April 13, 2004
Dear Friends, Colleagues, Sisters and Brothers:
Greetings from the US-Mexico border.
As we write this letter, thousands of people are making difficult decisions about whether or not to embark upon what can be a deadly trek across the US-Mexico border. Latin Americans are pushed from their homelands by the need for work and drawn north by the promise of employment. Across the country, migrants prop up the US economy by filling jobs in sectors that wouldn't survive without them.
However, our government has instituted a blockade policy that has forced migrants who might otherwise have been able to cross through urban areas into the dangerous deserts of the Southwest. Since the blockade strategy began in 1995 with Operation Hold the Line, 2600 people have died in their journey across the border.* Last year in Arizona alone more than 200 men, women, and children died excruciating deaths trying to cross the desert.** These people lost their lives in search of jobs so that their children would not starve. We here in Arizona cannot stand by as our brothers and sisters struggle against injustice and make a life-threatening journey through our deserts. As people of faith and people of conscience we have come together to address this crisis. We invite you to join us as we take action to demand an end to deaths in the desert.
There are many exciting ways for you or your community, congregation, or organization to be involved in demanding NO MORE DEATHS. You can act in solidarity with migrants in your own community, or you can send members of your own community here to Arizona to aid migrants in the most dangerous part of their journey. All types are needed, and everyone can help!
Time is of the essence; the season of death in the Arizona desert is fast approaching. From time to time we are presented with an opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters. This is one of those opportunities. The people who have died in search of a job are us—we are them. We are all connected by our common need to provide for our families in conditions of dignity.
Please join us.
In the struggle,
NO MORE DEATHS
* This number is provided by Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego
** This number provided by Humane Borders, confirmed by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and Medical Examiner reports from Pima and Cochise counties, represents the deaths reported for the fiscal year 2003 (October 1, 2002- September 30, 2003).
Faith-Based Principles for Immigration Reform
Preamble: We come together as communities of faith and people of conscience to express our indignation and sadness over the continued death of hundreds of migrants attempting to cross the US - Mexico border each year. We believe that such death and suffering diminish us all.
We share a faith and a moral imperative that transcends borders, celebrates the contributions immigrant peoples bring, and compels us to build relationships that are grounded in justice and love. As religious leaders from numerous and diverse faith traditions, we set forth the following principles by which immigration policy is to be comprehensively reformed. We believe that using these principles – listed from the most imminent threat to life to the deepest systemic policy problems - will significantly reduce, if not eliminate, deaths in the desert borderlands.
- Recognize that the current Militarized Border Enforcement Strategy is a failed policy. Since 1998 more than 2000 migrants - men, women, and children - have lost their lives in the deserts of the US-Mexico borderlands trying to make their way into the United States. These tragic and unnecessary deaths must stop. The border blockade strategy has militarized the US-Mexico border, which drives migrants into remote desert regions yet has failed to stem the flow of immigrants into the United States. Further, the fragile desert environment has sustained severe damage as a result of migrants moving through remote desert regions and responding enforcement patrols. Indeed, a militarized border control strategy has never in United States history successfully stemmed the flow of immigrants. We recognize the right of a nation to control its borders, but enforcement measures must be applied proportionately, humanely, and with a conscious effort to protect the people and the land.
- Address the status of undocumented persons currently living in the US. Workers and their families currently living in the US must have access to a program of legalization that offers equity-building paths to permanent residency and eventual citizenship for workers and their families. Legalizing the undocumented workforce helps stabilize that workforce as well as their families. A stable workforce strengthens the country.
- Make family unity and reunification the cornerstone of the US immigration system. Migrants enter the United States either to find work or to reunite with family members, yet the arduous and lengthy process forces families to make potentially deadly choices. Families must be allowed to legally and timely re-unify as well as to immigrate together as a unit.
- Allow workers and their families to enter the US to live and work in a safe, legal, orderly, and humane manner through an Employment-Focused immigration program. International workers' rights must be recognized and honored in ways that protect: the basic right to organize and collectively bargain, individual workers’ religious freedoms, job portability, easy and safe travel between the US and homelands, achievable and verifiable paths to residency, and a basic human right of mobility.
