I’m going to spend several days at the Texas-Mexico border next week learning for myself just what things are like and perhaps volunteering to help a bit. I also want to draw attention to the many people who are working to assist those in need. (This is one time I can learn firsthand without reading a newspaper, scrolling through Facebook or watching television news!)

Dad’s Teaching

I never considered myself the great crusading newspaper editor my father was, but I’ve never been one to back away from investigation and standing up for what’s right. That’s how, for example, I helped secure stronger First Amendment rights for student media journalists at UT-Austin. But I’ve been retired for 10 years. While I’ve been active in the community, I feel some things are missing.

That’s the reason for this border trip. Dad’s newspaper editorial page always contained this quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: ‘It is required of a man that he share the passion and action of his time, at peril of being judged not to have lived.” So in the active years I have left I want to make sure I am doing that.

Angry Tias & Abuelas

I’ll start my trip in Harlingen meeting Joyce Hamilton, one of eight founding members of Angry Tias and Abuelas. This group started working a year ago helping migrants at the border. The people they are helping are those who come here seeking political asylum. They intercept them at the local bus station after they have been released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement before they board Greyhound buses heading for their sponsors’ homes in far-flung regions of the U.S.

The Tias and Abuelas started their work in June 2018 when Joyce received a text message from a friend, saying that large numbers of women and children had been sleeping for several days on the concrete walkway of the Reynosa International Bridge between Mexico and McAllen, Texas. “It was quite a shocking scene,” Joyce said.

Angry at Injustice

That’s when the group of female friends “angry at the sense of injustice” decided to do something. They rushed to the bridge with food, water, diapers, hand sanitizer, clothing, whatever they could think of to help. Fast forward a little, and they founded their group. Today members meet those being dropped by ICE at the bus stations in Harlington, McAllen and Brownsville to provide them with backpacks of basic supplies and snacks. They also help them understand mapping out bus schedules as the migrants make their way to their sponsors.

The women do one-on-one cultural and itinerary orientation for each person and explain such basics such that as restrooms are free of charge and water fountains can be used to refill water bottles without charge. In addition to the basic backpacks of supplies, they sometimes also provide a little cash for the journeys if needed.

Recently Honored

The group was honored earlier this month with a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights award, something Joyce called “a big surprise.” That award carries with it $10,000 to help with their work.

Also on My Trip

I also hope to visit Loaves and Fishes in Harlingen, an interdenominational group that has long helped the indigent. But this group’s work recently has taken on a larger role as it has been assisting more and more migrants. The group supplies basic travel necessities, as well as overnight lodging as needed. They have helped more than 1,500 migrants since late March.

And if time permits, I also hope to visit the shelters run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, where a range of migrant services are being offered.

Help Along the Way

As word got around town that I was making this trip, a friend’s brother and sister-in-law offered to put me up near Harlingen, and people are creating backpacks of supplies for me to take along. It’s touching how much people will help if they are alerted to need. They also are people who are shocked and saddened at the despicable way these refugees from neighboring countries have been treated. EVERYONE has the right to ask for asylum and seek shelter here from danger in their home countries.

Why?

I figure I have about 10 “good” years left (I’m 72), and I want to make them count. Since the humanitarian crisis began at the border, I simply feel its pull. So I’m answering that call now. I hope to write about this here and in the local newspaper, and I’ll take a few photographs as appropriate. Mostly I want to spread the word about the need, the work and the dedication of these fine tias (aunts), abuelas (grandmothers) and other volunteers.