A dangerous disconnect

By Stephen Reeves

The conversation in Austin seems so far from the lives of those making their way to our southern border.

Last week, as elected officials at the Capitol were debating further militarizing the border and passing punitive policies hoping to deter migrants, Fellowship Southwest was coordinating teams of volunteers to offer those same neighbors a warm welcome, and to work alongside our partners who do so every day.

On Thursday while working with Pastor Carlos Navarro of Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville, I met a family from Honduras. They left their home country months ago and had been staying with a friend in Monterrey. There, they attempted to secure an appointment with Customs and Border Patrol through the CBP One App in order to begin their asylum process. They tried every day for over a month before they were finally given a day and time to appear in Matamoros.

In Brownsville, across the Rio Grande river, Pastor Navarro parks his van next to a small park across the street from the international bridge complex several days a week. As families are released from custody, he meets whatever needs he can before they head to their sponsors around the U.S. Some need a ride to the airport, others just have questions, and some need a place to stay the night. Pastor Navarro and IBWB can host up to 18 migrants a night at their respite center, and they’re full to capacity every night.

On Thursday, I was the first person to greet the Honduran family as they walked across the street to the park. I welcomed them to the U.S., and we exchanged brief introductions. I answered their questions as best I could, and when I reached the limit of my local knowledge and Spanish ability, I called Pastor Navarro over to help. We gave them some pizza, a bottle of Gatorade, hygiene kits, and a word of blessing. They smiled widely and thanked us.

Later that evening as my wife Deborah and I made our way through the airport in Harlingen for our flight back home, we saw the family eating dinner at a table near our gate. We waved and exchanged greetings. Eventually, I made my way over and struck up a conversation. They were on our same flight and would change planes in Austin for a flight to Baltimore where a relative was waiting.

When I asked the father what type of work he hoped to find there, he shared why they fled Honduras.

He owned a jewelry store there and worked with gold and silver. One day cartel members brought him broken necklaces and bracelets and asked him to repair them. He did so but they refused to pay him. Eventually, the demands grew. They brought him more and more jeweler work and never paid for it. They brought him guns and had him clean their weapons. They then demanded that he store their weapons at his house.

According to the father, the police in his hometown are corrupt and broken. To call the police and complain would be like calling cartel members themselves. The family is Christian and wanted no part in storing weapons used for murder. He was distraught by what they asked him to do and also noticed that the members started taking an unhealthy interest in his daughters who are 11 and 13. The cartel said if he ever refused to store their weapons, or called the police, they would kill him. For their safety and his conscience, he decided he had to leave.

This is the story of one family, but it is the story of so many I’ve met. Life and death situations, desperation, and the hope for a better life for their children drive the vast majority of those who appear at our border.

I’m all for a controlled border and keeping out drug smugglers, but we’ll never get there with physical deterrents and punitive policies alone. We must offer reasonable legal pathways and support an asylum process that meets current demands.

Those seeking entrance to our country are more likely to be victims of cartels than members. In fact, as I’ve written again and again, our current policies play into the hands of the cartels by creating a new population of potential victims waiting in Mexico and driving desperate migrants to more dangerous pathways controlled by cartel coyotes. Our policies increase cartel profits.

There is no way to deter migrants running for their lives unless you become more vicious than the cartel they’re fleeing.

So few of our elected officials understand this. If they do, they’ve put good politics over doing the right thing. These families are not an invading hoard, they are a humanitarian crisis in need of leaders committed to solving problems not just winning elections.

Just yesterday the Senate Committee on Border Security passed HB 4, a bill that has already passed the House, which would create a new state criminal penalty for entering the state illegally. This would allow state law enforcement officials to arrest those they suspect are in the state illegally. Immigrant advocates are concerned how the new law would be applied. It will certainly create even more fear and distrust of law enforcement in immigrant communities. Who knows how it would be applied to those here legally seeking asylum. A full Senate vote is expected this weekend.

In addition to HB 4, HB 6 and SB 6 would spend over $1.5 Billion in state tax dollars to construct a border wall. HB 6 has already passed the House and SB 6 has passed the Senate. The bills are similar, though not identical. In the coming days it will become clear which bill is most likely to become law.

Now is the time for advocacy. Call your senators and ask them to oppose these anti-immigrant bills.

Before we parted ways in the Austin airport, I made sure the Honduran father and I were connected on WhatsApp. Two days later he sent a message thanking me for my help. He included a photo of his children around a table with extended family. He said it was as if God sent me to help. He ended his message by citing Matthew 25:35-46.

In that famous passage, Jesus proclaims “I was a stranger and you welcomed me… Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

I wish more of those who claim Christ in this country understood Jesus as well as the migrants they’re trying so hard to keep out.