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Apr16
Apr16
Good Friday at Operation Streamline
Thanks to Kate Blair for sharing her reflection here on the Good Friday stations.
This past Friday I participated in a ceremony that linked an ancient
ceremony with modern realities.
It was Good Friday, and a small group of people from many spiritual
backgrounds gathered in front of the federal court building. Carol, a
pastor and leader of the Restoration Project, began our ceremony with
a few meditations on how the life and death of Jesus is linked to the
lives and deaths of people who suffer most now, and how the Spirit of
God is most present in all suffering. To begin, we sat in the shade
on this brilliant sunny day, and meditated on the strength of our
breath: freeing source, constantly calling us in and out of death. We
reflected on the fall and rise of our bones, always falling into and
away from gravity, allowing us to stand on this earth for a time.
We then began with the first station of the cross, “Jesus is
condemned to death.” In hearing this story so many times, the reality
of Jesus’ innocence is something I have not thought about much. While
his death may have been inevitable, what had he done wrong to deserve
to die right then and in such a terrible way? In the readings, we
were reminded, “Now the chief priests and the whole council were
looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him
to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came
forward.” And then goes on to say, “Jesus was silent.” As would be
many of the immigrants we were about to witness. Carol’s readings
reminded us, “Jesus stands on trial with immigrants who can’t afford a
lawyer. Who have no understanding of the legal language in which they
are condemned. No right to council. No way out. And no way to
stay…Jesus stands with anyone who faces a life with few choices. And
Jesus stands with those who face death once they are deported: death
at the hands of violent lovers, homophobic gangs, drug cartels, and
state inflicted violence.”
We walked into the federal court building, a tall, impressive
building. Lots of windows and high shiny marble pillars seem to
symbolize freedom and expansive openness. In the lobby, just before
going through the metal detectors, we gathered for another meditation,
“Jesus is denied by Peter.” Peter had made a promise to stand by
Jesus. Carol reminded us that a Christian promise made at baptism is
to respect the dignity of every human being, especially those with the
least status and privelage. We reaffirmed our vows, “Will you strive
for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of
every human being?” “We will with God’s help.” And then we went
through the metal detectors.
For the next station we stood outside the courtroom, and we reflected
about how Jesus was condemned by Pilate who had also rallied support
of masses of people. Just as Pilate rallied and tricked crowds of
people and turned them against an innocent Jesus, so have powers (for
example, the Corrections Corporation of America, the government, and
the media) rallied and tricked us and themselves, sending messages
that immigrants are dangerous, to be feared as a whole instead of
understood and respected as individuals. Immigrants, as Jesus,
are/were too upsetting to the powerful: letting them live freely and
fully would cause a social re-ordering, a balancing out: the powerful
would become less so, and the powerless would gain power: we would
all be equals. We were reminded that for Jesus and for immigrants,
the powers that be have had already decided the outcome of the trial
before it begins.
Our small group filed into the courtroom and sat in smooth, wooden
pew-like benches. Freshly pressed suits buzzing with business day
chuckles and chatter contrasted chain shackles rattling on 70
immigrant people, most of whom were silent. Attention was given to
stacks of important papers. In the center of the courtoom, behind
where the judge sits is a circular seal where E. Plurbus Unum: The
Many are One, is inscribed, and the image of an eagle hints of soaring
freedom. The snaking ribbon flowing around the eagle image is kind of
like the creature that the eagle eats on the Mexican flag.
Operation Streamline began in Del Rio, Texas in 2005. According to a
2010 report, Operation Streamline has expanded and now includes Yuma,
AZ (December 2006); Laredo, TX (November 2007); Tucson, AZ (January
2008); and Rio Grande Valley, TX (June 2008) . It affects many first
time border crossers. To learn more:
http://www.immigrationforum.org/images/uploads/OperationStreamlineFactsheet.pdf
. I am learning and hoping to find out more information about
Operation Streamline and have wondered if anyone knows how many states
it is currently happening in? I have been searching but haven´t been
able to find that yet.
