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Immigrants cross borders with faith
Migrants put lives in God's hands to reach United States
GABRIELA RICO
For the Statesman Journal
January 1, 2005
SONORA, Mexico -- Faith.
By definition, it is an unquestioning belief requiring no proof or evidence.
For immigrants preparing to cross the desert into the United States, it often is the most important thing they carry with them.
Bibles stuffed in backpacks, medals pinned to clothing or votive candles adorned with the image of saints -- faith is a part of the reason that, despite the deadly desert temperatures and dire warnings, illegal immigrants continue to make the journey that defies logic to many.
Religion is deeply ingrained in the Mexican culture and offers solace in the face of the economic struggles and life under a corrupt government, said Ruben Davalos, director of evangelism and Hispanic ministry with the Diocese of Tucson, (Ariz.).
"In moments of crisis, the only refuge we have as Mexicans is our belief," he said. "In times of need, we reach for the intangible."
More than two-thirds of illegal immigrants caught in the Arizona desert have a religious relic with them, said Andy Adame, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol Tucson sector.
"The word of God is that he made the world without borders," Cesar Morales said as he lay in a cot at a shelter in Altar, Sonora, preparing for his morning crossing of the U.S.-Mexico border. "He will keep me safe."
The 30-year-old native of the southern state of Chiapas, an evangelical Christian, said that he would keep his Bible close to him during his journey.
"Do not be afraid ... he will watch over you," Fausto Zunum Perez said, paraphrasing the Bible. "God has a plan and will take our life away when he sees fit."
Whether that plan is to be caught by the U.S. Border Patrol, arrive safely in the United States or die trying, the 43-year-old man said that he leaves it up to God.
"God is with us all of the time," Zunum said. "We go with faith."
Wes Bramhall, president of Arizonans for Immigration Control, a group that promotes public awareness of the cost of illegal immigration, said he empathizes with the personal trials of illegal immigrants but said that the laws of the land must be maintained.
"The Lord might be out there to help you survive, but you can't use that as an argument to permit these people to cross our borders," he said. "It doesn't give you an excuse to break the law."
It's not an excuse but rather insight into what compels the immigrant, Davalos said.
Immigrants reconcile the fact that they are about to break the law, entering the United States illegally, because they are laws of man, he said.
"There are many arguments to be made about the law," Davalos said. "The immigrant doesn't look at (crossing) as a sin."
Halfway between Altar and Sasabe, Sonora, sits an altar filled with statues and votive candles, many still burning. Broken votives line the trail north.
This unpaved 60-mile road -- where an entrepreneur has set up a 30-peso tollbooth and the heavily armed Mexican military makes random stops -- bustles with northbound vans and buses.
The faith of the immigrant is "unshakable," especially when they arrive in border cities and actually can see the United States, said Carlos Zozaya Moreno, head of Grupo Beta in Sasabe, a government agency that aids migrants and tries to dissuade them from crossing.
"Once they're here, they can only see forward," he said. "They have to try (crossing) at least once."
The Rev. Cayetano Cabrera, a Catholic priest at an Agua Prieta, migrant sanctuary, said at least a dozen people come by daily to ask for his blessing before they head north.
Continue story at:
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050101/NEWS/501010317/1001
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