- Recognize that root causes of migration lie in environmental, economic, and trade inequities. Experiences of Mexico and countries further south demonstrate that current trade and aid strategies that are based on greed and lack of basic respect deeply and negatively impact workers, their families, and the environments in migrants' homelands. This is forcing a quest-for-survival based migration of unparalleled proportions. International agreements must be negotiated in ways that build mutual and just relationships. Such agreements must be designed to meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations' abilities to meet their needs. New strategies must include incentives for the public and private sectors to invest in economic and environmental repair and sustainable development in the sending communities.
Clergy Supporting Faith-Based Principles
Bishops
- Reverend Gerald Kicanas, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Tucson (speaking)
- Reverend Thomas Olmsted, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix
- Reverend William W. Dew, Jr., Bishop of the Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
- Reverend Michael V. Neils, Bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Reverend Cally Rogers-Witte, Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ
- Right Reverend Kirk S. Smith, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
- Reverend Jan Flaaten, Executive Director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council
Catholic Churches
- Sr. Anita Valdez, Benedictine Convent
- Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Catholic Diocese of Tucson
- J. Welter, Diocese of Tucson (Social Mission)
- Msgr. Thomas Cahalane, Our Mother of Sorrows
- Fr. Gilbert Martinez, St. Cyril’s Catholic Church
- Rev. Raul Trevizo, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
- Rev. Jim Hobert, St. Monica Catholic Church
- Rev. Harry Ledwith, St. Pius X Catholic Church, Tucson
- Rev. Wayne H. Dziekan, St. Michael Catholic Church, Suttons Bay, MI
- St. Gertrude Catholic Church, Northport, MI
- Rev. Marc Fallon, C.S.C., Catholic Social Services, New Bedford, Massachusetts
Congregational Churches
- Rev. Jim Lumsden, Rincon Congregational Church
Episcopalian Churches
- Paul Buckwalter, St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church
- Rev. Allen Breckenridge, Episcopal Church of St. Matthew
- Rev. M. Lucie Thomas, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
- Rev. Franklyn J. Bergen, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
- Rev. Kate Bradley and Rev.Gordon McBride, Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Tucson, AZ
Islamic Institutions
- Gary (Na’eem) Edwards, Islamic Center of Tucson
Jewish Institutions
- Jewish Community Relations Council – Josh Protas
- Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona – Marlyne Freedman and John Peck
Lutheran Churches
- Pastor Kim Taylor, American Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Dawn Keller, Calvary Lutheran Church (E.L.C.A.)
- James Lundeen and Marilyn Ascarza, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church
- Rev. Al Rode, Santa Cruz Lutheran Church
Mennonite Fellowships
- Carolyn Anderson, Shalom Mennonite Fellowship
Methodist Churches
- Rev. Lee Scott, First United Methodist Church
- Rev. David Wilkinson, St. Francis in the Foothills
- Rev. Bill Dunbar, Rev. Deborah Morgan, Saguaro Christian Church
- Rev. Kathleen R. Moore, New Creation United Methodist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Faith United Methodist Church, Iowa
Presbyterian Churches
- Rev. Fred Wood, Immanuel Presbyterian Church
- Rev. Stuart Taylor, Rev. Sue Westfall, St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church
- Rev. John Fife, Southside Presbyterian Church
Quaker Institutions
- David M. Perkins, Religious Society of Friends, Pima Monthly Meeting of Friends
Unitarian/Universalist Churches
- Mark Henson, Unitarian Universalist Church, Tucson, Arizona
NO MORE DEATHS
Historical Summary 2004
see also:
A morally intolerable situation inspired a remarkable humanitarian movement in Southern Arizona in the spring of 2004. Driven by economic inequality, thwarted by ill-conceived US border policy, and ignorant of the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert, more than 2000 men, women, and children have died trying to cross the Mexican border into the United States since 1998. Most of the deaths occurred in the brutal heat of the summer months. With another summer of inevitable deaths looming, diverse faith-based and social activist groups—along with concerned individuals—felt compelled to act to stem the death tide and attempt to save at least some lives. The result was the converging of hundreds of volunteers—local, regional and national—who came together to work for one common goal: No Más Muertes: No More Deaths.