The 2005 CBP (Border Patrol) report about it is meant to sound
reassuring : “Securing our nation’s borders from a potential
terrorist threat and from the illegal entry of people, weapons and
drugs is absolutely paramount,” stated David Aguilar, Chief of CBP’s
Border Patrol. “Through Operation Streamline II, we are able to target
a federal government offensive in the Del Rio area intended to
dramatically reduce illegal activity and deter future activity.”
While of course security is important, this quote and the process it
supports leave out much of the complexity of interrelated security and
immigration issues. We can be talked into thinking we will be more
secure by building fences and making policies that wall out our
neighbors, when we need to consider knocking on our neighbor’s doors
and finding out more about who they are, and who we are in
relationship to one another.
At the federal court building in Tucson, over 70 people are
streamlined through a sentence every weekday in 3 hours. There is
little or no time for neighbor-ish activities like stories or mutual
sharing in these proceedings.
Any three hour ceremony, even an enjoyable one, is hard for me to sit
through without a break. A three hour ceremony which asks the same 7
questions over and over again, to distinct people, yet allowing very
little room for variation, specifics, and humanity, is painful. Then
I imagine going through it in chains on my ankles, waist, and wrists.
As I sat, the chains’ constant clinking reminded me of my own freedom
to scratch my nose, uncross or re-cross my legs, stretch, lean over
and whisper to the person next to me. I wondered how to keep the
promised I had just re-affirmed: ”Will you strive for justice and
peace and respect the dignity of every human being?” “We will with
God’s help.” While I sat in this degrading ceremony, my instinct was
telling me to make a scene, disrupt the process, cause some peaceful
yet constructive chaos! To do something! But, I sat and listened,
silent as the immigrants. Since Friday, I’ve been reading some
others’ blogs and writings about their experience watching operation
streamline: Many feel the same way I do, yet we all seem to lack a
way to end this degrading process, and transform together with a new
way of relating for peace, security, and freedom.
Many Federal Judges and Federal Defenders on different sides of the
liberal and conservative spectrum are frustrated with the Operation
Streamline – it takes they and their time away from more important
and more serious cases. Others who work for the courts don’t feel
right about it, but they are just taking orders from above and doing
their job.
Others think it is the right thing to do, for national security
reasons. I worry that they have heard and heeded the messages to fear
all others, and forgotten that blanket generalizations are not true,
fair or American. Others in power such as those part of the
Corrections Corporation of America are making a lot of money off of
this process, and so they want to keep that fearful energy going: I
recently learned that the average payment per immigrant to the private
prison industry is over $2000 per month. And that money is paid by
federal tax money to ICE and then to the Corrections Corporation of
America. This is something I am also in the process of learning about,
and want to keep learning more in order to be part of the re-imagining
of a new, freeing system.
At the beginning of the proceedings, the judge reminded all of the
immigrants on trial that they each had the right to an individual
trial. They had all been advised by their lawyer to waive that right:
it would lead to more uncertainty and more jail time. So when we
heard the following questions, all the immigrants answered with the
same or almost the same answers, streamlined through a system in a
country that prides itself on its due process. After going through
these proceedings, the average sentence for the 73 immigrants that day
was over 100 days in detention followed by deportation for 10 years.
This is what we heard, over and over, asked to groups of several
immigrants at a time.
1.) Do you understand the charge against you and the maximum penalty?
2.) Do you understand your right to a trial?
3.) Are you willing to give up that right and plea guilty?
4.) Of what country are you a citizen?
5.) On about _date_, did you enter into Southern Arizona from Mexico?
6.) Did you come through a port of entry?
7.) How do you plead to the charge of illegal entry, guilty or not guilty?
Each immigrant answered the questions in the same way: Si, si, si,
until the 4th question. When asked what country they were from, many
of the immigrants responded with which Mexican state they are from,
which led me to wonder, what else is getting lost in translation? The
immigrants all wear headphones, and so they hear the interpretor, but
the rest of the room does not. It happens so quickly, I wonder if
they all really do understand what is going on, or if they are just as
eager as everyone else to get this whole thing over with. The fifth
question is responded to with Si, as well as the 6th, and then for
number 7, all immigrants plead guilty, as they have been advised by
their lawyer.
