Borderland battlefields and the Angels who brave them
Published by the Quaker Campus March 27, 2020.
Just in the last two weeks, three migrant women (that we know of) have died of hypothermia in the borderlands near the San Diego Mountains on Kumeyaay land. The borderlands, as explained by author and activist Gloria Anzaldúa(a spiritual mother to all Xicanxs), “es una herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds…and before a scab forms it hemorrhages again.” For thousands of years, our gente have used this land freely, to pass with their children for the day or for their entire life, in search of something more, something better. The borderlands is home to our ancestors, home to my mother and hers before her — possibly yours, too.
What the borderlands have become, though, is a graveyard, a purgatory for the most undeserving people. Some would even consider it Hell. The deaths of these women, and the sacrifices made by the two men with them who, despite surviving, forfeited their safety and potentially their futures to call U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for help, is just one example of what happens when we — Latinxs, the indigenous, the colonized — seek a better life.
These deaths were no accidents. In the winter months, the mountain rocks used as shelter for migrants turn into ice blocks. In the summer months, you’re almost destined to suffer dehydration from the heat and lack of water, if not something worse. CBP have used “nature as an ally” to deter migrants from coming to the U.S. for over 25 years.
The militarization of the border is painfully evident in practices like Prevention Through Deterrence, which The Guardian described as a “Clinton-era Border Patrol strategy that sealed off urban entry points and funneled people to wilderness routes risking injury, dehydration, heat stroke, exhaustion and hypothermia,” implemented through policies like “Operation Gatekeeper,” which “disrupted border communities by instituting checkpoints, boots on the ground, technology and border wall infrastructure,” according to The Washington Post. It is this brutal legacy of systemic violence that has made the life-threatening journey through the borderlands nearly impossible for migrants and asylum seekers.
The trek through the San Diego Mountains alone can take up to three weeks, and that’s with no injuries or any other complications that might slow someone down. Coming from Mexico, Guatemala, or El Salvador makes the journey even longer, and more taxing on the body and mind. The fact is, once a single migrant or a migrant family reaches the San Diego Mountains, they cannot carry enough water or food on their backs to last them the 3 weeks it will take.
This is where Border Angels steps in.
In response to the tragic news of these three women, Jacqueline Arellano, who directs the Border Angels Water Drop Program alongside James Cordero, posed the following question on her Instagram page @agua.agujas: “Every single day, with every single death, with every life in limbo, with all the constant human suffering and rights violations on the border we ask: what is it going to take?”
In the months following my graduation from Whittier College, I found myself asking that same question, as I sat on my couch disabled by my television as CNN showed a little girl crying for her father, who had just been taken away in an ICE raid. I was dissatisfied, but mostly angry to my core about what I was doing or failing to do for my people in the borderlands.
Then, something kind of just clicked. I was reminded of the non-profit organization Border Angels and the work they do in a class I took at Whittier called “Latinx Visual Culture” with Assistant Professor of Arts and Visual Culture Katherine Albers. Border Angels has been providing humanitarian aid along the U.S./Mexico border since 1986. Along with migrant outreach, the organization also provides legal and educational services for families awaiting asylum in Mexicali and Tijuana shelters, as well as holds water and supply Drops every month in the San Diego Mountains.
Water Drops take place on the third Saturday of every month for beginners and returners, and on the fourth Saturday of every month for returners only. The Water Drop team meets at the Border Angels headquarters in San Diego at 7 a.m. and carpools to one of two desert towns, depending on the route you choose, which range from “beginner” to “advanced” in difficulty. Regardless of the route you choose, every group is assigned a Route Leader and two Safety Monitors to make sure your group gets in and out of the desert safely and in a timely manner.
The Water Drop team’s mission is to leave water and survival packs along known migration routes in the hopes that they will find migrants and their families, and help bring them home safely. Every winter survival pack contains one pair of socks, one article of warm clothing like a beanie or sweatshirt, one pack of hand warmers, one emergency blanket, and two cans of protein-rich foods with pop-tops, all in one Ziploc bag. Volunteers are also asked to bring at least one gallon of water with them to drop in the desert. In the summer months, volunteers are asked to bring less warm items and more water for migrants because of the heat.
Volunteers come ready for a full day of hiking, prepared with enough food and water for themselves, as well as proper shoes for the terrain.
What makes our program so special is that it is completely run and sustained by volunteers. Being part of the Border Angels Water Drop team since November has helped me combat the sense of helplessness that I felt a few months ago, among many other things. I have never been the most athletic person in any group, but since I joined the team I have taken on increasingly challenging routes, more weight on my back, and even the position of Safety Monitor-in-Training. Working closely with other organizations like No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, Armadillos Búsqueda Y Rescate based out of the Sonoran Desert, and Al Otro Lado has only made our community stronger. We are making strides.
What has stayed with me most, though, and what I remind myself of every time I feel like I am struggling and can’t pull myself up another rock, is that what we are doing in the desert for migrants and their families is working. We see proof of it on the trail every time we’re on the ground, in consumed water gallons and cans of food.
As we work to combat the deaths of our migrant siblings, as well as the sabotaging and slashing of our supplies by CBP, we hope that we can cover more land in the years to come and welcome hundreds of new volunteers to help us in this struggle. Our Co-Director Jacqueline Arellano often reminds us that “you don’t need a platform or an organization to run your mouth and enact change. Live your life and engage in your community authentically. You don’t need to do it alone but you also don’t need to wait for anyone’s authorization to fight for a better world.”
If you are interested in joining our Water Drop team to leave life-saving survival packs on the migrant trail, we will be meeting at 7 a.m. on June 20, July 18, and August 15 in San Diego. Members of our Border Angels LA-Orange County Chapter often carpool to Drops, and we would love for more to join. Please email our Co-Directors Arellano and Cordero for more information on how to get involved at jacqueline@borderangels.org and/or james@borderangels.org. If you would like to donate funds for survival packs and water, you can do so through our Venmo link (@border-angels). Mil gracias!
Sigue adelante, compas.
Edited by Gabriel Jose Perez, Features Editor for the Quaker Campus.
