LWV - THE DEPORTATION DILEMMA TOUR TO TIJUANA SUMMARY

Members of the LWV of CA and a few friends spent the day learning about issues related to immigration law and the compromised rights of those who try to escape terror and poverty in Mexico to live a better life in the U.S.  Jesse Imbriano, Esq.  described the work of attorneys at Casa Cornelia Law Center (www.casacornelia.org).  They are meeting with all the children and families that cross the border and defend many of them.  People who are not represented by an attorney rarely succeed in their asylum request in court.  The courts are overwhelmed with work and do not have enough staff or space to handle the huge increase in people being deported.

The agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (www.cbp.gov) spoke on the buses as the group drove from downtown San Diego to the border with Mexico.  They gave the history of the Border Patrol's mission to protect our border from undocumented people entering the U.S.  The Tijuana border is the busiest in the world and is now triple-fenced.  Many tunnels have been found - some are very sophisticated with railroad tracks, air, lights, etc.  They also patrol the sea near the border.  The number of Border Patrol agents has increased rapidly in recent years.  In spite of all of this protection, many people cross the border illegally.

After applying for visas and crossing the border, the buses continued along the border fence and the edge of Tijuana to Friendship Park, located at the border and the Pacific Ocean.  Everard Meade, Director of the Trans-Border Institute at University of San Diego (http://www.sandiego.edu/peacestudies/tbi/); Hector Barajas from the Bunker working with deported vets;  and Enrique Morales, Founder of Border Angels (http://www.borderangels.com/) explained that this park is used to bring families with members on both sides of the border together for worship on Sundays.  Occasionally, the Border Patrol opens a fence so that family members can touch each other and talk; this just occurred on Children's Day at the end of April.  They each also spoke about their group.  Border Angels works on immigrant rights and also provides water and supplies to people crossing the border through the desert.  The Deported Vets get service at the Bunker; these are people who have served in the U.S. armed forces as aliens as an expedited path to citizenship.  Upon discharge, they committed some type of crime, often relatively minor, before they got their citizenship papers and were then deported.

At the El Colegio de la Frontera Norte/COLEF University (www.colef.net), the group heard a power point presentation by Dr. Alejandra Castaneda on the effect of deportation on families.  More people are being deported because the local police now work with Border Patrol to identify undocumented people.  Families are being split up and American born children of undocumented parents are being deported to Mexico where they don't speak the language and have a lower quality of education.  Another complication is that these children may not get services in Mexico because they don't have their Mexican paperwork.  Later, we learned that the American Consulate helps them get these documents.  A lively discussion ensued, books were handed out to each participant, and we enjoyed coffee and cookies. 

We drove on to the American Consulate (http://www.tijuanausconsulate.gov/ )overlooking Tijuana, cleared security and met in a crowded room instead of outside because of possible rain.   There was a wonderful taco lunch buffet served to the group.  The Consulate General, Andrew Erickson, and some staff members greeted the group.  Several people spoke including Carlos Mora from the Baja California State Council on Migration and Jorge Oros from The Call Center which employs people who have been deported and are bilingual.  Tijuana is the most active border crossing in the world with 125 million people per year.  336,000 are deported from the U.S. to Mexico and 96,000 to Tijuana.  Stephanie Moniot, Vice Consul, described her work with children living in Tijuana who have been deported.  Andrew Erickson described the work of the Consulate which largely has to do with visas and documentation papers.  Sally Carrillo from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection assured the group that crossing the border should not take more than twenty minutes due to the increased number of lanes.  Upon leaving the heavily armed, fortress-looking Consulate, there was a demonstration by the DREAMERS Moms who are working to reunite their families.  (Although invited to join the tour for lunch, the Consulate would not allow people who have been deported and thus are regarded as criminals to enter this American government facility). 

The last stop was at Casa del Migrante with a slide presentation by the Director and Founder, Father Pat Murphy.  This Catholic shelter for deported men provides many services including housing, food, counseling, spiritual support, basic medical care, help with employment, and transition services as these men either move back into Tijuana or try to cross back into the U.S. again.  Many of them do not speak Spanish because they have lived in the U.S. for an extensive time.  One of their clients also told the group about how difficult the transition was; he is now working at the Call Center.  Many questions followed in the discussion.

Crossing the border in San Ysidro was much quicker than usual, maybe because it was raining.  The group on the tour was invigorated and anxious to keep learning about the deportation dilemma.  They were given packets with many articles to read to reinforce the tour's encounters and experiences.  Some comments emailed later: "The border tour...was very well organized and we learned an awful lot."  The tour was so impactful, from the starting orientation to each of the well arranged visits."  If the tour ended at Friendship Park, it was worth the trip.