Training Day

July 3

Well, it was a very informative but extremely long day. Sunday was the first of two very intense training days for our work in the desert. We learned first about border history- as early as 5,000 years ago, the area that is now the US Mexico border has been one of the most widely used trade routes between Aboriginal tribes living in the area- corn that was grown in Mexico was transported to what is now the Southern United States. When Mexico gained its independence many Aboriginal peoples fled from the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz who tried to bring back slavery and make the aboriginal peoples slaves. After the US-Mexico war, parts of Mexico were annexed by the US. Other parts were bought. They include Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico and other southern States. What is interesting is that there was virtually no border security up to the early 20th century. People traveled back and forth pretty much freely, both ways. Mexicans and El Salvadorans worked in the US as guest workers during the Second World War.

In the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of El Salvadorans and Guatemalans fled to the US as refugees from the wars in their countries, in which American backed military regimes faced off against usually poorly armed leftist guerrillas who were opposing economic policies which saw a small oligarchy ruling over the nation while most lived in poverty. The US-backed governments committed genocide in both nations- in El Salvador 70,000 people were murdered and in Guatemala over 300,000. As hundreds of thousands began fleeing to the States, they faced deportation which would mean being sent to an almost certain death. American churches close to the border began providing shelter to the refugees. One of the pastors is John Fife, and he spoke to us. He called the work of the churches and of what MND and other such groups do today "Civil Initiative". Civil Initiative means taking the initiative to defend human rights when one's government fails to act in a responsible way. Deporting people to be murdered is contrary to international, providing shelter to them is taking initiative and doing what the government should be doing.

John Fife and other leaders warned their government prior to the passing of NAFTA that it would mean economic devastation in Mexico and massive migration, they were ignored. A year before NAFTA was passed, the US began building security fences and putting heavy security along the border with major cities with Mexico. The wilderness of Arizona was not fenced off, and the goal was actually to funnel the movement of migrants through the wilderness where it was projected that many would die, but the hope was that these deaths would stop others from coming. Nothing could have been further from the truth- the migration continued, because for most of the migrants, there is no other hope of surviving. The death toll began to rise and it is estimated that since 1994, approximately 5,000 people have died crossing the US-Mexico border. That includes only the number of found bodies, many others die and are never found or accounted for. Many of the deaths happen in Arizona.

Other aspects of the training focused on conflict resolution- between team members as well as in dealing with the Border Patrol. Reminding people to take a few deep breaths when they are upset and how to use "I" messages may sound elementary in nature but it can come in very handy sometimes. We also learned about legal rights- we have the right to provide people with water, shelter and food. We cannot drive them to a hospital, unless that person is in extremely bad shape. We must show our IDs to the police, we do not have to answer questions about where the migrants are. We must stop when asked to stop. However we are free to leave unless we are told we are being arrested- and none of the work we do is illegal so that shouldn't happen.

We also learned about abuses perpetrated against migrants on both sides of the border. There have been thousands of accounts of mistreatment in Border Patrol custody between 2008 and 2011, ranging from denial of water and food to verbal abuse, beatings, kicking, and other forms of cruelty like putting migrants in the back of a police paddy wagon and then turning on the heat full blast. In Mexico, migrants are often robbed and killed by the cartels and gangs, and Mexican police have in some cases kidnapped them and handed them over to organized crime syndicates who have called their families and demanded money- those who can not be bought out
are often executed. In the States too, they have been robbed and assaulted and sometimes killed close to the border. Few things get me more angry than stories like this, the fact that these people have almost no rights means that often the lowest of the cowards and bullies feel they have a liberty to harm them. Do the people who do such things not realize that one day they will have to face God?

We also learned some first aid, particularly how to deal with blisters and cuts, as well as recognizing and treating dehydration. When someone is extremely dehydrated their body is sometimes very hot but no sweat comes out, that is a very serious sign. Giving people water and electrolytes is the way to go, but it must come in extremely small doses.

The training was good, although long, and tomorrow we head off for the camp. I will have my camera with me, but it is very likely that most of my photos when I have time to take them will be limited to the nature. Most migrants for very obvious reasons do not want to be photographed, and neither do many of the volunteers I am with. Standing up for the rights of undocumented workers is in my opinion a very worthy cause and they are heroes in my eyes. However, not everyone in their country sees them that same way and more than a few have indicated they do not want to be either photographed or put on a blog. It is a request I have every intention of honouring and respecting.

More to come when I get back late next week!