Rebecca and Tucker on No More Deaths

This morning we awoke in Pena Blanca Lake, the beautiful campsite with the infamous immigration warning sign. We split ourselves into two groups- one going on a hike with No More Deaths to distribute water in the desert, and the other one going to the No More Deaths tent outside right off the border in Nogales.

For the seven of us that went to the tent, we went and picked up Danielle, a staff member we had met the day before, who was incredibly sweet. The van was parked on the US side of the border, and we walked into Mexico. It was quiet for the most part; only a couple of vanloads of deportees were dropped off, but we still managed to have many powerful experiences. The one that sticks out in my mind the most was meeting Guillermo, a guy who Dan talked to for a long time. He had been married to a US citizen, and lived in the US for 19 years, and had recently been deported. He had been living in the No More Deaths tent for the past week. He told us he was planning to cross back over the border later that week. For two hours we handed our soup and water to extremely grateful people. When we left, I had the overwhelming sense that it wasn’t right. I was able to leave and walk away from that. These people had nowhere to go, and many had no idea where they were going to stay that night- I wanted to be able to tell them that everything was going to be okay and everything would work out for them, but who knows if that’s true.

That same day another group of students went on a hike with the No More Deaths volunteers to see if there were any migrants in the desert that were in need of assistance. The group did not find anyone, but we did find signs of drug smugglers and migrants. As a group of students, we like to think that all the migrants are just people who want work and a better life for there family’s, but we concluded, without a doubt, that there were drug runners and all manner of dangerous individuals that also moved through the Arizona desert. The thought of the illegal drugs being brought into the united states by the migrants left a unbearable bad taste in the mouths of the students.
-Rebecca and Tucker