June 05, 2019

California residents help hundreds of stranded migrants

located:	USA
editor:	Yair Oded

April, 2019 saw a record number of migrants crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, with over 99,000 registered apprehensions by Border Patrol. As the volume of entries increases, U.S. immigration authorities find themselves scrambling for solutions for how to accommodate the tens of thousands of migrants who are released from detention while their asylum applications are being processed.

What appears to take place in reality, due to both strategic incompetence and a systemic vendetta against migrants, is complete neglect of migrants by Border Patrol, who, in most cases, leave them stranded with no means to survive or reunite with their family members who reside in the U.S.

Such was the case in San Bernardino, California, last month when Border Patrol agents began to drop off newly released migrants at a Greyhound bus station. For the first couple of days, the station manager had managed to secure the migrants' bus tickets to take them into Los Angeles, however as more migrants began to crowd the bus station, additional support was necessary.

As rumours about the stranded migrants began to spread across the local community, many residents and members of various organisations were eager to extend a helping hand and provide migrants with the support the immigration system had failed to give them.

In an interview for The Intercept, Luis Suarez of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, the group which orchestrated the assistance campaign, stated that he arrived at the bus station on May 16 to find an acutely disturbing scene. “By then,” said Suarez, “some of these folks had been sleeping out on the street overnight. We found maybe 35 people, extremely hungry, some of the kids were sick, people hadn’t showered since they’d crossed the border and been kept in hieleras” (detention cells notorious for their ice-cold temperatures).

“Border Patrol was not providing medical attention,” said another member of the Coalition to The Intercept, “everyone had a cold. … There was one youth who was seriously dehydrated, and our local doctors were able to bring him back to health.”

In just over a week, the Coalition, along with the support of the Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino and additional local community groups, had helped more than 570 individuals (261 families in total). In addition to providing migrants with shelter, showers, water, food, and clean clothing, the volunteers also assisted them in locating family members in the U.S. (some of whom they were separated from upon crossing) and plan out the trip in order to reunite with them. In many cases, volunteers provided migrants with plane and bus tickets, food for the journey, detailed instructions on what to do in certain situations and what to avoid, what documentation to present ICE officials should they be stopped along the way, and gave them cell phones and watches when those were available.

Despite a rising number of migrants dying at the hands of Border Patrol (many of whom are children), and a growing need for durable solutions for migrants pending their immigration hearings, the U.S. government shows no interest in applying care, compassion, or even practicality to their policies on this issue. Instead, the immigration authorities continue to hold migrants under harsh conditions, leaving them to figure out their own survival tactics upon release, and issue nonsensical – often inhumane – directives regarding the processing, detention, and handling of migrants.

The issue of immigration often seems too grand to tackle for the average person. Yet, the compassion and resourcefulness exhibited by the residents of San Bernardino serve as a reminder that there are simple yet crucial ways in which local communities can support migrants as they grapple the convoluted immigration system and alleviate some of their plight.

Photo: BILL WECHTER/GETTY IMAGES

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