5/11/23

By Lee Goodman

Bus after bus of migrants who had just been released from custody were dropped off by the US government today at the bus station in Brownsville, Texas, so they can continue their journeys, now legally in the US. People, many of whom had traveled for months and had camped outside our gates for an untold stretch of time and had been confined in our detention centers were now taking their first steps of freedom. I stood on the sidewalk holding a sign that said, “Open Every Door – Welcome All Immigrants.” The new arrivals couldn't read my sign. It didn't matter. “Bienvenidos!” I called to them. Welcome! “Gracias!” they said as they smiled back.

A man pulled up in a small car, threw open the trunk, and started handing the new arrivals sandwiches he had made at home. They lined up to receive, and they thanked him. Some told him they have had little to eat. How is it that no provision was made by our government to feed these people?

Volunteers handed out donated clothing to those who wanted it. Many had stepped off the buses with nothing except what they wore. Our government takes everything away from them when they are taken into custody. A mother asked for and received diapers for a tiny girl.

The new arrivals were gathered together and instructed that the papers they held in their hands were what gave them the right to be in the US, and those papers should be shown to officials if they were requested. A judge will decide at some future date whether these people can stay. For now, they are safe, and legal.

A reporter started her questions to me by calling what we were seeing a “humanitarian crisis.” I corrected her. “It is not a crisis,” I said, “It is an opportunity.” “We don't have the resources to process all these people,” she countered. “We have plenty of resources,” I replied. “We just have to use them.” We went back and forth.

News cameras were set up. The reporters did their under-a-minute reports and went away. The buses just kept coming and coming. I could watch the people getting off the buses all day. What could be more beautiful?