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Two follow path of immigrants to raise awareness
They walked 37 miles to cross border
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Published: May 12, 2008
It sounded like approaching thunder.
But in the desert between the Mexican cities of Sasabe and Nogales, Central Virginia residents Jeff Winder and Sue Frankel-Streit knew that it couldn't be a storm. They soon realized that it was people -- the sounds of migrants risking their lives to reach the U.S. border.
Frankel-Streit and Winder walked in their footsteps, hoping to draw attention to Mexicans' plight and to what they say are failed economic policies that drive Mexicans to leave their homes. So they carried water and sleeping bags and made the three-day, 37-mile trek themselves on the last weekend in April. Their progress was slowed early on, when Winder twisted his knee on the uneven terrain. They also faced extreme heat and treacherous conditions along the trail.
They were just doing their part, they said, to stand up for their neighbors to the south.
"One big surprise is that we didn't get arrested," Frankel-Streit said. "It just proves the privilege of white skin."
They made themselves easy targets, marching through the militarized border with a banner that read "Mexico to Virginia Open Borders & Justice for All." They weren't stopped by Border Patrol.
They returned last week and marched in Washington with thousands to protest American immigration laws.
The two activists recently began to focus almost solely on immigration. Frankel-Streit works on a Catholic commune in Louisa County, and Winder, a Nelson County resident, does painting, carpentry and landscaping jobs to pay the bills.
Winder leads The People United, an activist group that works on immigration issues. He said he doesn't believe that many in economically depressed Mexico have much of a choice but to come here, calling the immigration issue "forced migration." The North American Free Trade Agreement has driven down prices and forced Mexicans to look for a substantially better living in the United States, he said.
"Today, immigrants are the convenient target" for failed economic policies, he said.
Christian Schoenewald, the chairman of the Albemarle GOP, says that illegal immigrants aren't unfairly targeted.
"Every other country in the world secures their borders," Schoenewald said. "It's not a conservative-liberal issue."
He said that holes that allow immigrants into the United States need to be filled -- such as cracking down on businesses that employ illegal immigrants -- before other solutions are pursued.
Aside from the economic debate, Frankel-Streit and Winder see the human side of immigration. A pair of shoes that were left behind was one particularly poignant reminder of what people risk, they said, along with the candles that formed shrines to those who have died on such journeys.
But Winder and Frankel-Streit said they were particularly struck by the juxtaposition of a beautiful landscape with the stark reminders of devastation.
"It was incredibly beautiful," Frankel-Streit said. "It made it all the more depressing."
The two made the trek at a time when fewer are trying it. Officials say that the U.S. economic downturn, tighter security and a more perilous and expensive journey are persuading many who try to sneak into the United States to give up sooner.
Border Patrol arrests are down 17 percent so far this year along the U.S.-Mexico border after falling 20 percent all of last fiscal year and 8 percent the year before that. While it's impossible to know how many people are crossing illegally, the patrol uses apprehensions to estimate the ebb and flow of traffic.
The downturn in illegal immigration has created labor shortages throughout the United States, and several states are considering temporary-worker programs, especially in agricultural fields, where produce is spoiling in the fields.
■ Jeremy Borden is a reporter at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Va.
■ The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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