In October 2003, frustrated that despite the efforts of some well-established and well-organized humanitarian groups, lives were still being lost regularly in the Sonoran Desert, two groups of religious leaders in Tucson began meeting to search for a solution. One group, convened by Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Roman Catholic Diocese and representatives of the Jewish community, sponsored several catalytic trips to Altar in Sonora, Mexico—a staging area for migrants and ground zero of the border crisis. In March 2004, the Multi-Faith Border Conference was held. At that March conference, the group, No More Deaths, presented its principles for immigration reform and the opportunity for involvement in the campaign for summer, 2004. On April 19, 2004, Arizona Interfaith Network pastors and leaders joined Bishop Kicanas and many multi-faith representatives on the lawn of the Arizona Capitol Building to urge the government to enact these principles for immigration reform.
Action
Guided by the first principle—the failed militarized border enforcement strategy—a coalition of groups established practical means to aid migrants driven away from urban crossing centers into the life-endangering remote areas of the desert. The coalition determined that an around-the-clock, non-violent, humanitarian physical presence in the desert would be the single most effective approach.
The goals of No More Deaths 2004 were to provide water, food, and medical assistance to migrants walking through the Arizona desert; to monitor US operations on the border and work to change US policy to resolve the “war zone” crisis on the border; and to bring the plight of migrants to public attention. These goals were implemented by recruiting aid programs as well as supporting already-existing ones, by interfaith, humanitarian, peaceful, solidarity-building events, and by establishing camps for assistance, outreach and border monitoring. Under the No More Deaths umbrella, participating groups—staffed by volunteers--abided by clear medical and legal protocols and worked in concert to save human lives.
Central to No More Deaths were camps called Arks of the Covenant. Attention was brought to the plight of migrants by local and national and international media coverage, religious and memorial services on the Ark sites, and a 75-mile trek from Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico, to the US Border Patrol headquarters in Tucson.
No More Deaths Groups:
- Casa San Juan (Diocesan Migrant Service Center)
- The Migrant Welcome Center at Altar, Sonora
Programs and activities included the following:
- Sásabe March
- Material Donation/Distribution
Evaluation:
No More Deaths effectively heightened public awareness of the plight of the migrants dying in our deserts. NMD brought media attention to the situation in concert with Arizona Interfaith Network and partners in the coalition. One result was a meeting with the Undersecretary of Homeland Security and Arizona Religious leaders scheduled by the Multi Faith Border Coalition in an effort to have a faith voice put a face on the targets of the Border Patrol’s military solution to a non-military problem. Effectiveness can be measured by the comment from the Homeland Security Undersecretary for Science and Technology, Asa Hutchinson: “I often get so wrapped up in the technology of what I am doing that I lose sight of the bigger picture. You have put a human face on this issue for me, and I thank you for that.”
By inviting Christian Peacemaker Teams to be resident on the border for the summer, No More Deaths helped a fractured community begin open dialogue around a divisive issue and progress was made toward continuing conversations around the needs of the communities in the eastern desert. By living out their approach to nonviolent conflict transformation, CPT was able to bring people together who might never have considered talking to others about the issues impacting their common communities.
A change in Border Patrol sector chiefs in Tucson during the summer tested No More Deaths’ goals of offering life-saving humanitarian aid in the form of food, water, and medical assistance. While the results of that change in Border Patrol Leadership are yet to be fully played out, it is clear that our transparent operation within the strict protocols laid out and agreed to by the Border Patrol has succeeded in being a nonviolent faith-based alternative course of action in the desert. In the course of our efforts we met and engaged in dialogue with cabinet-level presidential appointees around the issue of NMD’s efforts to save lives. The conversation pressed two aspects of the issues: the desperate need for comprehensive reform of the severely broken immigration system and the need for faith-based humanitarian organizations to be allowed to perform their functions without undue interference from law enforcement agencies.
