A border patrol agent walked away from the crowd. He then removed his sunglasses and wiped his tears away. He smile gently as he walked past me. I don't know if he recognized me as probably the only witness to that moment of vulnerability. I smiled back at him and with a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth said "Thanks".
The emergency door at the border fence with Mexico was opened on April 30th for roughly 20 minutes and a few selected families were allowed to reunite briefly with their loved ones on the other side of the border. Three minutes each family got, three infamous minutes that probably tasted like glory to them. Three minutes to embrace their beloveds, to meet new grandchildren, to feel their aging parents close once again. This is the 3rd year that this has happened as a way to commemorate Mexico's Day of the Child. However, separated families cannot place their hopes on an annual lottery that promises them three minutes of time together. Plus, this is not available to everyone. The families on the US side must have some form of legal status (work permit, DACA, etc) but be unable to leave the country. The Border Patrol runs a background check on the families that will meet. This requirement leaves out many families who can't even come near the border without risking deportation.
I had mixed feelings about the event. I was happy for the families who were given the opportunity to reunite. They were both hurting and rejoicing. Their humanity was at the center of the event. But I was also upset at the way in which their lives were placed at the center for the benefit of others. Those whose pictures will be used to show their willingness to show compassion and be humane: the politicians, the institutions, the Press.
The immigration issue is a complex one with great arguments on both sides. What bothers me the most is that most people think of it precisely in a polarized way: open borders vs closed borders, humane immigration reform vs enforced immigration laws. In the current political discourse we are told to choose sides and we have failed to imagine alternatives to our way of being that would allow us to value people more than regulations. As long as we continue to seek solutions within our current systems, the systems that have created the problem to begin with, we will find ourselves in the same conundrum over and over again.
Some have labeled Border Field Park or Friendship park as the saddest place in America. Yesterday, as we witnessed families gathered one by one, we could not stop the tears from flowing hence paying homage to that unofficial label.
I must add, there was some beauty in being able to see the sky on the other side through the opened door. It evoked a vision of lands, oceans and skies not divided by arbitrary borders.
