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March 2001
Dear Friends,
It seems hard to believe, but this is my first "formal"
missionary letter in the twelve years that I’ve been working
for the Mission Diaconal Program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Many of you are receiving this letter because you are Presbyterian
and already support the work that BorderLinks does here on the
U.S./Mexico border. Some of you may never have heard of me or
of BorderLinks. In either case, I’m pleased to have yet another
way to share my growing concern about what is taking place here
in the borderlands between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.
First, a brief introduction for those who don’t know me.
I came to the border in 1987 to work with the Sanctuary Movement.
I helped Central American refugees fleeing their countries to
escape government-sponsored death squads and military repression
that targeted civilian populations. At the same time, I worked
with a group of people from both sides of the border to help start
the BorderLinks program as a way to educate Christians from the
United States about what was taking place here.
During those years, I met and eventually married Kitty, a Quaker
who worked with me at BorderLinks for two years before becoming
the state coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee.
Almost ten years later, we now have a five and a half year old
son named Teo (pronounced "Teyo") who attends kindergarten
at a bi-lingual elementary school here in Tucson,
BorderLinks has grown, and I now find myself coordinating a
staff of 22 people from both sides of the border and a variety
of faith traditions. Together we host almost 1,000 people a year
(from churches, universities, civic groups and the like) who come
to the border to learn about immigration concerns, free trade,
environmental concerns, human rights, and especially how people
of faith and good will can work to improve the border reality.
I’m writing now to share my growing concern about the crisis
in the borderlands. A couple of months ago I met a young man in
Agua Prieta, Sonora, who was originally from Guatemala. He found
himself no longer able to support his wife and children on his
20-acre plot of land in the highlands near Quetzaltenango. He
described how the land was used up and in
desperate need of fertilizers he couldn’t afford, and how
credit was available only at 35 to 40 percent interest. Eventually,
he sold his land for about $2,300, left his wife and family with
his in-laws, and paid a coyote $2,100 to take him to Omaha, Nebraska,
where a nephew told him he could easily get a job in the meat-packing
industry.
Two months later, he had experienced the irony of U.S. immigration
and border enforcement policy first-hand. Although our Immigration
and Naturalization Service has publicly stated that they will
not enforce employer sanction laws in places like Omaha because
the labor of migrants is so desperately needed, they also have
1,600 Border Patrol Agents stationed
in Arizona attempting to stop people from crossing the border.
As he was hiking through the Arizona desert with a group guided
by his coyote (paid smuggler), his group was discovered and arrested
by the U.S. Border Patrol.
Twenty-four hours later he found himself back in Agua Prieta
with no money, no contact with his coyote, and no idea what to
do next. He had no way to go north, no money to return home, and
no desire to face his family with his failure and inability to
provide for them. He was one of the most dejected people I have
ever met.
In some ways, he was one of the lucky ones. Last year more than
90 people died in the beautiful but harsh Sonoran desert as they
tried to cross without documents. Some drowned trying to cross
the deceptive arroyos and washes of the desert during our heavy
monsoon rains. Many lost their lives in vehicle accidents and
rollovers caused by coyotes trying to take advantage of them by
packing 30 or even 50 people into old vans and broncos and driving
80 miles and hour over the treacherous dirt roads of rural Arizona.
Many died an unimaginably brutal death from dehydration as they
hiked across the
desert valleys where temperatures routinely hit 115 and 120 degrees.
One woman was discovered hours too late after giving the last
of her water to her infant child and dying with the live child
in her arms.
It’s late March as I write this, and I know that by the
middle of May the stories will begin again. Church people here
in southern Arizona and northern Sonora have been mobilizing to
put water stations in the parts of the desert where most of the
deaths occurred last summer. But this tragedy will not end until
people of faith encourage our government to back away from the
militarizing the border. It seems to me immoral to make crossing
the border a life-threatening event for the migrants who provide
the labor upon which even Alan Greenspan has admitted our economy
depends.
I’m blessed to be called by God to work in this strange
place that exists between two worlds. I’m pleased to be doing
so as a Mission Diaconal worker of the PC(USA). I hope that you’ll
be in touch personally to find out how your church can become
involved in these important concerns.
With the confidence that Jesus is here among us,
Rick Ufford-Chase
email: borderlinks@igc.apc.org
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 248
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