22 of my neighbors were killed in El Paso. It’s time to change how we talk about migrants and Latinx people, even on campus.
Dear Editor,
This past month, I’ve felt restless knowing someone hated my people’s existence so much that they wrote 2,300 words about it; that their premeditation to kill involved a 10 hour drive; that their next move was loading a gun and altering the lives of people on the border.
The community in El Paso and Juárez simultaneously live out the promise offered in America while celebrating the culture of another country they have ties to. It’s why I felt compelled to volunteer at a shelter where migrants go after being processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. For many, detention can be traumatizing and getting settled in the U.S. isn’t easy.
I can’t imagine the degree of trust it must’ve taken for migrants to let me drive them to the Greyhound station, to make a formula bottle for their baby, or respond when I asked why they had a number written on their hand in sharpie — how border patrol groups people. But this compassion is simply the way of fronterizos and the people we welcome.
Still, I’m disappointed by practices running counter to our mission of human dignity. Just consider other points in history when we have ignored names and assigned numbers to people. This dehumanization has festered blanket resentment toward Latinx people in the U.S., including students at Syracuse University. And as some worry about an “invasion,” it’s worth noting that U.S. intervention has exacerbated the poverty and violence in the northern triangle, as the Guardian has reported.
A recent art exhibit in El Paso called “America the Borderland” shed light on border and immigration issues. Interview subject Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas provided an important lesson. “Tu eres mi otro yo. You are my other self,” he said. “If I harm you, I harm myself. If I let your light shine, mine shines brighter. And together we rejoice.”
The only choice for many of these migrants is to leave home or die. We have all the choice in the world for how we receive them.
Government leaders think punishing immigrants who need government benefits and allowing unsanitary conditions at detention centers, will deter refugees and asylum-seekers. We are becoming distracted from matters demanding our attention in the wake of El Paso — like common-sense gun policies and the threat of white domestic terrorism. The words ring true. The U.S. is harming them and ourselves.
Sincerely,
Andrea Guzmán
Graduate student studying magazine, newspaper, and online journalism