Thank you, and then the next. Whoever made up this set of questions
was thinking efficiently but maybe not so effectively. The process
that lives up to its snazzy name, Operation Streamline, is getting a
job done, quickly and dangerously so, because it is not the right job.
We have different work to do, as Americans of Central and South and
North America and as citizens of the world And the Americans of the
U.S. have a unique responsibility to create and enter into a new,
creative and collaborative process that is effective: With an
effective creative process, we’d be doing what Americans of the U.S.
have not yet done: Create a land of the free. We’re going to have to
be brave, too, because we’re up against many messages of fear.
And so we counteract those messages of fear with heavy doses of
courage, and ample spaces to connect to each other in community. We
collaborate, realizing what we gain and need from each other, and I
don’t mean cheap labor, although imagine our lives change without it.
We create together in a effective way: innovative, new, challenging;
requiring hard work, perseverance, and openness to new frontiers. We
listen, both to the stories of our neighbors, and our own. We
realize shifting power begins partly with shifting perception. If
viewed from different perspectives, immigrants and immigration issues
might be much less of a problem and much more of a complex and
wondrous blessing than we think. We start to shift together so we all
become equal. Equal yet distinct, each bringing our perspective, each
willing to be transformed by each other, each willing to join together
to stamp out fear and live in courageous freedom. We use our gifts and
present possibilities to put the brokenness together in a colorful
myriad.
After Operation Streamline, we went to the next station of the cross,
the Greyhound bus station, where immigrants who have been released on
bond are dropped off. Most often, the immigrants have never been to
Tucson. ICE gives them a plastic garbage bag to keep their personal
belongings. They don’t have a phone or food most of the time. They
do have stories with many variations, as we all do. When I have
volunteered with Casa Mariposa friends to go to the bus station, we
bring the things people might need: food, a cell phone, sweaters, a
water bottle, a duffle bag or reusable grocery bag. But often what
people need most is someone who will listen and hear a bit of their
story: Each person I have met there shares a bit of their unique
stories, struggles, and dreams.
As we stood and reflected at the bus station, I remembered a
conversation with an immigrant man who I recently met just after he
was released from immigration detention. This man told me he had
lived and worked in the U.S. for 17 years, but had been caught by ICE
a few different times while traveling back and forth to visit family
in Mexico. He explained how in the last months which he had spent in
detention, he met some people who had suffered much more than himself.
He said, “some of those immigrants, they suffer doubly, or triply, or
even more. First in their own country in poverty and very hard
conditions, next on their journey through the desert where they can be
raped or killed or abused, then in the U.S. in their work when they
often work for almost nothing, and then in detention.” And so while
we debate or wonder what to do about immigrants and immigration, we
might stop and remember those people who suffer most.
We left the bus station and went to El Tiradito Shrine, where we left
tiny prayers and candles to lift up those immigrants who have suffered
most. El Tiradito means the castway.
Then we ended at St. Andrew’s church. Small candle flames alive with
light, contained in a vessel, like our own bodies. A branch shaped as
a cross. Friends. Music. Listening, resting, being, breathing death
and life.
When a friend and I left the church, we saw a swallowtail butterfly,
happily and freely flying on a flowering tree. She let us come very
close, so we could see her shockingly bright blue spots contrast her
yellow wings the same way the sun and sky shine off each other on a
bright spring day. Symbol of life, freedom, happiness, and hope.
Thinking about many people who are in cells without light and color
changed the way I saw this creature, yet as we walked into the light,
I was and am grateful for the small but significant sign of hope.
Carol has posted the full Stations of the Cross reflection on the
Restoration Project website:
http://restorationproject340.wordpress.com/
Some related links to learn more about Operation Streamline. Please
send links to other information, I am seeking to learn more. Thank
you!
http://www.nacdl.org/champion.aspx?id=23289
http://everybodyeatsnews.com/2012/04/waste-not-a-border-report-on-the-courthouse-in-tucson/
http://borderbybicycle.blogspot.com/2011/11/operation-streamline.html
Apr14
Tonight! Come join us.
