6/4/22

By Julie Swift

May 23 I went to Brownsville, Tx to stand with Joshua Rubin, Lee Goodman and Allan Mestel. The trip was planned with thin hopes that Title 42 would be lifted and we would witness a renewed asylum process. But, it didn’t happen. So we stood in the park across from the bridge with Team Brownsville members and witnessed the continuation of an inhumane, indefensible policy. Later, crossing into Matamoros, we saw the MPP camp, now gone, fenced so no camp can start again to provide that slight degree of protection. It was eerily quiet, but we saw people surviving Title 42 expulsion - on the edge - in the shadows - in the cracks. We passed a woman against the fence near the bridge. Two girls, a preteen and a younger girl who I assumed were her daughters leaned against her. I don’t know their story, I don’t know where they’re from. But, I imagined her trying to decide if she should send her children across alone - if that was their best chance for survival - if that would be better than the danger they face in a crime ridden border town - wondering if she could find her way to be with them again. It haunts me. #WelcomeWithDignity #FreeThem #letthemcross