Taking a Stand

Ruben Garcia, the founder of Annunciation House, came to the Casa Del Refugiado on Sunday, February 16 to talk to a large group of students doing a border experience. We were able to join the group to hear his message.

He spoke of the data recently released by Human Rights Watch which told of the numerous persons who have been assassinated after being deported back to the countries from which they fled. While many would deny this happens, they have done extensive research to track down the statistics.
Ruben also spoke of how he would have liked for the President to have had present at his State of the Union the families of some of the victims of the El Paso massacre by a white racist. Instead, he played to the fears he promotes by having the family of a victim killed by an “illegal alien,” a group he paints as all being rapists and murderers.

Sister Elaine (right) with Ruben Garcia, founder of Annunciation House, Sister Karen from Brentwood, and two of the cook’s children

Ruben also told the story of intervening for a family he met on the bridge to El Paso from Mexico. They had tried to enter the U.S. several times and were told there was no room and they should come back later. One of the children was ill and the family did not know what to do. With the contacts he has established over his many years here, Ruben was able to help them.

While cities like Juarez are listed on the FBI website as dangerous and travel to them is discouraged, our government is constantly sending people back into these dangerous situations. Sometimes people are presented with paperwork in English and told to sign. If they don’t question what they are signing, they may be agreeing to be flown to Guatemala to wait or to be sent back over the border to Mexico to wait. If sent to either place they are sometimes the victims of kidnappings, robberies, rapes and other forms of criminal activity.

In the end Ruben stressed how important it is for people of faith to take a stand in light of the call to treat others with the dignity and respect each religion promotes. We cannot support a government which terrorizes children by separating them from their parents, supports policies which lead to the injustices which cause them to flee, and then sends them back into situations where they face significant danger. We are better than this and need to cast our vote to change this situation and work towards establishing stability in the countries so people no longer have the need to flee for their lives and the lives of their children.

The SSJs who are at the border, along with two volunteers who joined the Sisters