Tonight, Saturday, April 14 from 6-8 pm you are invited to a Bail-Bond
Solidarity Fundraiser supporting the Palestinian Youth Bail Fund and
the Rainbow Defense Fund. In addition to a delicious dinner of foods
from Mexico, Ethiopia, and Palestine, speakers will share about the
situation of Palestinian youth in Israeli jails and of GLBTQ folks
held in immigration detention centers in the United States.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
6:00pm-8:00pm
SEIU Building; 1600 N. Tucson Blvd, Suite 110
On Tucson Blvd near intersection with Elm, between Grant and Speedway
Suggested Donation $10
Karolina Lopez Barrera, a transsexual woman who was detained in a
for-profit Corrections Corporation of American immigration detention
center in Eloy, AZ for 2 years will share some of her experiences
being detained.
Jeff Pickert, a passenger aboard the Audacity of Hope Freedom Flotilla
who has accompanied Palestinian medical teams during military
invasions, participated in anti-wall protests in Palestinian villages,
and supported farmers who are at risk from violence from Israeli
settlers and soldiers, will speak about Palestinian popular resistance
in the context of the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wallstreet movement,
and also focus on the “Palestinian Youth Bail Fund.”
For more information contact:
Gabriel M Schivone at 520-302-6006 or
Rachel Winch at 860-798-9271 or
Hosted By: UA Jewish Voice for Peace, UA No Mas Muertes/No More
Deaths, Restoration Project at Casa Mariposa, and UA Students for
Justice in Palestine
Apr8
Sunrise service
In the front yard of Casa Mariposa with St. Andrew’s and the mariposa community. Yep, that’s our baptismal font.
Apr8
Vigil
Getting ready to dance in the street to feel deliverance.
Apr6
Stations of the Cross in the Borderlands
Using readings from the gospels these stations weave the story of Jesus’ death with stories and realities of migrants and detained immigrants in Arizona.These reflections were written and compiled by Carol Bradsen and offered by members of the Casa Mariposa community today in Tucson. Thanks to Kate Blair for centering us with breath and to De Vie Weinstock for sharing a moving meditation on piano to conclude the service.
Today is Friday. The end of a long week. We have remembered the way that Jesus walked in these last days. On Sunday there were the crowds. The cries of Hosanna. Then the next day overturned tables in the temple. Jesus’ cry for justice. That God’s house be for all, not just the rich. Then the tender last meal shared with friends. The washing of feet. Do this. Jesus told his disciples. Then the garden. Jesus pleading for life. Sweating blood. No! Take this cup. But in the end, Yes. If it must be. Not my will. But yours. Then betrayal. By a kiss. From a friend. And then Jesus was arrested. This Jesus who stirred up the masses. Who spun a vision of another society where the poor and outcast have a place at the table, not just as underpaid servants and farm slaves, but as brothers and sisters, as beloved. Jesus was dangerous. Those who had the power and the money knew he had to be stopped.
These last days of Jesus are heavy. The realities of these present days in the borderlands and the lives of those directly impacted by our nations immigration laws are almost too much to bear.
How can we open our hearts and minds to these hard things and not be overcome with grief and despair? We don’t want to miss this. But it can be hard to stay present, especially when we have a choice. Good Friday reminds us that God knows about suffering. God suffers with us. We are never separated from God. By anything or anyone. Where ever we go, God has already been there. What ever we might experience, God is already there.
We invite you to let the Holy Spirit be your guide as we walk and reflect and pray today. We invite you specifically to try what it is like to let your own holy breath teach and comfort you today.
Meditation and Teaching on breath and listening to God through our bodies, Kate Blair
Station 1: Outside the Federal Courthouse
Jesus is condemned to death
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew 26:57-66
“Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ The high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you? But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, ‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict? They answered, ‘He deserves death.’”
________
Jesus stands on trail with immigrants who can’t afford a lawyer. Who have no understanding of the language in which they are condemned. No right to council. Those with no way out. And no way to stay. Those who are tricked into signing deportation papers. And those who linger without a verdict for months and years because beaucracy has backed up. Jesus stands with anyone who faces a life with few choices. And Jesus stands with those who face death once they are deported. Death at the hands of violent lovers, homophobic gangs, drug cartels, and state inflicted violence.
