We met with Rabbi Ben Zeidman of Temple Mt. Sinai. He gave us a tour of his beautiful synagogue and talked a little bit about the history of the congregation and Judaism's stance on immigration. One thing I got out of the discussion was that whatever stance we come up with on the immigration topic is up for much fair debate but what cannot be up for debate is how we treat the stranger. It is said many times in the Hebrew Bible. I get that we have separation of church & state but many people get their values from the Bible.
We need to keep the stranger in our midst safe. We can debate their status afterwards.
We then visited Father Rafael's church. It was a beautiful church and it was great getting to see inside what it looked like. He was such a nice guy and I am so thankful to have met him. Not many people are even half as nice as he is.
After lunch we went to witness a mass at an ICE detention facility. What struck me first about the facility was that I did not see a single ICE agent in the facility. Some private corporation was contracted out to provide guard services. There may be some problems with that but who's to say?
There were two masses conducted. One for the men and one for the women. The one for the men went fine. I got to talk to some of the people. They were nice upon impression.
The mass for men went on fine and I shook many hands on the way out. One can't easily generalize from up close.
Next came the women. Father Rafael asked how many of them were mothers. I don't have an exact percentage but I would say about 90% of the women raised their hands. They were not with their kids so families were obviously separated. I really can't imagine what it would be like to have your kids taken away from you by the government and then lost in the process. I get shivers just thinking about it.
Towards the end of mass, I noticed the woman behind me started crying. At first I thought it was because she was moved by the spirit but then she grabbed her head and said it hurt really badly. I recall the two women next to her had to hold her up. I stood up and flagged down the guards. It felt like they took forever but I must say looking back, that was probably just time moving super slow for me in my head in the heat of the moment. I will say that the medics took a while to get her and how they put her on the gurney was a little strange. It seemed like they just tossed her on. I then looked around and saw that many people were crying. I really could just tear up but they would not fall. Don't judge my sadness based on tears. I was really hoping she would be okay. The mass concluded and we then left the facility. That was the only quiet ride on this entire trip.
We later learned she had a severe anxiety attack. I do not know why but I can't help but believe that it was due to her being separated from her kid(s) and Mother's Day was just a few days away.
I hope she and everyone get reunified with their families.
How strange that his be what we experience on our last day in El Paso.
But that is what makes it real. We can debate policy all day long but we have to understand that these decisions affect human lives. How we can do the least harm is another debate.
I am thankful to have gone with the group that I went with. I must say when we concluded our trip and arrived at Charlotte-Douglas airport and people started parting ways, it hit me that this was my last Queens adventure. I teared up a bit.
If you get the chance, go to the border and learn for yourself.
The mass for men went on fine and I shook many hands on the way out. One can't easily generalize from up close.
Next came the women. Father Rafael asked how many of them were mothers. I don't have an exact percentage but I would say about 90% of the women raised their hands. They were not with their kids so families were obviously separated. I really can't imagine what it would be like to have your kids taken away from you by the government and then lost in the process. I get shivers just thinking about it.
Towards the end of mass, I noticed the woman behind me started crying. At first I thought it was because she was moved by the spirit but then she grabbed her head and said it hurt really badly. I recall the two women next to her had to hold her up. I stood up and flagged down the guards. It felt like they took forever but I must say looking back, that was probably just time moving super slow for me in my head in the heat of the moment. I will say that the medics took a while to get her and how they put her on the gurney was a little strange. It seemed like they just tossed her on. I then looked around and saw that many people were crying. I really could just tear up but they would not fall. Don't judge my sadness based on tears. I was really hoping she would be okay. The mass concluded and we then left the facility. That was the only quiet ride on this entire trip.
We later learned she had a severe anxiety attack. I do not know why but I can't help but believe that it was due to her being separated from her kid(s) and Mother's Day was just a few days away.
I hope she and everyone get reunified with their families.
How strange that his be what we experience on our last day in El Paso.
But that is what makes it real. We can debate policy all day long but we have to understand that these decisions affect human lives. How we can do the least harm is another debate.
I am thankful to have gone with the group that I went with. I must say when we concluded our trip and arrived at Charlotte-Douglas airport and people started parting ways, it hit me that this was my last Queens adventure. I teared up a bit.
If you get the chance, go to the border and learn for yourself.
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