What’s Changed Since January 20
This report from the US/Mexico Border was written by the Rev. Randy J. Mayer.
For many years a humanitarian disaster has been brewing in the Sonoran Desert along the US/Mexico border. It is the result of a “Prevention through Deterrence” policy of the United States government that has pushed the tired and exploited migrant into the most dangerous and desolate parts of the desert where the Border Patrol can either track them or they will die.
Humanitarian groups like the Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans have countered this deadly policy by being present in the desert to welcome the stranger, to give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, and socks and clothing to the unclothed. Three years ago, when the push and pull of immigration reached record numbers, an emergency Humanitarian Aid camp was created in a remote area of the desert where the border wall ends and the cartel pushes people across the border for a lot of cash.
Not too long ago there were 300 to 400 migrants crossing the border a day and coming into the camp to safely rest and receive hot tea or coffee, warm bean burritos, and fresh fruit. In the winter they would warm themselves by the fire, while in the summer they would sit in the shade out of reach of the blistering sun. The camp became a mini-United Nations as people from Nepal, Colombia, India and Bangladesh would sit staring into the fire as they told stories of their journey with folks from Peru, Togo, Sudan, Guatemala or Ecuador. It was an oasis for the asylum seekers—finally free from the exploits of the cartel as they prepared for the next phase of their journey to ask for asylum in the United States.
Doctors Without Borders, a respected international organization spent a few months working at the camp and later expressed to the US Border Patrol, “you need to work closer with the Samaritans; if it wasn’t for them there would be hundreds of deaths out there.” And surprisingly the relationship thawed as Border Patrol set up regular daily pickups at the Humanitarian Camp.
But that all changed on January 20, 2025 when the United States inaugurated its 47th President. On that day exactly at 12 noon all asylum interviews were canceled and the cruel treatment of migrants was accelerated and even celebrated by some. Migrants apprehended at the border were denied an asylum hearing and immediately deported into the arms of the waiting cartel. Many are still detained in horrifying detentions centers just to punctuate the suffering and to serve as a deterrent for any future border crossings. US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents have accelerated work place raids and sweeps through communities to arrest migrants in the interior of the United States. And the use of notorious prisons in El Salvador and other countries have been used to rachet up the image of brutality and cruelty as migrants are stripped of their dignity and due process rights.
In March, we got word from the United States Forest Service(USFS) that our Humanitarian Camp needed to be shut down. It was clear that the order was coming from higher ups in the President’s Administration. In their twisted logic they stated that the camp was destroying public lands – which is laughable when you see the massive obliteration that the wall and everything in its wake has decimated in the desert. Somehow the USFS couldn’t find their voice to oppose the wall a few years ago when it could have made a difference. Instead, they have focused on a 3000 square foot camp that was a shining beacon of hope for the migrants. Not only did it save lives, but it did all the USFS dirty work. Over three years the humanitarian groups hauled 20 to 25 tons of trash out of the area, provided sanitary latrines that eliminated a public health hazard, and stopped the risk of forest fires by having controlled fire rings in the camp. The USFS has been derelict of their duties to protect the forest and the land.
The Humanitarian groups still have a presence in the desert, driving the back roads through the mountains and canyons looking for lost migrants. But the number of migrants has dropped significantly due to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s efforts to restrict migrants from traveling north to the border in Mexico. The word has gotten out to immigrant communities around the world that now is not the time to come to the United States.
Nonetheless, the militarization at the border is intensifying. The Border Patrol now has an obscene amount of cash to put helicopters, agents, and technology on the border. And the US Military is starting to move into place as they scout out locations along the border to build a massive camp. Just last week we encountered 20 fully-decked out US Army Soldiers with M240 machine guns at the ready and shortly thereafter a massive 2 propped Chinnock helicopter dropped down to carry them away. We are told that soon we should expect a whole lot more of the military along the border.
As for the Humanitarian workers on the border, we are now regularly asked for identification, told that we can be arrested for loitering and trespassing along the border wall, and warned that we will be arrested if we hand food or water to hungry and thirsty migrants along the border. In mid-April the President signed an order for the US Military to take over the Roosevelt Reservation, the 60-foot wide strip (18 m) of land along the U.S. side of the U.S.–Mexico Border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It will soon be converted into a military installation and anyone that steps into that area will receive a novel misdemeanor charge for “unauthorized entry into a National Defense Areas,” a crime punishable by up to one year in prison.
Little by little, day by day, step by step the US Government is aggressively working to criminalize poverty and outlaw the practices of “do unto the least of these” found in the Gospel of Matthew. Even though the United States has abandoned every principle or value of generosity or decency, that does not mean that people of faith and conscience have: we are in this for the long haul. We stand ready to give a hand to the stranger, equipped to love our neighbor, and more prepared than ever to bring compassion to the border. We gladly stand on the side of love.
The picture at the top of this email is of the spot beside the border wall where Randy Mayer and his colleagues from the Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans used to camp out as they waited to respond to whatever human need might arise.
The author of this report, Randy Mayer, is the lead pastor of the Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Sahuarita, Arizona. He and his congregation have been involved in humanitarian work along the US/Mexico border for more than 20 years. Randy is a member of the board of directors of the American Waldensian Society.
To learn more about the border ministry, see https://thegoodshepherducc.org/events/common-ground-on-the-border/