Jesus stands alongside migrants condemned inside this building of stone and glass and steel. In chains, often without understanding what is happening, they stand. Guilty. Condemned. The verdict is in. The Powers have already decided the outcome before the trial begins.
We now will go inside the federal courthouse, into the lobby.
Station 2: Inside the federal building in the lobby
Jesus is denied by Peter
Luke 22: 54-62
“Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said. ‘This man also was with him.’
But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed.
Jesus turned and looked at Peter.
Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him at supper, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’
And Peter went out and wept bitterly.”
_________
It is easy to look away. To keep silent when the government and private prison corporations ignore the human rights and dignity of migrants. They are so powerful. We are so small. It is harder to speak out. We can easily forget and deny the pain of others. And it is an easy choice to disasociate ourselves from those deemed too radical or risky. We must save ourselves, right?
“How have I refused to stand in solidartity with immigrants and migrants?” When it is not our brother crossing in the desert or our mother in detention, we don’t feel the sting of dread and separation with every breath. We have the privilege to look away.
It wasn’t so much that Peter lied. In his culture saving face, to save honor, was often done at any cost. The real problem was he told Jesus he would always stand by him. And he didn’t. At baptism many Christians make promises. One promise is to respect the dignity of every human being. To stand with Jesus is to stand with those with the lowest status and least privilege. And it means working to create a world where the dignity of every human being is respected.
How will you feel when Jesus turns to look at you?
You are invited to recommit to these baptismal promises, by saying, “I will with God’s help”…
Leader: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People: I will, with God’s help.
Leader: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People: I will, with God’s help.
We now go through the metal detectors and to the courtroom on the second floor
Station 3: Outside the courtroom, in the hallway
Jesus is judged by Pilate
Mark 15: 1-15
“As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” 3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. 6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.”
__________
A reading from Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, by Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh:
“In order to destroy Jesus, it became necessary for Jesus’ opponents first to destroy his standing in the eyes of the people. In all of the Gospels they do so through what anthropologists call “status degradation rituals.” The status degradation ritual is a process of publicly recasting, relabeling, humiliating, and thus recategorizing a person as a social deviant…A variety of social settings—trials, hearings, political rallies—can be the occasion or this destruction of a person’s public identity and credibility.”
We will now witness a modern status degradation ritual of immigrants.
This week 280 migrants have been sentenced inside this room. This afternoon 70 more will be.
Station 4: Outside the federal courthouse, in front
Jesus is Beaten
Mark 15: 16-20
“Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18 And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.”
A reading from A Culture of Cruelty, Abuse and impunity in Short-term U.S. Border Patrol Custody, A report by No More Deaths, 2011.
Physical abuse by agents is commonly reported as a method of control or as punishment for asking for basic human rights such as speaking to an attorney, having medications returned, or receiving water. It is also used in conjunction with psychological torture, with many detainees reporting that agents threatened to kill them and leave their bodies in the desert while they were being beaten. Incidents frequently occur in the presence of other detainees to intimidate them and establish control.
Witnessing physical assault, particularly when the threat of death is included, is one of the precursors of post-traumatic stress disorder and can be as psychologically damaging to those who witness it as to those who endure it. Physical abuse was reported by 10 percent of interviewees. Rates of physical abuse did not differ by gender or age in the representative sample, meaning that children were as likely to be physically abused as adults. In general, the longer people were held in custody, the more likely they were to experience physical abuse.
Sept. 21, 2009, anonymous woman. She stated that she had lived in the U.S. for 17 years with three children. When her parents died in Mexico, she returned for the funeral, and was apprehended on July 23 near Nogales, Ariz., while trying to reenter the U.S. In the processing center, guards laughed at her for being Mexican. They had her strip naked; then they took her clothes and touched her breasts in the presence of both male and female guards. Her belongings were taken and not returned, including $20, jewelry, and make-up. She was detained for two months in Florence. She was given papers in English to sign, without a translator, and was deported Sept. 18 to Nogales, Sonora.
