1/27/20

By Alessandra Mondolfi

Physically back in Miami but my heart and mind are still at the #border… Attempting to digest the experience of being there witnessing for two weeks and it makes me nauseous.

I am not a writer but feel the responsibility to relate what I saw. It would be much easier if I could post images of the people I met. The mothers whose eyes are filled with grief, exhaustion and fear but who still manage to smile. The children who really don’t know what is going on and go about being kids, playing and laughing.

I am cautioned by many that posting photos that show their faces makes them vulnerable to #kidnapping and #extortion. That I should black out their faces so that they are not recognizable. I have tried that and it feels like it defeats the purpose of showing their beauty and humanity.

I have never felt so grateful to be a Spanish speaker as it allowed me to hear their stories. I listened with compassion but felt impotent to help them. All I could do was offer them a hug and let them know that they were not alone, that we were fighting on their behalf and that we would do all we could to be their voices. We need people to listen and feel outraged. To demand that they are given the opportunity to seek asylum. The purpose of #MPP is to keep them out of sight, out of mind.

#WitnessAtTheBorder #EndMPP #LetThemCross #Witness #RestoreAsylum #WelcomeRefugees #MigrantProtectionProtocols #RemainInMexico #HumanitarianCrisis #Brownsville #Matamorros #Texas