Migration, Kino, Life & Dignity of the Human Person

Artist statement

The first picture is at Kino, a faith-based organization that "strives to respond to the most critical needs by respecting the God-given dignity of the human person and by fostering bi-national solidarity through humanitarian assistance, education and research/advocacy". After playing soccer with the kids, we called for a photo right in front of their famous background. It says "Hagan esto en memoria mia" which translates to "do this in memory of me". As seen in the bible, Jesus breaks the bread and shares the wine, which symbolizes his body and his blood, and says "do this in remembrance of me". This is especially significant to the migrants who live at Kino because they pray before they eat and remember how Jesus shared amongst his disciples at the last supper.

The parents are rarely ever seen smiling because of the situations they are in, but when they sat there and watched me and my friends play with the kids, you can see their smiles light up the whole room. Suddenly their shoulders released from their necks, and they sat a little more comfortably. At that moment they were not worrying about how they will get their home back or move forward, they were just enjoying the looks on their children's faces. This is what brings me to do service. I do it for the smiles and the laughter, because that fills me with joy.

The next photo is one that was taken at the border. Crossing from Nogales, Arizona going into Nogales, Mexico was easy. We just walked right in, and didn't even get stopped. There were about three or four security guards. On the other hand, getting back into the United States had more obstacles. There were about three checkpoints with gates and security guards before even reaching the doors of the passport check in and metal detectors. You can clearly see the difference in security between Mexico and the United States. On the Mexico border, you can see many paintings, murals, handprints, etc. As seen in the photo, it says "Libertad" which means freedom . Children, parents, families all leave their hand prints in remembrance of those who have passed during their journey to the United States.

The last photo seen is border control. During our trip to Arizona and Mexico, we encountered both sides. Many people had different opinions on migration and traveling undocumented. When visiting border patrol they told us that their job is to ensure safety. They have many cameras set up, drones, and they ride on many different forms of transportation to catch the people trying to cross. They explained that their goal is not to abolish and hurt the migrants, but many of the time it is to "ensure the safety of the US citizens" because they find people transporting drugs a lot of the time. Not only do people have to worry about border control, but cartels are huge as well. Many times in Mexico the cartels threaten families to transport drugs and they promise the people safety. You would assume that you can go to the police and report the threat, but most of the time they are actually working with them! Here we actually learned more and realized that the life and dignity of a human person isn't really valued when it comes to someone who isn't a United States citizen. They are always seen as someone who is "bringing harm" to the US and so because of those views, they receive no help. We learned that many people pay to get directions or have someone lead them the right way, but if you get hurt while traveling, they leave you. You are just another number in the system of people who unsuccessfully crossed. It is crucial to learn and follow these values. These principles of the catholic social teachings are not just something that is applied to US citizens, but should be applied to everything and anything.