Feb. 16, 2010, anonymous man, 16, from Guatemala. He walked for two days until being apprehended by the Border Patrol. He was thrown to the ground and kicked in the knee. Agents took his $20 and hit him in the back of the head with a flashlight. As he told the story, he appeared confused about why they had beaten him. “They didn’t understand me and treated me like a dog,” he said. Agents joked about him, saying he was like a toy. They asked if he wanted water, but when he responded “yes,” they wouldn’t give him any. He was also taunted with food. Eventually, during three days in custody, he received a small packet of cookies and a small juice box each day.
Feb. 18, 2010, anonymous man from Sonora, Mexico. After three days in the desert, three Border Patrol agents apprehended him and his friend at about 10 a.m. on Feb. 15. The agents accused the interviewee of carrying drugs and beat him in the head with the butt of a pistol. He collapsed to the ground, bleeding heavily from a gash on the left side of his head. In the hospital, doctors treated his wound with staples. The doctor who treated him did not provide identification and upon release the interviewee did not receive any documents about his injury or treatment. After he was released from the hospital, the man and his friend were taken to Tucson and given deportation papers in English to sign. They received only juice and crackers to eat before they were deported on Feb. 18 to Nogales.
At the time of the interview, the friend, who had witnessed the assault, confirmed the interviewee’s testimony. The interviewee appeared to be in a state of shock.
We will now process in silence to the Greyhound bus station.
Station 5: Outside the Greyhound Bus station
Mark 15:21
“They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.”
Every week night ICE Agents pull up in a van in this spot and let formerly detained immigrants go who are free on bond or who have been granted asylum. Many of the men and women released here do not know where they are. Some have no idea how to buy a ticket. Some do not have money for the pay phone to call their families. Many rely on each other and passers-by to help them.
Volunteers from the Restoration Project come here to be present and offer assistance as needed. Volunteers have also witnessed the incredible generousity and kindness that people who have just been detained together show to one another. Volunteers have witnessed people pooling money to help buy a ticket for someone, sharing food they brought with them from commissary, offering rides to California, and inviting others to come and stay with them. Sometimes strangers, who are traveling, or dropping off family and friends also step in to lend a phone or answer a question.
As volunteers talk and listen with those dropped off here, sometimes one can actually witness a lifting of some of the anxiety. A dropped gaze transforms into a handshake and smile by the nights end. Fear fades from faces once a ticket is secured and laughter sometimes even breaks out. Isolation turns to sharing photos and stories of the children they hope to see at the other end of the long bus ride home.
We will now process to El Tiradito Shrine. El Tiradito means “The Castaway.”
Station 6: El Tiradito Shrine
Luke 23: 27-28
“A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”
Children also cross through the desert. Children witness ICE agents arresting their parents. Children are separated from their parents, some for months, some forever.
A reading from O, The Oprah magazine, April 2012 issue,
“Hiding in Plain Sight: Inside the Life of an Undocumented Immigrant,”
By Allison Glock
“I didn’t used to think I was a criminal,” said [Anna, age 39. Anna lives in Tucson.]
“I was an immigrant like any other.” But perception has a way of being taken for fact. Anna has been called dirty. She has been told she is a “rat.” A “dog.” She has been snarled at by white checkout girls at the grocery, hissing at her to “speak English!” (She does.) At the park with her son, she has seen old men lift their jackets to reveal pistols tucked inside. She has been screamed at while walking down the street, told to get out of the U.S. She has been spit on in front of her children.
…
Parents hoping to stay in America with their American children must convince a judge the children would be better off with them around, something that should be as obvious as the sun, and yet, as attorney Claudia Arévalo explains, she has seen cases where the kids are funneled into foster care instead.
According to the Applied Research Center, the Obama administration deported more than 46,000 parents of children who are U.S. citizens in the first six months of last year, the fate of many, suddenly, a matter for the courts. Detainees are not told about the juvenile hearings, not that they could attend them even if they were. As a result, the children are typically alone in the courtroom. The results are predictably disastrous.
