This past December I had the opportunity to take a group of students to the San Diego-Tijuana border. We drove more than six hours to attend this special gathering to be held alongside the San Diego-Tijuana border fence. Many people gathered to celebrate the migration of Jesus to this earth and to mourn the many lives lost during their own migration journey.
During the gathering, I witnessed many sacred moments that will be engraved in my heart and mind forever. It was the sacred encounter of families who have been separated. Some of these families have waiting in “line” for more than ten years.
Families traveled for many miles to come together on this special day. Suddenly, the long, cold fence that has cruelly separated them became warm by the love of human touch. I witnessed couples touching each other, friends laughing, smiling and greeting each other, but the sweetest and most heart-breaking moment was when I saw a young child forced to hug her father’s leg through a hole in the fence.
God is the creator of family, the creator of unity and love. As Christians, may our voices advocate for family reunification and may the warmth of God’s love continue to melt away the cold barriers that separate families, friends and loved ones.
How much longer will we be a silent witness to the injustice of families being separated? Do we want couples to become strangers, children to find security and love in unhealthy relationships? How long will we allow God’s perfect design for unity to be destroyed? We cannot ignore that our immigration system needs to be fixed.
In the meantime may we continue to advocate for all families who desire to be reunited. For what God has brought together may no one separate . . .
Miriam Cardenas is coordinator of the immigration program for West Coast MCC.
