You can see from the picture how far it spreads. This picture was taken about a step into New Mexico. The fence to me, is very strange. Before today, I’ve only seen borders as lines on map. Today, I saw some of the people on the other side of the fence. Some parents, some kids, some dogs. I wonder what it is like to grow up on one side of the fence only being able to see the other side but do no more than reach your hand through. Are we really supposed to be afraid. Is fear what built the fence?
Borders are a reality and they serve an important purpose. As I am currently writing this, I am sitting on a rooftop staring into Ciudad Juarez. I will not be setting foot into Juarez (this time) but I can see it. Two cities that are split by a line in the sand with a fence put on top. To be honest, from where I currently sit, it is hard to tell where El Paso and Juarez split.
I’ve spoken to some people today who have grown up and lived many years in El Paso. I asked if El Paso was safe before the fence. I got a very quick “yes!” She credits El Paso’s safety to the top-notch enforcement agencies primarily the El Paso Police Department. Perhaps it isn’t fences or walls that make us safe - it’s what we do for ourselves that make us safe.
The fence in New Mexico.
Looking into Mexico.
After our visit to the Border, we went to visit the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). We walked around a little bit and then went to their Centennial Museum. There, they had an exhibit on the ICE detention facilities that were set up in 2018. It primarily focused on the centers that had children. There was a comparison in there made between the camps set up in the USA to lock up Mexican migrants in the early 1900's, Thereisenstadt which was a concentration camp in what was then Czechoslovakia (today the camp is in the Czech Republic), and the Japanese internment camps during the Second World War.
The pictures of the camps that were set up in 2018 looked like something from the past. Seeing the exhibit recreated the emotions I felt last year when I first learned we were separating families. That was a feeling of great shame. I have high expectations of the United States and that moment, my country let me down. But, I was encouraged by the level of outcry in which many people on the left and right spoke out against the Zero Tolerance Policy. At the time, I was in Cape Town and I felt powerless. Now, being in El Paso, I feel like I have a voice in the immigration debate and hopefully will never allow such an injustice to occur again. We are better than that.
I am left today challenging the concept of border protection. There is a need to protect and enforce our borders but I believe that going overboard can be problematic. While Mexico and Canada certainly have their issues (keep your snow up there Canada!) we are not at war with them. They are our neighbors. We should cooperate with them as such. Mexico needs to get ahold of their cartel problem and Canada, well you know what you need to do.
Perhaps we as neighbors, have an incentive to help Mexico overcome its corruption problem and defeat the cartels. Easier said than done, but I think this is something we should talk more about. Let's talk about what pushes people here and deal with the source of the problem.
I’ve spoken to some people today who have grown up and lived many years in El Paso. I asked if El Paso was safe before the fence. I got a very quick “yes!” She credits El Paso’s safety to the top-notch enforcement agencies primarily the El Paso Police Department. Perhaps it isn’t fences or walls that make us safe - it’s what we do for ourselves that make us safe.
The fence in New Mexico.Looking into Mexico.After our visit to the Border, we went to visit the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). We walked around a little bit and then went to their Centennial Museum. There, they had an exhibit on the ICE detention facilities that were set up in 2018. It primarily focused on the centers that had children. There was a comparison in there made between the camps set up in the USA to lock up Mexican migrants in the early 1900's, Thereisenstadt which was a concentration camp in what was then Czechoslovakia (today the camp is in the Czech Republic), and the Japanese internment camps during the Second World War.
The pictures of the camps that were set up in 2018 looked like something from the past. Seeing the exhibit recreated the emotions I felt last year when I first learned we were separating families. That was a feeling of great shame. I have high expectations of the United States and that moment, my country let me down. But, I was encouraged by the level of outcry in which many people on the left and right spoke out against the Zero Tolerance Policy. At the time, I was in Cape Town and I felt powerless. Now, being in El Paso, I feel like I have a voice in the immigration debate and hopefully will never allow such an injustice to occur again. We are better than that.
I am left today challenging the concept of border protection. There is a need to protect and enforce our borders but I believe that going overboard can be problematic. While Mexico and Canada certainly have their issues (keep your snow up there Canada!) we are not at war with them. They are our neighbors. We should cooperate with them as such. Mexico needs to get ahold of their cartel problem and Canada, well you know what you need to do.
Perhaps we as neighbors, have an incentive to help Mexico overcome its corruption problem and defeat the cartels. Easier said than done, but I think this is something we should talk more about. Let's talk about what pushes people here and deal with the source of the problem.
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