find a ton

border wall

Today we visited the border wall in Nogales. When I first saw this wall, the only thing I could think of was the people living on the other side that probably never even wanted to come over to America, who then had a giant 20 foot steel sheet splitting their town into half. You could look under the wall and see the obvious difference between the Mexican side and American side. Mexico was thick with overpopulation, torn up cars, children walking in the street, and countless buildings. As we stood next to the wall, I couldn’t help but realize that the only thing separating our countries was an inch thick sheet of steel separating a free country from its neighbor. It was rough to think that the people on the other side definitely hated me for being from this country that has torn apart their city. How come I get to be an American because I live just miles north of this ravaged city?
And oh ya, we saw Harry Potter and Wife-Beater Wednesday was awesome!
Jackson

Building Trenches and Wandering through the Desert

Hey everyone its Brad Schuelke. Today we went into the desert to experience what it feels like to walk through the desert between the border and Tucson. We spent time walking through the heavy bushes, picking up trash, and carrying water. Illegal aliens spend about 4 to 7 days walking through the intense heat with little water and walking through some rugged desert. Unfortunately we were only able to spend 2 to 3 hours wandering and did not get to experience what illegal aliens do. Luckily, after lunch, we had the great opportunity to go back outside and work. This elderly woman needed her gas line replaced, so we needed to dig a 14 inch deep trench from the gas line meter to the house in order to replace the pipe. The gas line meter was about 40 feet from the house. The group got to spend about 3 hours using pick axes and shovels to dig this trench in the harsh, unforgiving Arizona dirt. Other youth worked in the front garden by picking weeds and other projects Some people had blisters and others got a little sick, but we all did some good work and came back alive. That’s pretty much what my group did today. The conditions here are pretty good, but the only problems I have are that the vegetarian meals HAVE NO MEAT and that my bed happens to be the squeakiest bed in the entire room. I feel that we are learning a lot of important things here about immigration issues and I cannot wait to share it all with you. We’re having a great time and I think the rest of the week will go well

Peace,
Brad

Hello Everyone!

Another daily update, here from BorderLinks!
Today we went on a desert walk, to try and understand what immigrants experience when they cross the border. We had previously purchased 40 jugs of water, and today we carried them about a mile into the desert and placed them for migrants who found themselves without water in the middle of the desert.
We ate lunch at BorderLinks, and our group separated, half to observe “Operation Streamline,” and the other half to work on digging a gas-line trench for an elderly woman. It was a very interesting experience for both groups, and there will be people blogging about both later.
We just finished dinner, a long devotional, and now we are working on our “agape” notes and watching a movie about the immigration issue.

Farm work

Hi everyone! It’s Mady Gordon.

Today when we split up into two groups, my group went to help out at a local farm. Most of the girls in the group, including myself, painted new signs to label each of the fields. The rest of the group sorted onions and moved crates, so I felt lucky to have a job in the shade. After we had all finished we helped carry out the farm’s produce and help set up their farmer’s market. The vegetables all looked so fresh and different; each one was a different shape and color, not like what you see in the grocery store. One of the farmers talked to us about eating organically and shopping locally, and told us some interesting truths about mass farming today. Did you know that in all the cotton fields you drive by every day, every single plant there is a clone? Their seeds have been unnaturally altered so that each plant is absolutely perfect, and that any insect that eats it will die. It really got me thinking about what I eat, and made me want to shop locally so that I know I’m eating what’s actually good for me. The farmer even told us about her favorite locally grown farm in the Phoenix area, Crooked Sky Farms. We’re learning all about producing your own food here and I hope to learn some more tips for when I get back!

Operation Streamline

Hey this is Jessica Everett!

So earlier today we got to go listen to a professor speak to us about immigration. We then came back to Border Links and got to do a simulation where they put us in families and gave us very life like scenarios to act out. We got jobs, got a certain amount of money per task, and we had to pay for food and rent. That was really a fun and eye opening experience. We then ate a quick lunch and broke up into 2 groups, one group went to the courthouse and watched Operation Streamline and one group went and worked with a farmers market. I got to go to the courthouse, it was a sad thing watching these people wait to get their fate handed to them. Then we went and talked to an assistant attorney and she explained all about Streamline and how it got started. So far, it’s been an amazing trip and can’t wait for the rest of the trip.

Our first bilingual post!

Hola!

Que pasa mis amigos y familia? Me gustan las personas del BorderLinks. Mis amigos son muy cómicos. Mi día hizo mucho calor más que fuego. Comemos sólo verduras, mucho gusto carne en mi comida pero el BorderLinks solamente usa un “sustainable garden”. Ai dios mio!!! pierdo carne!!! A las BorderLinks es muy eficiente!! Apriendo mucho de mi estancia, trabajar con mis personas es muy aclara. Me gustan todos los días. Hasta mañana!

Samuel Treviño

HELLOOOOO BLOGOSPHERE!

How it goin?
So far, I am truly enjoying BorderLinks. This organization is very informative, truthful, provides a brutally honest depiction of the immigration process. Not only do they show us the unbelievably difficult process an immigrant takes to reach America, but they do so in an open minded form, which is uncommonly found in Arizona. Today we did a simulation about the process an undocumented immigrant could get to America. It was, of course, a very inaccurate translation. However, it was also informative. I did farm work today. It was quite fun actually. My heart now belongs to farm life. Tomorrow we get to go to a court house and witness immigration deportation cases. I am taking anti-depressants in advance. The workers at BorderLinks are kind, straight-shooters, well. I can already tell that this experience will be one that is highly educational, fun, and character-building. Because Donna is giving us quite the work out. Well, Bye! Or as the Spaniards would say: ADIOS!
Jackson
“Lucas, take a shower.”-Cam
“Momma Bear will know if you don’t.”-Coffee Joe
“Liza, the unicorns are in your room, and they aint happy.”-Jon R.

Hello everyone! Internet troubles, and our second day

Hello everyone!
We had internet problems our first day here after posting our first blog entry and just got the wireless issues ironed out. We'll have more people posting tonight, so stay tuned and thanks for your patience!

Crossing Arizona

We started off the trip by watching a documentary called “Crossing Arizona.” It was very interesting, because it showed both sides of the immigration issue without bias. In one part of the movie, the camera crew interviewed a rancher who talked about his struggles with immigrants breaking his fences, stealing livestock and water and littering, causing millions of dollars in harm to his land. In another part of the movie, an immigrant was interviewed who talked about why he had crossed the border and that he needed work to pay for surgery for his wife. There were many other groups interviewed, from Border Patrol agents to political activists to humanitarian volunteers. It was a very eye-opening experience, and highlighted the need for action.

By : David Ingraham

We Have Arrived!

Hello everyone!
We have arrived at BorderLinks, and have settled in. We have nice beds, clean sheets, and most importantly, air conditioning!
Tonight, several people will blog about the ride down and our orientation, shopping trips, movie experience and whatever has impacted them.
Thanks for checking the blog, and keep checking back for more updates!

First Post!

Hello, and welcome to the second edition of our youth mission's blog! We want to keep you informed about what our youth are doing in mission, and how they are reaching out into the community.
Through this blog, students will share their experiences in mission, particularly this summer during our mission trip in Tucson, AZ.

Please check this blog regularly, and leave comments. We would love to hear from you!