Brenda- Humane Borders- Day Two

Day Two we were told we’d be visiting the courts and seeing Operation STREAMLINE. We would not be going out into the desert at all today. We met an elderly woman named Lois who explained to us why migrants choose to cross the desert and the causes of their decisions. She explained to us that the North American Free Trade Agreement was the catapult to pushing more migrants to the US. Before immigration became such a hot topic issue people from Mexico and other Latin American countries would cross over in the US illegally and legally and work for 9 months then go back home and repeat. They had no issues, they would cross in border towns, and it was safe. There were no desert walkers, there were hardly any deaths, it was a system that worked, even if it was flawed and allowed for undocumented people. It wasn’t until around ’94 that crossing illegally was made a minor offense and NAFTA was passed. US grain and other agricultural products flooded Mexico at cheap prices and put Mexican farms out of business leading to no work. This is what caused an influx in undocumented migrants crossing. In ’96 crossing illegally was made a criminal offense. This was done so that it would discourage people from crossing. If they were caught it would mean there would be a criminal offense on their record and to get a visa to come over legally one cannot have any kind of criminal record. We headed to the court and Lois had told us that they do 70 trials a day but seeing the 70 migrants, 69 men and 1 woman seated and in chains and shackles almost made me want to cry. They were called seven at a time and they had earphones on that allowed them to hear the interpreter. Each migrant was represented by a bilingual lawyer and that lawyer represented up to 6 migrants that same say. They were asked questions and they all answered yes, or no in unison. At the end of their sentencing they could get between 30 days or 180 days in prison. The migrants at that days trial were all repeat offenders. They had tried entering the country illegally before and so they were charged with a criminal offense with up to 20 years in prison, but because there are so many migrants to sentence they are always offered a plea bargain and it is moved to a misdemeanor. The judge always asks at the end if anyone of them has something to say; most say no, some ask for forgiveness, that they just wanted to work and get money to pay for their wife’s surgery or kid’s schooling; some even ask to serve their time in another prison not in Tucson. They asked to be moved to Pennsylvania, or Indianapolis, or somewhere in California, because that is probably the last time they will be able to see their family that is here before they are deported back to their home countries. We didn’t get to see all of the migrants’ sentencing, but I left with the biggest headache of my life that day. It was such an overload of information and emotions that just pushed me to the edge.