“We see the children dropping out of school. Depression. Regressive behaviors. Loss of appetite. Fear of leaving the home. Bed-wetting. Separation anxiety.”
Arévalo also represents children who were brought to America as infants. “They are 10, 12 years old. They are in shock. Their English is perfect. In court they say, ‘Why am I here? I thought I was American.’ And they say, ‘No, you came when you were a year old. Now you are in deportation proceedings.’” Her cases have doubled in the past two years.
…
Anna shares a story about how she and [her son] Ernie were picnicking with friends in the park when someone snapped a photograph of her.
“Ernie started crying, wailing. He was hysterical. I hugged him tight, tried to calm him. He said his friend’s parents had been taken because they were identified. He was terrified someone would see my picture and take me from him, too.”
Anna tried to tell her son there was no need to worry. Even as she did, she knew it was a lie.” (Read the rest at: http://www.oprah.com/)
You are invited to light candles and place prayers in the wall of the shrine.
As we walk to the final place, the church, where we will reflect on Jesus crucified, we will remember all those who have died walking through the desert of Arizona by reading the names of those whose remains have been recovered between October 1, 2011 and the end of February, 2012. 71 people. Most are unknown because the bodies were too badly decomposed to identify them.
In an effort to honor every life that has been lost on our borders, Coalición de Derechos Humanos records the number of bodies that are recovered in southern Arizona. With the cooperation of Arizona county officials, as well as the Consular offices of México, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Brazil, and the Binational Migration Institute, Derechos Humanos attempts to put names to our migrant sisters and brothers, and bear witness to the deaths of those unknown, of whom there are hundreds buried in our communities.
As we attempt to comfort their families who mourn, let us also promise to seek justice, peace, and an end to the walls that separate and divide our communities. May we honor the spirits of those who have died with the commitment to peace and dignity on our borders.
(from Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net)
Station 7 Jesus is crucified, sanctuary of St. Andrew’s Episcopal church,
Mark 15:22 – 37
Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.
24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 28 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.”
Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said,
“Listen, he is calling for Elijah.”
36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying,
“Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry
and breathed his last.
Musical reflection by De Vie Weinstock
Apr5
All Night Easter Vigil at Casa Mariposa
Begins in the backyard at 9 pm with the lighting of a new fire. Stories, music, dancing, and interactive stations will unfold. You can keep vigil around the fire all night. Or crash on a futon on the back porch. Rise at dawn for a cleansing and renewal ritual with water, communion with bread and wine, and a potluck breakfast feast with friends, bring something to contribute to the goodness.
Apr5
Good Friday Reflections by the Restoration Project
Friday, April 6
12:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Using the experience of Jesus on the day he was murdered we will walk and reflect on the death of Jesus, the experiences of migrants, immigration policy, and our lives.
The procession will start at 12:30 pm at the fountain behind the federal court house in Tucson. The federal courthouse building is at the corner of Granada and Congress. Parking is available across the street. Or you can meet at St. Andrew’s Episcopal church (545 S. 6th Ave) and carpool. The walking procession will end at St. Andrew’s.
After readings and prayers, we will enter the federal courthouse to witness part of Streamline, where 70 migrants are brought in chains before a federal judge to be sentenced for crossing the border without authorization. Please bring an ID and do not bring cameras with you. They are not allowed inside the courtroom or building.
After Streamline we will walk together to several sites to reflect, pray, and share readings from scripture. The procession will end around 3:30 pm with the final reflection inside St. Andrew’s Episcopal church.
Please bring: an ID to enter the federal courthouse and plan accordingly to walk about 1 mile outside.
Mar1
Jan31
Feb 11 Volunteer Brunch and Training
February 11
Volunteer Brunch &
Tucson Orientation to Writing, Visiting, Hospitality
@ Casa Mariposa
Mark your calendars! On Saturday morning, February 11 from
9am-10:30am the Restoration Project will be hosting a potluck
breakfast for all current volunteers who are writing and visiting
people in detention, followed by a new volunteer training from
10:30-noon. Bring a dish! Bring a letter! We will talk through any
issues that may have come up in your writing and also get to know one
another and appreciate all of you who are writing!
