2023 USAME (Mission Experience) Arizona- Mexico Border 

 

 

INDIGENOUS CULTURE

 

IMMIGRATION

We met individuals and groups working with people on the border (Lawyer, Relief Agency, non-profits, religious groups). Their stories all revealed the extreme risk and challenges inherent in trying to come into the U.S., the inefficiency in the asylum process, and the obvious fact that the border wall does not work. People and drugs still cross it on a regular basis despite making it taller, more dangerous or with more obstacles. 

 

People risk their lives to come to the U.S because of their desperate needs in their home countries! 

 

Our host in Douglas-Agua Prieta was Frontera de Cristo, an umbrella organization that supports smaller border groups -- a local Mexican Presbyterian church, an immigrant center, a drug rehab center, an after school program and more! The directors of FDC are American & Mexican Presbyterian Ministers, Rev. Mark Adams and Rev. Joca Gallegos. 

 

What did we do on the border? We walked the border in a silent vigil except for stating the names of people who have died on the border - their bodies found in the desert.  We hiked through the desert on a trail from a local ranch to the wall itself guided by staff from the drug rehab center. We visited

 

 

 

 

 

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