Border Reverend Brings Faith into Immigration Debate
Thursday, 18 November 2010 21:52
Spanish speakers, retired doctors, or just good drivers from Good Shepherd United Church of Christ head deep into the Arizona desert several times a week in white pickup trucks with one mission: to save lives and recognize the lives lost near the US-Mexico border.
In Sahuarita, a small town 40 miles from the Arizona-Mexico border, a faith-based group called the Green Valley Sahuarita Samaritans maintain around 20 water stations frequented by thirsty migrants crossing the desert.
The volunteers come armed with food, water and medical supplies for migrants they encounter and have saved more than a few lives.
But they also have lost battles in the seven years since they started.
Sometimes, they encounter lives already lost, Rev. Randy J. Mayer, founder of the Samaritan group said.
Last year, there were a record number of deaths in the borderlands. More than 250 north-bound migrants died crossing the Arizona desert, according to data from Southern Arizona county medical examiners.
When the Samaritans find a body, Mayer organizes a memorial service in the middle of the desert. There, he leads church members in prayer and a formal last goodbye.
The most difficult service was performed for an older man the group found dead four years ago on the Buenos Aires National Reserve, 100 yards from a road where he might have found help. “He was that close,” Mayer said. He estimated the man was in his late 50s.
Also difficult were the services for two migrants found shot-to-death at a mine down the street from the church and the several bodies located off Interstate 19 near Calle Tres, Mayer said. “It shouldn’t matter if the person is from Mexico or from Sahuarita,” Mayer said. Wherever the deceased person is from, “people are grieving and a family is destroyed.”
Not all in the borderlands community agree with the church’s aid to migrants crossing the desert illegally. And the criticism intensified during this past election cycle.
On Oct. 31, the weekend before Arizona’s Election Day, a protestor parked himself in front of Mayer’s church with a sign that read: “Good Samaritan, bad American.” This same protestor has been staked out in front of the church every Sunday for the past year.
Controversy comes with the territory, but the church’s focus is to stop death and suffering on the border, Mayer said.
“Nobody should be dying in the desert,” he said.
Written by Kirsten Boele You are reading Border Reverend Brings Faith into Immigration Debate articles
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